Remembering a real nana with her winning apple pie recipe

A lovely soul has left this world but she leaves behind quite the legacy of family, friends and fans.

Catherine "Cathy" Tierney died on Sept. 6 in Pawtucket. She was 104. 

I met her when she was but 93 and vibrant as could be as she shared her apple pie and crust recipe. 

At the time, I wrote, "If Cathy Tierney lived in Hollywood instead of Pawtucket, she'd be Betty White.

"At 93 she uses an iPad (her apps include one for Betty Crocker recipes), a Facebook page (she friended me, too), and a collection of old and new cookbooks that she reads before going to sleep at night. She rode on the back of a Harley Davidson motorcycle to her 90th birthday party, in a pretty blue dress."

She wasn't just beloved as a mother of seven and a grandmother and great grandmother, but also as the Pawtucket Library Bookmobile lady. She took care of a lot of people, I heard. 

The day of our visit, she fed Journal photographer Bob Thayer a big piece of her hot apple pie. He told her, and me later, he never had a better piece of pie. 

He died too soon six years ago. I can't help hoping that he welcomed Cathy at the pearly gates and asked if he could have another piece of pie. 

Here's her recipe and tips. 

Nana Tierney's Blue Ribbon Apple Pie

8-10 apples (McIntosh preferred)

2 tablespoons lemon juice

⅓ to 1½ cup sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

Water

A few graham crackers

Lemon zest

1½ tablespoons tapioca powder (or flour)

2-3 tablespoons butter

1 egg white for wash

Sugar to sprinkle

Make crust.

Peel and core apples, slice and place in a saucepan. Add lemon juice, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix well. Add 3 or 4 drops of water. Place on medium heat and cook for 5-6 minutes. Stir with a wooden spoon until they are softened.

Remove from heat and cool while you roll out dough.

Remove dough from fridge and slice into three equal parts. Return one part to fridge (up to 3 days) or freezer. Roll out other two pieces on floured wax paper. Wax paper is 12-inches wide and you've rolled it enough when you reach the width end of the paper.

Put crust in 9-inch glass pie plate. Crumble up graham crackers and sprinkle on bottom of crust. Pour in apple mixture. Add a little freshly grated lemon zest for zing. Sprinkle tapioca or flour over the apples.

Cut butter into pats and place on top of apples.

Add top crust and secure with bottom crust.

Fork-whip egg white and brush over the crust. Sprinkle with a handful of sugar. Cut two or three slits in dough to allow steam to vent.

Bake 50 minutes in a 350-degree oven.

Nana's Pie Crust

4 cups flour

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons sugar

½ cup butter

1¼ cup Crisco Butter Flavor Shortening

1 egg

2 tablespoons white vinegar

Milk

In a large bowl add flour, salt and sugar and mix well. Add butter and Crisco and cut shortening with a pastry blender until broken into small crumbs.

Break egg into a measuring cup. Beat with a fork. Add vinegar and mix. Add enough milk to fill the cup to the 2/3 cup mark.

Add to the flour mixture and form into a ball with your hands. 

Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 20 minutes. Makes 2 crusts.

Cathy's tips: 

Use an apple peeling corer to get those eight or nine apples cut quickly.

Put the apples, with sugar and cinnamon, on the stove for a few minutes to soften the apples.

Before putting the apples in the crust, break up a few graham crackers to crumbs so the apple's liquid doesn't make the crust soggy.

Use Crisco's butter-flavored shortening and mix it with butter for the best crust.