I’m not a fan of loud new year’s resolution proclamations. I think it’s a little bit of my nihilism showing through. That said I do tend to make one every year–even if that one resolution is to not make any resolutions at all, which has been mine on more than one occasion before.

My resolution this year is simple–to tend to the Patron Saint of Pie with greater care and attention than I have in a long while (it’s been seven months since my last post).  Ironically this desire to blog more stems from an urge to cut through the mass of information and noise encircling us at all times thanks to the Internet and the multiple computers to which most of us are glued throughout the day.

The great vacuous symphony of cyberspace is partly why I haven’t been posting as avidly as I have in the past. I don’t know that I have much to add to the conversation. I just bake cool recipes and post mediocre photos of pie. My mom is probably one of two regular readers (hey Mom).

But then I remembered that I am the one paying for this domain name and therefore get to set the ground rules. So I’ll keep posting cool recipes and mediocre photos and over-sharing here in this little corner of the Net–and have a damn good time doing it.

Btw this pie was for my girl Adri’s bday (last August…) and was a real crowd pleaser.

Bourbon Ginger Apple Pie
Recipe from Epicurious

Crust:

Prepare ahead one double-crust pie dough, like this one or your own personal fav.

Filling:

3 pounds Golden Delicious apples, peeled, cored, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup all purpose flour
3 tablespoons minced crystallized ginger
2 tablespoons bourbon
1 teaspoon apple pie spice
Milk (for brushing crust)
Sugar (for dusting crust)

Cider-Bourbon Sauce

5 cups apple cider
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons bourbon

Essential accompaniment: Vanilla ice cream

For the Filling:

Preheat oven to 400°F. Toss first 6 ingredients together in bowl.

Roll out 1 dough disk between sheets of plastic wrap to 13-inch round. Peel off top sheet; invert dough into 9 1/2-inch deep-dish glass pie dish. Peel off plastic. Roll out remaining dough disk between sheets of plastic wrap to 13-inch round. Peel off top sheet of plastic. Mound filling in pie dish. Invert dough over filling. Peel off plastic. Pinch edges of dough to seal. Trim excess crust. Crimp edges decoratively. Cut 5 slashes in top of dough to allow steam to escape. Brush top with milk and sprinkle with sugar. Bake until golden brown, covering with foil if browning too quickly, about 1 hour.

Let pie stand until just slightly warm, about 1 hour. Serve pie with ice cream and Cider-Bourbon Sauce.

For the cider-bourbon sauce:

Boil apple cider in heavy medium saucepan until reduced to 3/4 cup, about 45 minutes. Add butter and sugar and whisk until butter melts. Boil 3 minutes, whisking occasionally. Remove from heat. Whisk in bourbon. Cool sauce completely before serving. Makes about 1 cup.