Cherries

I just realized how long it's been since I posted here. I'm no less grateful when I don't post. I was busy, for which I am very grateful.

I made my Father a wonderful gluten-free, sugar-free cherry pie on Sunday - from fresh cherries. A store had them on sale for only $2.99/lb., so we took advantage. Cherries and cherry pie are Dad's favorites. (Along with chocolate-covered cherries, which he can't eat anymore.) Well, when Dad and my sister bought the cherries, they went overboard. I made a big pie and had tons left.

Faced with another 4 or so pounds of cherries to cook with, plus another pound for eating, I had to come up with a new baking plan. This afternoon, I made cherry brownies and chocolate-cherry cupcakes (both gluten-free, but not sugar-free). Those brownies are to die for. (I used the Bob's Red Mill Brownie Mix Seriously, I don't know how something that good happened. The cupcakes aren't nearly as good.

Cherries are a taste of summer in the winter. They are sweet, juicy, and full of flavor. Wherever they came form and whoever grew them did good work on them.

(This is a picture from the web. My pies never have that nice a crust or mint leaves garnishing the plate.)

Can she bake a cherry pie,
Billy Boy, Billy Boy?
Can she bake a cherry pie,
Charming Billy?
She can bake a cherry pie,
Quick's a cat can wink her eye.
She's a young thing,
And cannot leave her mother.

While I might not be a young thing, unable to leave my mother (who died in 2004, so seems a moot point), I can make a cherry pie. And, if you see me in the next couple of weeks and my fingernails look a little strange or dirty, they are just stained with cherry juice from all the pitting.

I AM GRATEFUL FOR FRESH CHERRIES IN JANUARY!