Ideally, the voting process should be nothing but exciting, but it’s harder this year than usual. Looking toward November is a worrisome occupation, at least for me. I want to believe that everything will turn out okay, but I’m in a negative frame of mind these days.

Whenever I feel overwhelmed, I bake. There’s a mindful mindlessness about baking that lets my brain fall away a bit as I make ganache or press tart dough into a pan. The motions are repetitive, soothing, and exactly what I need sometimes. When the result is this mind-blowing linzer tart smothered in ganache and almonds, I can banish all the negativity and just think about the rich flavors exploding in my mouth.

It’s not like me to be incredibly negative, or at least, not in my head. But recently I’ve sustained a series of failures, and so I’ve had to work harder to focus on the good stuff. Whenever I’m in this frame of mind, it’s hard to see all the people who are seemingly more satisfied and successful displaying their good fortune right and left. The rational part of my brain is thrilled for them, but the emotional part is resentful. That’s human nature, after all.

So in times like these, I’m shifting the focus where it should be. On my family, of course, which affords me great joy. On the part of my job that takes place in the classroom, where I work with the best students a teacher could ask for. On the changing season, letting sunshine and fresh air into the house. On having an awareness of purpose. There’s so much to be thankful for.

When I get thankful, I think of pie. Really. It’s some kind of Thanksgiving trigger. But it’s April. What to do?

Well, make a tart. It’s gluten-free for my beloved Kenny and kosher for Passover for the rest of us. We don’t get normal food until Sunday! Yes, that counts liquor. Happy hour is going to have to wait a bit.

This is one of the best desserts I’ve made in the GF category. The crust (adapted from Paula Shoyer’s The New Passover Menu) is mainly almond meal with some walnut meal thrown in for good measure. Once the crust is baked, I spread raspberry jam over the top and filled it with ganache. I made this tart non-dairy by using fake coffee creamer and margarine, but the recipe will list heavy cream and butter because that’s more standard. They both work, though!

I’m looking out the window as I write this, where the leaves on the trees have become rich and green. There’s a lot that’s good to focus on. During a time that’s less than easy in some ways, I need to see all the beauty and savor it. And I also need to savor this tart, so get on that train with me!

Purim is on Thursday. Who knows what I’m talking about?

Every spring, the Jewish holiday of Purim occurs. It’s one of the fun ones, following the whole “they tried to kill us, they failed, let’s eat” mode of celebration. On that day, people dress in costume, deliver baskets of treats to friends, give charity, and eat hamantaschen.

This delightful cookie is named after the villain of the Purim story, Haman. These are triangular-shaped cookies that are traditionally filled with fruit or chocolate, but I’ve switched things up a bit. The dough here has a Linzer cookie twist with ground almonds, and the filling is chocolate raspberry. Talk about celebrating in style!

Holidays are the most fun with children. And I’m not really a kid person, which often surprises people because I both teach for a living and have three children of my own. But really, that’s not relevant. I don’t teach because I love kids; I teach because I want to help them. And as for my children, they’re mine. I love them. But other people’s? Well, depends on how well-behaved they are.

Anyway, I digress. It’s so much fun to see kids get excited about holiday celebrations. For weeks, I’ve been watching my kids prepare for Purim. They’ve been singing songs, making masks, and doing project after project. If I became bored with it all before they were born, now I’m right back into it.

In fact, my costume is all set to go. As long as my daughters insist on being Disney princesses every year (this year it’s Aurora and Rapunzel, while last year was Anna and Belle), I will persist in being a Disney villain. Last year I was Maleficent; this year I am Cruella.  It actually works really well in making them less afraid of the evil parade of women Disney loves to share. Because really, they’re all quite terrifying.

Oh, well. We’ll leave the discussion of sexist portrayals of women as evil throughout history for another blog post. I’m already excited about a holiday. Let’s keep the energy there!

Hamantaschen are deceptively hard to make. They seem just like cookies, but the epic fail rate is pretty high for so many people. Among the possible issues you can encounter: dough is too sticky, not sticky enough, puffs up obscenely the oven, the edges open, the filling explodes. See? This Purim thing isn’t all fun and games.

This recipe is foolproof if you follow it. Please don’t improvise! And once your dough is rolled out in circles, pinch those edges together really well. You want almost no filling showing through. When I made these with my kids, they definitely had issues. But they’re kids, so it’s fine. It was fun anyway. The ones they made aren’t pictured here, of course.

Happy Purim to all of my readers. Whether you celebrate or not, try and get your hands on some hamantaschen! They’re worth the effort!

Before that starts, though, I wanted to make sure your holiday pie plans are all set. The week of Thanksgiving I shared four pie recipes with you, but there are so many more that I love. Here’s a review of my favorites!

First up is this Peanut Butter Oreo Pie. Honestly, this might be my favorite thing that I’ve made all year. I don’t usually pick and choose, but I couldn’t stop eating this. Instead of giving at least half away, which is my usual modus operandi, I kept this thing and hid it from everyone else. Slice after slice made its way into me, and I missed it like an old friend once it was gone.

Luckily, it’s easy to make! Most of my pie recipes don’t require knocking yourself out. Even the fanciest pies, like this Strawberry Cream Pie, don’t require crazy amounts of effort. I made this at the end of the school year as a celebration, and unfortunately, my fellow teachers destroyed it before I even got a slice. So not cool!

If you’re a food blogger and you want to taste your own food before it leaves your kitchen (which is pretty much a requirement), then the most fun part of the job is taking pictures of a slice and then eating that slice, bit by bit, after the photo shoot is over. With this Peanut Butter Cup Cheesepake (not a typo!), I more shoveled it into my mouth. This pie/cheesecake hybrid had me. I was powerless to resist it, most especially because I melted peanut butter chips directly into the graham cracker crust. Can we say crack, anyone?

Most recently, I’ve been obsessed with my Chocolate Linzer Tart. There are two slices left in my freezer, and I’m pretty sure they’ll be gone by tomorrow. This big guy was the sleeper star of our Thanksgiving table, and the crust is one of the best I’ve ever made. It’s flaky, crumbly, and buttery. You can’t go wrong.

I plan to make a lot more pie, but let’s face it. This time of year is the best for good pie recipes, and then we have a bit of a dry spell until summer pie season, when all those amazing fruits burst forth. If you’re looking for something a little different than the typical winter pie, try one of these!