Between bake-off and it being the 7th I had the desire to make an apple pie. I have never before made one. These were always made by my Auntie Sheila. She was a baker supreme. I don't have her light touch, her attention to detail, her patience, but I do have her apperciation of good food.

I put cloves in because that's how it should be made. It has been some time since I have tasted an apple pie. The warmth from the cloves took me back instantly to her dinner table and my luck in taking home the left overs. She could make a pastry so short that Mary and Paul would be envious. Today I tasted just a tiny bit of that again. It was so sweet, so comforting and perfectly glorious. Combined with the hallowed yellow sauce it was bliss.

If only I could re-create her ability to win at everything, games, crosswords, lottery......