Perfect Apple Pie

Ingredients
Crust

1 box Pillsbury™ refrigerated pie crusts, softened as directed on box Filling*

6 cups thinly sliced, peeled apples (6 medium)

3/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Directions

1 Heat oven to 425°F. Place 1 pie crust in ungreased 9-inch glass pie plate. Press firmly against side and bottom.
2 In large bowl, gently mix filling ingredients; spoon into crust-lined pie plate. Top with second crust. Wrap excess top crust under bottom crust edge, pressing edges together to seal; flute. Cut slits or shapes in several places in top crust.
3 Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until apples are tender and crust is golden brown. Cover edge of crust with 2- to 3-inch wide strips of foil after first 15 to 20 minutes of baking to prevent excessive browning. Cool on cooling rack at least 2 hours before serving.

Perfect Turkey

Recipe by: Shelly White

1 (18 pound) whole turkey, neck and giblets removed
2 cups kosher salt
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 large onions, peeled and chopped
4 carrots, peeled and chopped

4 stalks celery, chopped
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
1 cup dry white wine
Add all ingredients to list

Prep
30 m

Cook
4 h

Ready In
17 h

Rub the turkey inside and out with the kosher salt. Place the bird in a large stock pot, and cover with cold water. Place in the refrigerator, and allow the turkey to soak in the salt and water mixture 12 hours, or overnight.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Thoroughly rinse the turkey, and discard the brine mixture.
Brush the turkey with 1/2 the melted butter. Place breast side down on a roasting rack in a shallow roasting pan. Stuff the turkey cavity with 1 onion, 1/2 the carrots, 1/2 the celery, 1 sprig of thyme, and the bay leaf. Scatter the remaining vegetables and thyme around the bottom of the roasting pan, and cover with the white wine.
Roast uncovered 3 1/2 to 4 hours in the preheated oven, until the internal temperature of the thigh reaches 180 degrees F (85 degrees C). Carefully turn the turkey breast side up about 2/3 through the roasting time, and brush with the remaining butter. Allow the bird to stand about 30 minutes before carving.

Evelyn’s Christmas Cookies

Reader’s Recipes: Evelyn’s Christmas Cookies

Yield: makes 4 dozen cookies

Ingredients

1/2 lb unsalted butter (2 sticks)
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 large egg yolks
2 tsp vanilla extract (I used vanilla paste because I love the little specks)
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup currant jelly (use any jam or jelly you like)

Instructions

Set oven to 375F
Cream butter and sugar until very light in color.
Add the egg yolks and continue beating until mixture is fluffy.
Stir in vanilla; gradually add the flour.
To form cookies, pat 1 tablespoon dough at a time into a 1-inch diameter ball and place on lightly greased baking sheet. (I used a 1 inch diameter scoop to portion out the dough) With fingertip, ;make an indentation in the top of each cookie. Spoon currant jelly into each indentation.
Bake cookies on middle rack of oven for about 8 minutes, or until edges turn a light golden brown.