The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

I n 1952, I was four years old and recall my father building a roaring fire in the fireplace and sitting back with this chromatic harmonica and playing polka after polka as I twirled around the living room like a whirling Dervish.

This evening I built one of those roaring fires in the fire- place, the first of the season. And the only thing missing was dad ripping off a polka and the smell of Mom's apple pie bak- ing in the oven, which sets the tone for this column.

Its fall pie time again! This is the season when the men and women of the Touchet Valley make dessert pies using everything from soft farm cheese to citrus curds, maple sugar, chocolate, rich vanilla, nuts, apples, winter squash, pumpkins and buttermilk custard.

I put together a wine and pie tasting party this evening in front of the fireplace and invited a few friends over. I have always said the women of Dayton, of which I am one, know how to make pie. And one recipe that remains a favorite among friends and former customers of downtown Dayton's Wildberries Café is the "Sugar Fairy Apple Pie."

Tonight, I paired this pie with a bottle of Poet's Leap Riesling, a regional semisweet white wine rippling in fall nu- ances; spicy, nut-like undertones with a drizzle of lemon zest left to puddle on the tongue. A Long Shadow wine, the Poet's Leap Riesling recipe and barrel room is overseen by Walla Walla winemaker Gilles Nicault. Nicault, is Long Shadow's Director of Winemaking, and he's meticulous about his craft. Long Shadow Winery: 1604 Frenchtown Road Walla Walla, 509-526-0905.

Sugar Fairy Apple Pie

The success of the Sugar Fairy Pie line is solely based on using quality ingredients and white sugar without con- science: liberally brush whole cream around the rim and crust top before heavily dousing the top in sugar before baking.

Your own double pie crust recipe (white or rice flour)

4-Warren Orchard Apples peeled and sliced

2-cups white sugar

1-teaspoon each: cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg

Zest of one lemon

2-tablespoon white unbleached white or rice flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl add all filling ingredients and mix well; rest ingredients 10-minutes re-stir and fill bottom pie crust. Apply top crust, crimp edges and apply air slits. Liberally brush entire crust with whole cream, sprinkle top heavily in white sugar. Cover pie top in foil and bake for 40-minutes, remove foil and bake until l crust is beautifully browned. Cool pie on rack to room temperature before slicing. For a real "scrummy," pie and wine pairing, pass a plate of sliced white extra sharp cheddar cheese paired with a bottle of Poets Leap Riesling.

Readers, until next week, "Eat Art, Drink Imagination!" For more recipes, photos and Moveable Feasts Catering ideas see www.chefjudithhenderson.com.