I hope you didn’t think I forgot about cranberries. I didn’t. This Cranberry, Caramel and Almond Tart is one of my all-time favorite recipes. I have made it many times and it is always delicious. The tart is served at one of my favorite New York food spots, The City Bakery and the recipe was published in the LA Times a couple of years ago. Deb tackled this recipe a while back and her post on it is useful to look at. Like Deb, I also had some trouble with the crust and so switched it out for an easier crust that I have had a much better relationship with. Not only is this beautiful, it is delicious. read more+++

These are strange days. I find myself baking more than usual. Like everyone else, politics have been on my mind and I feel anxious about the future. Yesterday Bryan’s parents and my mom were over and I baked this apple pie for the occasion.

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Okay, I know what you are thinking, here he goes again with another difficult-to-locate ingredient. Lebneh (or Lebni, Lebne) cheese is made from Kefir (fermented milk—sort of like yogurt) and is available at well-stocked grocery stores or middle-eastern markets. It is very delicious—like a saltier, firmer sour cream. Smooth and creamy. It is the key ingredient in Alice Medrich’s Lebni Tart, which is another great recipe from her most recent cookbook.

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I hadn’t tried a Concord grape until I was an adult, and it was quite a revelation. Growing up on red and green seedless grapes from the supermarket, I always questioned the flavor of grape candy and bubble gum—it didn’t taste like grapes! When I first tried a Concord grape a few years ago at Chicago’s Green City Market I was speechless. Ohhhhh, that is where artificial grape flavor comes from! What a confusing chronology to experience a flavor in it’s artificial form for so long before trying the real thing. I still find myself surprised by the flavor every autumn when Concords reach the market.

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I know that cherry season is over, but let this be a reminder that it will come again. And when it does this recipe will be waiting for you. This really and truly was the best pie I have ever eaten. It was also the first real pie I have ever baked. I was always intimidated by them. I had made tarts, bread, candy—but for some reason pie seemed too difficult. It isn’t.

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