Amazing apple custard pie

This recipe was given to me by a friend whom I worked with at a long term care facility (nursing home) years ago. He being a bit older than me (sorry, K, it's true) we may have seemed an unlikely pair to strike up a friendship but we had a lot of shared interests in common along with a high stress work environment and a not-so-happy-working-department.

We would pick the apples from the trees outside of the therapy room and he would take them home to make into these amazing pies, which he would share with favorite residents ( the elderly farmers who loved it when we talked their ears off). I, for my part, would "sneak" these old timers mason jars of strong homemade wine after secretly clearing it with the nurses. I think those older guys felt valued when I asked them for practical gardening and homesteading advice although more than one marveled that someone my age and gender even cared about those topics. And I learned a ton from their experience.

Let it be known to anyone who actually cares: I hate fruit pies.  They taste like flavored sugar and make my teeth hurt.  The "fruit" component is usually so lost that it makes a person wonder what the hell the point was, really.

But this.

Oh, this pie is different.

It tastes simply like warmed apples and spiced pudding.  Good hot or cold, with coffee or ice cream. Or call it breakfast.  My friend always cut his slices into neat rings to fill the pie but really, anything will do.