Dina, your mum's apple cake/pie still rules! Yum-yum!
Otherwise, funny you mention home cooking: I tried Monday to bake my mum's scones because I had been thinking about having some proper English scones for ages and was tired of the blah scones from those other coffee shop places. Having these scones would just make everything right with the world and bring me right back home, I thought. Whenever my mum made her scones, they usually lasted about a day or so (the record is 1/2 a day), they were that moist, tender, and yummy, even fragrent with hints of lemon zest, filled with plump raisins, and di-VINE with whipped cream and fresh hot coffee or tea, and if you had them on hand, fresh strawberries or raspberries. Anyway, was I ever disappointed because mine were a disaster! Of course, the elevation difference between here in Calgary and the Eastern Townships of Quebec is the complete, utter and sole cause (oven too hot or something). The fact that I tried to translate ounces into cups, tripled the batch, and forgot how much baking powder I put in, had NOTHING whatsoever to do with these scones that I think even the squirrels won't eat (shades of the banana bread fiasco, Dina, remember?!); they're flat, crunchy, dry and nothing like they should be (wait! a whole new creation!). Oh well, maybe this is one memory that will stay that way...