cherry salsa

About a year ago, we moved out of the first house we had ever owned as adults, and into the nest that I hope will carry us at least until we empty it of children. We only moved about a mile, and we moved into a very similar neighborhood. We loved the house we had; we had upgraded and redone just about every square inch of flooring and walls in the joint to be exactly what we wanted. We simply had run out of room in that little house that had seemed spacious when we bought is as newlyweds, and was nothing short of cramped for a family of five.

I think, though, the hardest part of moving wasn't that I was going to miss the custom fireplace my husband built. It wasn't how much I thought the spanish tile floors that were installed (while we all camped out on mattresses in the living room) were perfect and could never be matched. It wasn't even the stripes I had painted in the dining room when I was nine months pregnant (someone else had to come back and get the bottom 18 inches of each wall because my belly got in my way). I brought all these memories with me. What I couldn't bring were the neighbors.

Directly across the street from us were the best neighbors anyone could ever hope for. Our first kids were about a year apart in age, and you never met such compatible souls. We were pregnant together and delivered our second kids within a month of each other. We had backyard barbeques on the weekends, we traded walking the kids to school in the mornings, and the two of us moms established Tuesday "wine nights" because that was the night our husbands both worked late. A bottle of wine and a salad, a tray of chicken nuggets, and suddenly we hoped for more late nights at the office.

Of course, we are still friends with our old neighbors. But it's a little different. I don't borrow a cup of sugar from her anymore, and barbecues need to be scheduled ahead of time. Still, though, friends like these are worth hanging on to, worth scheduling into our lives, and (I can only hope) will be here long after we empty this nest of children.

Cherry Salsa

This sweet salsa has a bit of a kick to it too. I chopped the cherries in half to garnish chicken, but you could easily chop them into smaller pieces and use it to dip your chips. If you want it milder, just use a small part of the jalapeno pepper.

4 cups cherries, pitted and chopped
1 cup chopped cilantro
1 jalapeno pepper (seeds and ribs removed), minced
6 green onions, chopped (white and green parts)
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup lemon juice

Chop it all up and stir to combine. Make this at least a couple of hours ahead of time (or in the morning, if possible), so the flavors have a chance to meld.

Canned cherry pie filling

Well, just as I was getting into the groove of cherry, cherry, cherry (Doesn't that make you want to test your luck at a slot machine)...

It was time to pick up our weekly box from AHO. In the newsletter, it was explained that the stone fruits are all ripening with lightning speed. This timing is compounded with two facts: One is that these are organic fruits (and therefore haven't been treated with any sort of fungicide). The other is that there was a big, unexpected rain recently (and although I don't understand exactly why, this was bad timing for the ripening fruits). Altogether, this all adds up to the fact that these babies can go from ripe to mush very very quickly. You have to be ready to grab and eat them during a very small window.

For this reason, the farmer sent out crates of extra fruit. That way, anyone who had some bad pieces could help themselves to extra/replacement pieces.

I got to the pick-up site at the tail end of the time slot for picking up the produce. Lucky me! The gal who coordinates the produce pick-up asked me to take as many apricots as I thought I could possibly use. There were still tons left and no one else to claim them.

So, I got a big box and filled it up pretty well. From what I can estimate, I must have gotten 16 pounds or so of apricots.

Remember, though, that these apricots have no fungicides, and go from ripe to rotten at lightning speed.

That put me into a tailspin. Now I had a fridge full of cherries that were picked at the last moments of ripening, and a huge box of apricots on the counter, threatening to turn into a box of mush at any second.

Let's just say that cherry week needed to come to an abrupt end. Which means that coming up real soon is apricot week. I am chomping at the bit to make apricot syrup, and we'll see what else happens!

I decided to quickly turn the remaining cherries into cherry pie filling and get it canned, so that I can use it later for pies. Won't I be happy to have a cherry pie next winter?

If you want do this too, use the recipe for filling that I used here, and double or triple (or more?) it as you need. I had so many cherries that aren't going to last long, that I made enough for 3 more pies. Of course, there are many other uses for cherry pie filling... topping ice cream, garnishing cheesecake, making hand-held pocket pies, and layering with yogurt and graham cracker crumbs are some of my favorites.

Once the pie filling is done, put it into jars to store. A batch of enough filling for one pie just about perfectly fills 2 pint jars.

After filling the jars, go ahead and preserve them.

Fill each jar to 1/4 inch from the top. Wipe the edges of the jar clean. Place a lid on each jar, and screw on the band until it is finger-tip tight. Place the jars into a large pot of water, and boil for 10 minutes. (for higher elevations, check this chart for processing times). The water level needs to be 1-2 inches above the top of the jars. After 10 minutes, remove from the water using a jar lifter (or tongs). Let them sit, undisturbed for 12-24 hours. You will know if they are properly sealed if you press on the lid and it doesn't give at all.


