Easy as Pie

Confession: I get discouraged easily.

Especially when it comes to pie. I love pie, but I am not very good at making it. No matter what I do, I always seem to mess up that crust. I keep going at it though... because in the end, I just want to eat some pie.

This is a very festive tart. I was feeling particularly spirited this morning because it's been snowing non-stop. I couldn't shake that feeling, despite locking myself out of my house this morning in my pyjamas. I really did this. It was really embarrassing. At this time I decided I wanted to make a pie.

Inspiration at its finest.

Naturally the crust gave me trouble. It was sticking to my hands, and when I finally got it into the pan and into the oven, behold: I forgot to poke the crust when I blind-baked it.

Uh-huh.

It's fine. It was puffy, but it was totally fine. I waited for it to cool and ate half a box of Mary's Crackers. It was fine.

I was sure I had too much filling—I know, who says that? I was worried it would spill over, so onto a baking sheet it went (fyi: the juices did not bubble over for me. I worry too much).

I'm really happy with this tart. It's so festive and tangy. Sprinkle some pepitas over thew top and it's downright fancy.

Cranberry- Ginger Holiday Tart

1 single 8- or 9-inch pie crust, blind-baked (I used the recipe for the shortbread crust from the Joy of Vegan Baking)

13oz. fresh cranberries, rinsed
1/2 cup sugar (I used vanilla sugar, but that's just because I'm trying to use it up)
1/4-1/2 cup currants
1/4 cup chopped crystallized ginger
1tbsp. cornstarch
Dash kosher salt
Handful of toasted pepitas, to garnish


Combine cranberries, ginger, currants, cornstarch and salt in a bowl and toss to coat.

Pour filling into baked and cooled crust. It will seem like the filling won't fit, but it will. It will look like it's too high, but it's not. If you are worried about the filling bubbling over (as I was) place the tart on a baking sheet before popping into a 375 degree preheated oven.

Bake 35-40 minutes, until juices are bubbling. Remove from oven, sprinkle over the pepitas, and cool completely before devouring.

Let it Snow!

Happy December!


After months of wondering when it was going to happen, snow finally arrived here yesterday. I was afraid it would never come. I'm so relieved.

I'm in the spirit for the holidays now. I need snow to get me started and on my merry way, so now I'm totally ok with playing my Christmas music and deck(ing?) the halls now.

For this month, I have a few things planned to keep my oven busy. I will be sharing, of course! 'Tis the season, and all.

For now, I have no recipe for these bars. I actually forget how I made them... as I took this photo back in October. All I remember is that they were full of chocolate and coffee.

Yeah. I will work on that memory thing, I promise.