How many of you feel pressure to do lots of “christmasy” things with your kids? I don’t usually feel too much pressure because I love all that kind of stuff, but this year we got really ambitious and made a Holiday Season Bucket List.

Well, that was probably the first place I made a mistake. Because the kids could put anything within reason on the list and they have been totally fixated on Ice Skating. Now I am a terrible skater. Like I can get around without falling on my own, but don’t ask me to do anything else. Pete cannot even stand on the ice.

Saturday we went to ice skate at the Seattle Center “pop-up” skating rink. Well, I was holding Pia’s hand while she made her way around the rink and we were doing just fine. But then someone took Pia out. And then, because I was holding her hand, I went down too. Only I tried to break my fall on instinct and used my wrist to do it. I knew I did something bad right away- and you know when you are in a fully public place but you don’t want to cry? And I was like trying to blow on my own eyeballs to dry up the layer of tears that was threatening to fall. Oh geez. Worst ever.

Anyways- Saturday afternoon, much to my great pleasure (just kidding) we wound up in the ER. I was beyond relieved to find out that it was not fractured, but just a bad sprain and some nasty looking contusions (who would have thought that it was joy to hear that news)?! Pia said- “boy, I guess we should have gone to look at the Christmas lights instead, huh mom?” yes. I think my Ice Skating days are over…

But I did have a moment of joy on Saturday evening when I got back from the Hospital and cut myself a slice of the most insanely delicious Caramel Cranberry Nut Tart. It reminds me of like all the good filling that would be in a candy bar. The best gooey vanilla caramel and crunchy nuts and an occasional sweet tang of cranberry in a flaky almond crust. (my favorite is when I would het a bite of macadamia nut in that luscious caramel). Bottom line is that this tart is just gorgeous and not too complicated and so festive (perfect for a Christmas Dessert!!) ***If you are in Seattle and looking to pick up a signed copy of Generous Table, I am signing books from 5-7pm Wednesday, December 9th at the Lower Queen Anne Metropolitan Market as a fun Holiday event! This is my “home base” store where I grocery shop about 5 days a week, so it’s fun to be there signing books and sharing recipes from the Holiday section of the book!   OK!! To make this tart, this is what you do: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.In the bowl of a food processor, combine all of the dry ingredients. Add the coconut oil and pulse until you have a dry crumb. Add the pumpkin puree and water and pulse until you have a dough that is moist enough to hold together in a ball. Grease a 10” tart pan with coconut oil and then immediately press the dough into the pan evenly. Press the measuring cup into the dough until it’s flat and the crust around the outside is even.  

Place the tart shell on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 20-35 minutes until golden. Remove the tart shell from the oven and place on a cooling rack. Use a measuring cup to repack down the bottom and sides of the crust so that any steam is released. Let the crust cool. Fill the tart crust with the nuts and the cranberries, then make the caramel.

In a heavy sauce pan over medium-high heat melt the sugar. Stir gently until the sugar is mostly melted and then turn the heat to lowest and add the coconut oil and whisk in the cream and the vanilla. If the sugar seizes up then turn the heat to medium and stir consistently until the sugar has melted back into the caramel and it is smooth and thick. This can take 5-8 minutes so be patient!Pour the caramel over the nuts and cranberries and leave to set up. (I put the tart in the freezer for 20 minutes before slicing.)