Amanda, pre-cooking the apples can change the consistency of pie filling. If you do decide to pre-cook the apples, it's important to reduce the juices they release until they're a syrupy consistency otherwise you'll have a runny filling. Also, keep in mind that cornstarch tends to break down as a thickener if it is heated at too high a temperature for too long, so if you baked this year's pie for a bit longer than last year's or sliced into it before the juices cooled, that could have also caused the difference in consistency. It sounds like the pie ended up tasting great anyways, which is great news! Kye@KAF

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