Fool 'em with Mock Apple Pie

Dear Readers: Here's a recipe for Mock Apple Pie that uses crackers instead of apples! My mother first printed this recipe in 1959, and I have reprinted it occasionally through the years. So, here's your chance to give it a try, and don't tell anyone the ingredients until he or she is done eating a piece.

It's easy to make, so let's get started. You will need:

Pastry for a double-crusted 9-inch pie

2 cups water

1 1/4 cups sugar

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

20 single-stack, square soda (saltine) crackers (regular, salted)

Butter ( 1/4 to 1/2 stick for dotting)

Ground cinnamon or cinnamon sugar (for sprinkling)

Preheat the oven to 375 F. Line the bottom of a 9-inch pie pan with pastry. In a pot, boil water, sugar and cream of tartar, stirring until all of the sugar is dissolved. Add the whole crackers (do not break up) and boil only 1 minute. Spoon the mixture gently into the pie shell, dot the top with butter and sprinkle on the cinnamon to taste. Now, cover the pie with the top crust and cut several vents. Bake in the preheated oven for 35 minutes. Let the pie cool completely so that it becomes firm before cutting the first slice. —Heloise

P.S. We just made this without a crust, and wow! It looks and tastes like apple pie — honest! You will fool a lot of people either way you make it.

Dear Readers: Did you know that the first pies were usually made with meat instead of fruit? When fruit pies were first introduced, they were usually served with breakfast. Now that sounds good, doesn't it? Americans' favorite pie is apple pie, followed by pumpkin. So, why not have a nice, warm slice of apple or mock apple pie right now?—Heloise

Dear Heloise: I have found a good use for those sticky-backed notepads. I keep about 20 sheets of one inside my wallet and use them to jot down notes or grocery lists as needed.

Then when I go to the grocery store, I stick them on the handle of the grocery cart. This has eliminated hunting for lists. —Marylee Berry, Stamps, Ark.

Dear Heloise: My all-time favorite Heloise item is the one about the way to crack hard-boiled eggs by draining off the water and shaking the pan.

I think of you each time I have hard-boiled eggs. —Carolyn in Virginia

Don't forget to run cold water in the pan! Many times the eggshells just float off. —Heloise