Fun Stuff – Lauren Thompson

A Recipe for The Apple Pie that Papa Baked

laurenthompson — Fri, 22 Oct 2021 10:37:41 +0000

A Recipe for The Apple Pie that Papa Baked

Try out the recipe I wrote to accompany The Apple Pie that Papa Baked!

Pie Crust:

2-1/2 cups flour (pastry flour is best, or all-purpose)
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, chilled
½ cup vegetable shortening, chilled
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon white vinegar
about 7 tablespoons ice-cold water

Pie Filling:

Preheat oven to 450°F.

Mix the flour, salt, and sugar in a large bowl. Cut the butter and the shortening into small pieces and sprinkle over the flour mixture. Using your fingertips, mix together until pea-sized pieces form. Pour the beaten egg into a measuring cup, add the vinegar, then add water to ½-cup mark. Using a fork, slowly stir just enough of the liquid into the flour mixture to make a soft dough. Cut the dough ball into two, then wrap and chill while preparing the filling. Peel the apples, remove the cores, and cut into ½” wedges. In a large bowl, toss together the apple slices, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and lemon juice. Add a little more sugar if the apples are tart.
Dust a flat surface with flour and roll out one half of the chilled dough to form a circle 12 inches across and 1/8 inch thick. Gently place into a 9-inch pie pan. Pile the apple mixture into the crust. Roll out the other half of the dough and center it over the pan. Pinch the crust edges together. Cut a decorative pattern of small slits in the top crust.
Place the pan in the pre-heated oven. After 25 minutes, reduce heat to 375°F and bake another 20 to 25 minutes. The pie is done when the filling is bubbly and the top is golden brown.

Watch a Book Being Born

laurenthompson — Thu, 21 Oct 2021 09:06:20 +0000

Watch a Book Being Born

Here is my first draft of what became the book Polar Bear Night. I wrote it in pencil, on a spare piece of notebook paper.

Click for a closer look!

See that line drawn across the second page? I remember thinking to myself at that point, “This is all wrong. Start over.” I sensed that the language should be much simpler and more poetic. Once I started again, the story really came to life for me. The whole process felt sort of magical.

Here is the finished version of the story.

Click for a closer look!

A Peek at My Diary

laurenthompson — Thu, 21 Oct 2021 09:05:14 +0000

A Peek at My Diary

When I was ten (back in 1973), my family went to live in the Netherlands for a year. As a good-bye gift, my 5th grade class gave me a diary. I was fond of it immediately – it was so lovely, and though it was small it had a nice heft. This became the first of dozens of diaries and journals that I’ve kept over the years.

What did I write about? The usual things. Making a birthday present for my mom, building a “hut” out of fallen branches in the backyard, friends. Here is a page about a shopping trip with my father to buy marbles, a favorite game among Dutch children.