By Paula Pyzik Scott

My Mom’s apple pie is definitely among the top five Pyzik family recipes that I continue to make for both flavor and nostalgia. So when Bluffton’s America 250 committee announced an apple pie-making contest, I was all in.

But when was the last time I made Mom’s apple pie? It had been a while. I was relieved to put my hands on the old paper copy of the pie crust recipe and the baking instructions from my older edition of the Joy of Cooking. I have both cookbooks because my favorite brownie recipe isn’t in the later edition.

The pie, which I entered as the “North of the Border” pie, is named for my roots as a Michigander and uses Michigan Macintosh apples. It is a traditional double-crust pie with a tender pastry that includes an egg, baking powder and vinegar.

I was thrilled to see 19 pies entered in the competition. Remarkably, they all looked different. I was amazed by the judges, Tony Pinks, Larry Kinn and Jane Agner, who tasted apple pie for over an hour. They confirmed there was a wide range of approaches, most notably in how soft or firm the apples were.

The winner of the contest was Rebecca Luginbill, who baked a luscious apple pie topped with a thick layer of pecan and toffee streusel. I had the pleasure of eating a slice when pieces of all the pies were sold for $3 to benefit America 250 activities in Bluffton. Second place went to April Dorman.

To my delight, my pie came in third place, which came with a $25 prize and an America 250 T-shirt.

I’m attaching my recipe, including the old, typewritten vinegar pie crust. FYI, my sister now makes hers with butter, which is also excellent.

Other time-tested Pyzik family recipes are pierogi, a Polish potato and cheese-filled dumpling served sauteed with onions. My cousin Roberta’s challah, a braided egg bread. Parmesan rolls, using a 1990s recipe from Gourmet magazine. Quiche from an old Fanny Farmer cookbook, using the same vinegar pastry as the apple pie. Grandma Busia’s date and walnut crescent cookies, a family Christmas cookie.

Much of my cooking is now done using online recipes, but I get a huge kick out of returning to these family favorites. The battered books and yellowed pages bring back memories of time spent cooking with loved ones for family meals and holiday parties.

VINEGAR PASTRY

• 3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 1/4 cup vegetable shortening or butter
• Combine:
• 1 beaten egg
• 5 tablespoons ice water
• 1 tablespoon vinegar

Cut shortening into the dry ingredients until the mixture is pea-sized. Sprinkle 4 tablespoons of the liquid mixture over the flour mixture and mix lightly with a fork. Add 4 more tablespoons and continue until pastry holds together. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate. Roll out between plastic wrap or wax paper.

DOUBLE CRUST APPLE PIE

• 3 lbs. peeled and cored Macintosh apples
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2-3 tablespoons flour
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons butter
• Coarse sugar

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Roll out 2/3 of the vinegar pastry recipe into two rounds for a top and a bottom crust to fit a 9-inch pie pan. 

Slice the Macintosh apples and mix with the sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt.

Place the apple mixture over the bottom crust. There should be a nice mound of apples. They will shrink while baking.

Dot the apples with the butter and cover with the top crust, sealing and crimping the edges. Cut vents in the top crust. Sprinkle coarse sugar over the top.

Bake the pie for 30 minutes, then put a baking tray under the pie and reduce the temperature to 350°F.

Bake the pie for another 30-40 minutes. The pie is done when the apples are tender. Test by piercing with a knife through one of the slits.

Cool completely before covering and storing at room temperature.

Excellent the next day, but the crust will soften with each passing day.