Sour Cherry & Almond Tarts

Once I get the first whiff of spring, I immediately want to do the following, all day every day: 1) stroll along Whyte Ave, coffee in hand; 2) sit on a patio, any patio, and get day-tipsy; and 3) go to the farmers' market, namely the Old Strathcona Farmers Market. The Strathcona market is great because it's indoors, so even if you have premature spring fever and it's still -10 degrees outside, you can get that lovely market experience without freezing your buns off. 

We went to the Strathcona market a few weeks ago, and it was packed with equally eager market-goers. Among the goodies I picked up was a bag of frozen sour cherries from Rainbow Acres farm. I can never find cherries in the grocery store that aren't candied or swimming in sugar, so this was exciting. Real cherries are such a rare treat. Plus these were already pitted! Since then I've browsed what feels like hundreds of cherry recipes, until I finally landed on this cherry almond tart from the Joy of Baking. It was a tough decision, but someone had to make it. 

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Love Bars

 

I know that our sense of smell is supposed to be the sense most strongly linked to memory, but I think you'll all agree that certain foods can act as little time machines, zooming us back to a time and place buried in the past. Love Bars, which are sold at Pret A Manger (a sandwich chain in the UK that sells really tasty to-go meals), have this time machine effect on me; one bite and I'm back on the slow train to Chelmsford, eating my lunch after a long morning in the library. The ironic thing is that I would've been in the library researching nostalgia - the subject of my thesis - and now I'm waxing nostalgic about the delicious treats I enjoyed after studying (...and before studying, and during studying).

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Carrot Cake with Lime Mascarpone Icing

 

It was my mom's birthday this past weekend, and I wanted to bake her a cake. And, it being fall, I've had a craving for a spicy, hearty carrot cake with mile-high icing on top. Luckily, I had just the right amount of mascarpone and cream cheese left over from making nectarine & mascarpone tarts, so it worked out perfectly. There's something about the combination of warm spices, earthy carrots, and cool, silky cream cheese icing that's so comforting. It's one of the best parts of fall.

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Brown Butter Financiers with Maple Cream

Springtime in Edmonton, with its 5-foot snow banks, brown slush and icy winds, makes me a little wistful for the springs I've had in other places. In England, March through June is a storybook season: a little gloomy at first, then optimistically budding, then verdant, blossoming, and lush. You kind of feel like having a picnic at all times. March in Montreal is icy and cold, sure, but it's also "sugaring off" season - or as I like to call it, MAPLE TIME - when dozens of little shacks set up all over the city, offering every kind of maple confection. The smell of warm maple syrup is in the air, and it's effing magical. 

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Frangipane Tarts

So... if you don't already own British chef Jamie Oliver's book Meals in Minutes, or haven't seen the accompanying TV series, then you need to do either or both (probably both) right now. The book is full of relatively simple and extremely delicious recipes, designed as full meals, so you can impress people with a beautiful spread without working at it all day long. Plus the photographs in the book are so gorgeous you'll want to eat the page itself. 

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