"Good apple pies are a considerable part of our domestic happiness"                      Jane Austen

Hilltop Apple Pie

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• Pastry for 2-crust 9-inch pie
• 2-1/2lbs (8-9) apples * (peeled, cored and cut into thick wedges)
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces
• 1 egg, lightly beaten

* You can mix different kinds of apples depending on what is ripe at the time you buy/pick your apples

Put a large baking sheet on low rack in oven and preheat to 425.

Whisk together flour, cinnamon, allspice, salt, sugar then gently toss with apples and lemon juice.

Line pie plate with pastry and fill with apples - mounded slightly in the center.

Cover with top crust, folding top crust over and under edge of bottom crust to create a tight seal - press down around edges with a fork to crimp or flute edges by hand.

Lightly brush top of pie crust with egg then sprinkle with about 1 tablespoon of sugar

Cut three slits in top crust for steam vents

Place pie on hot baking sheet and cook for 20 minutes then lower oven temperature to 375 and bake for an additional 40 minutes (until crust is golden and filling is bubbling). Cool pie thoroughly (2-4 hours) before serving.

Furnace Brook Normandy Chicken

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6 chicken breasts

2 apples
3 large onions
4 tablespoons butter
2 cups Furnace Brook's French Cidre'

1/2 cup of cream
2 pinches of ground nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste

Cut onions into fine strips
Cut apples into small cubes
Add onions and apples to a frying pan with 2 tablespoons of butter

Cook on medium heat for 5-7 minutes until golden
In a larger thicker pan melt remaining butter,  add the chicken breasts (brown for about 3 minutes)
Add the cooked onions and apples and cover with the Cidre'
Add nutmeg, salt and pepper
Allow to simmer (without cover) until 2/3 of the cider has evaporated, approximately 30-40 minutes
Remove the chicken breasts and set aside keeping them warm
Pour the cream into the cider sauce and stir for a few minutes

If necessary, to thicken sauce, add a teaspoon of flour
Coat the chicken with the sauce
Immediately serve with rice or potatoes 

Baked Apples

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• large apples (such as Cortlands)
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup quick-cooking oats, uncooked
• 2 tablespoons chopped dates
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons butter

Core apples, cutting out a 1 1/4-inch diameter cylinder from center of each, almost but not all the way through to bottom. Remove peel about one-third of the way down from top. Place apples in shallow 1 1/2-quart ceramic casserole or 8" by 8" glass baking dish.

In small bowl, combine brown sugar, oats, dates, and cinnamon. Fill each cored apple with equal amounts of oat mixture. (Mixture will spill over top of apples.) Place 1/2 teaspoon butter on top of filling in each apple.

Cook apples, covered, in Mircrowave on Medium-High (70 percent power) until tender, 12 to 14 minutes, turning each apple halfway through cooking time. Spoon cooking liquid from baking dish over apples to serve.