I didn't watch Twin Peaks the first time around, largely because I was a toddler when it first aired and a lot of the great weirdness of it would probably have been lost on me. I always had it in the back of my mind as something I knew I was supposed to watch, and should get around to one day. There are so many cultural references to the show floating around that I had picked up a bit of Twin Peaks through osmosis. But then when I heard a new season was being coming out, I finally got motivated to watch it, and it's really good you guys! I'm sure it's news to you, but it's just as good as everyone said all these 26 years.

I wanted to pay homage to Twin Peaks' new season with a Double R Diner special, a cherry pie and a cup of strong black coffee.

I know it's a bit early for fresh cherries, at least where I live, so I used some jarred sour cherries and some frozen sweet cherries. You can use all sour, or all sweet and fresh cherries will work too.

crust:

adapted from Bon Appetit

⅓ cup almond flour
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 big pinch salt
2½ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup chilled butter, cut into pieces
2 large egg yolks
1/4 cup cold water

Combine almond flour, granulated sugar, salt, all-purpose flour and butter in a food processor and pulse until mixture is just combined and has a sandy texture. Combine egg yolks and water and drizzle them over the flour mixture. Pulse until just combined. Add a few drops more water if the dough isn't coming together.

Dump the dough out onto a large sheet of plastic wrap and squish it into a rectangle. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and chill for at least two hours or overnight.

On floured parchment paper, roll out just over half the dough to 1/4" thickness, until it's large enough to line a 9" pie plate. Transfer the dough to the pie plate and trim excess.

Roll out remaining dough until 1/4" thick and use a small piping tip to cut out polka-dot holes in the pie top or slice vents with a knife.

filling:

adapted from Martha Stewart.

Note about cherries: Fresh or frozen is fine, I like a mix of sour and sweet cherries. Because it's a bit early in the season, I used 5 cups sweet frozen cherries + 1.5 cups jarred sour cherries, drained of syrup. If you use frozen, make sure to thaw, rinse and drain well on paper towels to prevent sogginess.

2 pounds cherries
2 tbs corn starch
2 tbs lemon juice
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 tbs heavy cream
sanding sugar for sprinkling

Pre-heat oven to 400° F.

Toss cherries, sugar, lemon juice and corn starch in a large bowl. Place filling into the dough lined pie pan. Drape the top dough layer over the cherries and trim off excess dough. There is quite a bit of extra, which can be frozen for another use.

Pinch the two layers of dough together all around the edge. Beat together egg and cream and brush over pie top. Generously sprinkle with sanding sugar and bake on lowest rack in the oven for 60-70 minutes. If the edges brown too quickly, wrap tinfoil around the edges.

Serve with a damn fine cup of coffee, preferably in a foggy little seaside town enshrouded in mystery and cedars.