Playgroup Power

The other day at playgroup, we had some granola baking in the oven (as we often do) while our kids played and we caught up on each other’s busy lives. In addition to all my granola ingredients, at the last minute, I grabbed a bag of tough skinned apples that nobody would eat in my house. If there was a use for these less than desirable apples, we were certain to find one at playgroup — the four of us always come up with good ideas together.

Jackie, who happened to need a dessert to bring to a friend’s house that evening was thrilled, and immediately decided she’d make an apple crisp. As I peeled and chopped the apples, I decided to make an apple pie filling with the leftovers. So, as Jackie assembled her crisp, with brown sugar, butter and cinnamon, I cooked my apples on her stove, turning these almost uneaten apples into a delightful pie filling. I fed Jenn, Suzy and Jackie a spoonful to taste and they all agreed it was a deliciously good use for apples that nobody would eat! Since I didn’t really need an apple pie that night, I decided to freeze the filling for a later use, which happened to be at Kathe’s house the following week, when we made some savory and sweet pies together.

My quick apple pie filling

10 apples, peeled, cored and sliced
3/4 cups granulated sugar
5 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon cinnamon
juice from 1/2 lemon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons corn starch

Melt butter in medium sized pot. Add apples, sugar, cinnamon, vanilla extract and lemon juice. Cook for about 10 minutes on a medium heat, stirring occasionally. Add the corn starch and cook for another 5 or so minutes until the filling thickens. Cool and then freeze in a container. All you’ll need is some pie dough and you’ll have an apple pie!