A bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck!

Beautiful red apples washed and ready for peeling... Don't you see why cooking and painting go together so well? These are about to go into my annual tradition of apple blackberry pies.

The ingredients looked so pretty on my countertop, complete with the recipe from last year's Martha Stewart Living. I'm a huge fan...

Diced cold butter for the crusts. I put it in a food processor with the flour, cornstarch, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon and sugar. Pulse until crumbly and then add your cold water until it just comes together.

Peeling 15 lbs of apples is easier said than done. If you're making this recipe, you may as well make several pies and save yourself the trouble of repeat batches later in the year. I made 5 pies and froze them all for the holidays. The apple slices get mixed with more sugar, spice and a few handfuls of frozen blackberries.

This crust is beautiful. I used little leaf, apple and acorn cut-outs to make it lovely. I even put a little turkey cut-out at the center of my Thanksgiving pies.

Dotted with sweet cream butter and ready for the oven or freezer: Sweet success! (and one less thing on my to-do list for Thanksgiving)

Here's the recipe: Martha Stewarts Pate Brisee Apple Blackberry Pie