We’re not giving excuses (though we have some, and they’re very legit).

Instead, to make up for not posting in nearly a month, we’re sharing one of our best recipes yet.

This apple pie recipe is actually from Alex’s grandmother.  His parents keep her old recipe box, which is more like a treasure chest than a recipe box.  Or a gold mine.  Or a closet full of free new clothes…

Alex has raved about the pie for years, so we were thrilled and surprised when the recipe surfaced.  We made about 5 photocopies just to be safe, and finally got around to baking it this weekend for friends who (finally!) made it to the city for a visit.

It would be typical of me to describe this pie as wonderful and delicious, but I need to do better than that.  For this pie, I’m going with lush and delectable, savory and comforting (thank you, thesaurus.com).  Contrary to what you might expect, the cheddar transforms this into something unexpectedly unique and unforgettably good.  It was enough to get us blogging again — we hope, with regularity.

Ingredients:
1 pie crust (you actually only need half of a recipe — we used Alice Water’s, but you can use anyone’s, or even a frozen version if you must).

(filling)
4 large granny smith apples, peeled and thinly sliced
1 cup sugar
2 tbsp flour
2 tsp lemon zest
1/8 tsp cloves
1 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt

(topping)
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/2 stick butter

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400.  In a large bowl, combine sugar, flour, zest, cloves, cinnamon and salt.  Toss apples in mixture.  In a separate bowl, combine topping ingredients, mixing the butter into the rest of the ingredients with your fingers.  Roll out pie crust dough, and place in the bottom of the pan.  Arrange apples in the pan in overlapping circles.  Pour cheddar topping over apples.  Bake for 40 minutes, or until topping and crust are golden brown.  Let cool slightly, and serve warm.

We go through stages of obsession with frozen desserts.

Back during our days (actually, nights) working the DP, we’d make regular runs to Marathon Grill for Peanut Butter and Rasberry swirled frozen yogurt.  Last year, we became addicted to coconut and dark chocolate gelato at Philadelphia’s Capogiro.  Since moving to New York, I’ve been really getting into Pinkberry, and I think I’ve finally convinced Alex that it’s not just for legging-clad tweens.  (It’s not!)

It’s actually AMAZING — tart and creamy and, oh yeah, like $5 for a small.  So we made our own.  For way less, and an even better taste.  Even though the recipe on 101 Cookbooks ensured me that this would happen, I honestly didn’t believe it could happen.  If you have an ice cream machine, you must make this.  You won’t regret it, and could even prompt a frozen confection obsession of your own.

Ingredients:
4 cups no-fat Greek yogurt
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Instructions:
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and refrigerate for one hour.  Freeze according to ice cream machine instructions.