March 2026 Slice of Life, No. 22
I inherited my mom’s cookbooks. In the stack is a spiral bound cookbook she had purchased from one of my children’s school fund raisers: Aunt Bee’s Mayberry Cookbook.
I like to read cookbooks, especially ones that are annotated. I read them like I might read magazines or short stories or poetry. Sometimes I randomly read; sometimes I focus on a specific category of recipes. During one of these times, I perused the pie section in Aunt Bee’s cookbook. That’s when I saw the recipe title “Mom’s Apple Pie in a Bag.” Intrigued, I read the recipe—ingredients and directions.
I adapt the recipe to reduce the sugar by totally eliminating the 1/2 cup of sugar. The apples are sweet enough on their own. When I make the French crumb top crust, I cut all its ingredients in half. However, sometimes I eliminate the French crumb crust and make a regular top crust.
I make my crust with butter so when I bake my apple pies at a high oven temperature, the apples bake, but the crust burns, even with a pie shield. When I turn the oven temperature down, the crust doesn’t burn, but the apples are not soft enough. So, when I read about using a brown paper bag, I decided to give it a try.
I had to search for a brown paper bag that had no ink and was not recycled. You can find a package of them HERE.
I don’t fold the bag to close it because I usually bake a large pie and there just isn’t enough room. Instead, I place the edges together simply staple the bag shut in three or four places.
Why the brown paper bag?
I can bake the apple pie at 400 to 425 degrees for a full hour without checking the pie or using a pie shield. I don’t worrying about the crust burning. And the apples bake perfectly.
Caution: Make sure the bag does not touch the oven elements.
Tip: While baking, the brown bag will give off a “hot paper” odor, almost like something is burning.
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