By April 2033. Kai and Sarah announced they were getting married. They told me in the house kitchen on a Saturday morning while I was making coffee, which seemed exactly right for how Kai communicates important things—practically, directly, while something else is happening. He said: we're getting married in September. I said: good. I said: where? He said: here. I said: obviously.
Sarah's family was coming from upstate New York—Mohawk Nation, people who hadn't seen Oklahoma before, people who were coming with their own deep food traditions and their own relationship to land and practice. I thought about what the food should do for this occasion: not just Cherokee food and not just Haudenosaunee food, but something that acknowledged both without diminishing either. A table where two traditions came together and neither needed to yield to the other.
I called Sarah's mother, whose name was Patricia, and we talked for an hour about food. She told me about the Three Sisters traditions from her community, the cornbread prepared differently from mine, the traditional soups and the berry preparations. I told her about what I'd be making. We talked about overlap and divergence and at the end she said: this is going to be a beautiful table. I said: your family is welcome at it completely.
Made posole while thinking about the menu—the first batch of the season, the slow hominy and pork, the dried chiles. The house filling with the smell of something long-cooked. Wedding menus need time to develop. I had five months. I started immediately.
That first pot of posole clarified something for me: the wedding menu needed dishes that carried their own weight—foods with history, foods that didn’t need explanation. When I thought about what to offer Patricia’s family from the Northeast, cranberries kept coming back to me. They belong to that land the way hominy belongs to mine. This cranberry walnut pie became one of the anchors of the dessert table, something I could set down and say honestly: this is for you, it comes from your part of the world, and it belongs here alongside everything else.
Cranberry Walnut Pie
Prep Time: 25 minutes | Cook Time: 55 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes | Servings: 8
Ingredients
- 1 unbaked 9-inch pie crust (homemade or store-bought)
- 2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
- 1 cup chopped walnuts
- 1 cup granulated sugar, divided
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon orange zest (from about 1 large orange)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven. Heat your oven to 350°F. Place the unbaked pie crust into a 9-inch pie dish, crimp the edges, and set aside on a rimmed baking sheet.
- Prepare the cranberry layer. Scatter the cranberries evenly across the bottom of the unbaked crust. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of the granulated sugar directly over the cranberries and toss gently to coat. Follow with the chopped walnuts, spreading them in an even layer over the cranberries.
- Make the batter. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs until lightly beaten. Add the melted butter, remaining 1/2 cup granulated sugar, and the brown sugar, whisking until smooth and combined. Stir in the flour, salt, vanilla extract, and orange zest until just incorporated—do not overmix.
- Fill the pie. Pour the batter slowly and evenly over the cranberry and walnut layer in the crust. Use a spatula to gently spread it to the edges if needed. The batter will be thick and will settle during baking.
- Bake. Transfer the pie (on its baking sheet) to the preheated oven and bake for 50 to 55 minutes, until the top is deep golden brown and the center is set with only a slight jiggle. If the crust edges begin to darken too quickly, tent them loosely with foil after 30 minutes.
- Cool and serve. Remove from the oven and let the pie cool on a wire rack for at least 1 hour before slicing. The filling firms further as it cools. Serve at room temperature or slightly warm, with a dollop of whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream if desired.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 430 | Protein: 5g | Fat: 24g | Carbs: 52g | Fiber: 2g | Sodium: 180mg