Wednesday, November 26, 2014

TWD/BCM: Cranberry Crackle Tart


"Close your eyes and pretend to be in Paris," I said.
Ahhhhhh...

Yes, this was good.
Unlike anything we've had before.
Fantastic crust spread with jam and topped
with a crunchy cranberry-studded meringue.



Equally important, it was a nice, light, prelude-to-Thanksgiving use for the excess cranberries I'm forced to purchase every year. My mother's cranberry salad recipe calls for a pound of cranberries. They only come in 12 ounce bags now, so I usually buy two and scale up. This year I didn't have to do that.


It's a special year for Mother's Cranberry Salad. I don't have that many cooking memories from childhood, but one clear memory is the grinding of the cranberries. We had a metal grinder that clamped onto our kitchen table, in fact there was a permanent dent in the table from the grinder's once-a-year workout. I haven't seen that grinder in over 30 years.


A couple of weeks ago, I was leaving the quilt guild meeting over in Marietta when I saw a small "estate sale" sign. For some reason, that sign spoke to me, so I turned around and went in search of the sale. Guess what I found? I couldn't believe it when I saw a grinder just like the one from my childhood! Best 6 dollars I ever spent.






Today we put that thing to work. The ground-up cranberries have a different consistency than berries that have been run through a food processor (which was the only way I could make the salad for the past 30 years). What a pleasure it was turning the handle, watching those little orbs being sucked into the screw-mechanism and emerging from the holes on the front as a deep red slurry. This time I had a daughter with me instead of a mother. The beat goes on. My cup runneth over. And just as we were finishing up, a flower delivery came from my sister. It was almost like she was there too.

Any recipe this dirty has been used a few times.


The other Tuesdays With Dorie bakers who made Cranberry Crackle Tart can be found here. The recipe can be found in Baking Chez Moi. It's a fabulous book. We've only just started baking through it, so now would be a great time to join in if you're interested.

Here's a shoe. Happy Thanksgiving!


14 comments:

  1. Wow that cranberry sauce sounds fantastic.

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  2. That slice of pie with the red jam poking through looks sensational. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.

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  3. Your cranberry salad looks good and so does your tart.
    Happy Thanksgiving.

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  4. Your tart is beautiful and that cranberry salad sounds delicious! Hope you had a happy Thanksgiving.

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  5. Your tart looks fantastic. The ground cranberries also look amazing, what a great find that grinder was.

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  6. I love your dirty recipe card :)

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  7. My grandmother had one of those grinders too, and I miss it (and her) a lot. Lovely story to go with a lovely tart.

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  8. Oh Margaret - this made me cry. You have BLOG too!!! <3 <3
    Keith

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  9. You have a great looking tart...I think it is all that love that is going into your cooking, I can tell from the grinder story. What a sweet thing to share...I have memories like that as well, so thank you!

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  10. What a great find--a wonderful old useful tool with a story attached. I hope you find many uses for your grinder. Your tart looks beautiful--even the fork pricks are artistic!

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  12. Thanks for sharing your family story about the grinder that works magic for your cranberry salad! Estate sales can be great gateways to the past. And the kitchen is a bridge between our memories of the past and present.

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  13. Margaret, your tart looks so beautiful! And how wonderful that you happened upon a grinder like that! Wonderful story - thanks for sharing.

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  14. What a lovely story! So wonderful that you can pass this tradition on. And your tart turned out beautifully, too.

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