As American As Apple Pie

Since 4th of July fell on a Wednesday this year, N and I decided to do a bunch of random things like try out this apple pie recipe borrowed from a friend.  And because I have extremely strange ideas about things, what is more American than an apple pie decorated with an American flag design?

This pie was totally from scratch.  Homemade pie crust and apples grown in the garden!  And I cut those stars by hand because we didn't have any cookie cutters.  When I have ideas, I go to extremes to execute them, haha.

P.S. I taxed my GIMP-ing skills so much by trying to make this simple collage even though I usually collage things in Picasa.

The recipe! (As notated by the friend)
Needs 6-7 cups of cored peeled apples

Put the following into a bowl
2 c flour
1 tsp salt
3/4 c (maybe a little less) shortening

Cut the shortening into the flour with a fork. The goal here is to leave pea sized chunks of shortening (not fully incorporating the shortening leads to a flakier crust)
Mix 5 1/2 tbsp of cold water in 1/4 c flour and add to the above
Form into a ball and wrap in plastic. The less you handle it, the less your body heat melts the shortening, and the flakier the crust is. Chill for half an hour.
To roll  out the dough, place 2/3 or so on a floured surface (the rest will be used for lattice). Roll until larger than the pie tin so that you have some dough hanging over to make fancy edges. Fold in half and then in half again to transfer to the tin.
Put in filling.
Roll out and cut the lattice strips.
Finish by dotting with butter
Cook on 400 for 45 minutes.

Apple pie filling
Combine 1-2 tsp lemon juice, lemon zest (optional), 2/3-3/4 c sugar, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, 1/8 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 2 tbsp little pieces of butter
Peel, core, slice apples
Layer pie with half of the apples with the sharp edges in so they don't poke holes in the crust
Pour on half of mixture
Layer other half of apples
Pour on top rest of mixture