This way, you have home-made cherry pie filling any time you need it!


*This post is dedicated to my friend, Sue. She's my cherry pie filling inspiration.

Cherry muffins

Every Sunday morning, I get up at the crack of dawn (and even before dawn in the winter months) to walk about 10 miles with my friends. We are training because every year, about 8 or us do a 60-mile walk for breast cancer. It takes a lot of warm-up walks to make sure you are ready to walk all day for three days straight!

Anyway, our tradition has been to get up early on Sunday mornings, because that seems to be the only time that works well for most of us to get together regularly. These Sunday mornings are one of my favorite times of the week, because for 10 miles, I get to laugh, cry, commiserate and celebrate the things that have happened to each of us during the week. We give and get advice from one another, we share stories about our families, and we compare opinions of books, movies, TV shows, current events, etc. We quite often get into the realms of politics and religion. I think that these couple of uninterrupted hours we have together every week have made these friends some of my closest and favorite people.

At the end of 10 miles and a very early alarm clock, though, I come home exhausted! And hungry! (I certainly don't wake up any minutes sooner than I have to, in order to do something so banal as eating breakfast).

Yesterday was no exception. This week, due to having a load of very ripe cherries, I went for a batch of cherry streusel muffins. These are similar to blueberry muffins, but the cherries, due to being a bit heartier, don't break down and "bleed" as much. This makes the muffin nice and white, and the cherries stay juicy and beautifully red. They are very easy to make, and quite delicious!

Cherry Muffins

2 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup canola oil
1 cup milk
2 cups cherries, rinsed, pitted and halved

Streusel topping:
2 Tablespoons cold butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons flour

Preheat the oven to 375. Grease the bottom of a muffin pan (12 muffins) or use paper liners.

Stir together flour, sugar, cinnamon and salt. Add egg, oil, and milk, and stir until just combined. Gently fold in cherries.

Divide the batter evenly between the 12 muffin cups.

For the streusel topping, cut the butter into the sugar, cinnamon and flour, until it resembles coarse sand. Sprinkle this over the muffin batter.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the muffins are golden brown.

this post has been linked to Fresh Food Friday

My Miss American Pie

Cherry week continues around here...

I sort of felt like if I didn't make a cherry pie, I would have to be considered unAmerican.

After the kids went to bed, my husband and I enjoyed a quite couple of hours in the kitchen. He was in charge of the crust, and I did the filling. Then we put it all together, popped it in the oven, and enjoyed a little toast while we cleaned up every blessed bowl, measuring cup, bit of counter space, and utensil we own.

aren't we cute with our his and hers computers open to our recipes?

Cherry pie just looks so very homey and classic. It really isn't hard to make at all. Just a few ingredients, a short time at the stove, and then you get to sit back and smell the delicious aromas of the buttery crust and sweet cherries baking in the oven.

I added a teeny bit of almond extract to my pie, to give it just a little more depth of flavor. You certainly don't need to do this. Fresh cherries have so much sweet juicy flavor that they stand alone quite nicely.

Cherry Pie

About 5 cups of cherries, rinsed and pitted
1/2 cup water
1 cup sugar
4 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Combine all ingredients, and bring to a boil. When you start, it will look like cherries in milky white liquid. As it comes to a boil it will magically turn into cherries in thick pink liquid. Lower heat and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. By the time you are done, it will be deep red, beautiful cherry pie filling.

Let it cool a bit before filling the pie crust.


I am sure you have your own recipe for pie crust? If not, I believe there is a recipe in every cookbook and baking website ever created. If you want, I can give you mine, but I don't think it is very different than anything else out there. Of course, you can also buy a refrigerated pie crust that's already rolled out for you. It sure makes the whole project quicker and simpler! Go ahead do what works for you. I certainly won't judge you.

Roll out the bottom pie crust, and lay it in your pan. Fill with cherry mixture. Cut the top pie crust into 1/2 inch strips.

Lay 5-6 strips across the pie.

Fold back every other one, and lay a cross piece. Fold the original pieces back down, and repeat with the skipped slats from before.

Continue like this until the crust is complete. Pinch off any bits that are hanging over the edge, and flute the crust.

Cover the edges of the pie in tin foil and bake at 425 degrees for 35-45 minutes (removing the foil for the last 10 minutes or so, so the crust can brown). When the crust is golden brown, it's done!

With a cherry on top

We all went cherry picking yesterday... 

As we loaded up the car to head out, my husband asked me "Which farm do you want to go to? And are they open today? At what time?" I answered, "I guess the same one we went to last time. I didn't check to see if they are open. It's June. They usually open every day in June. If they aren't open, I am sure there is a different farm that is." Clearly, I did no planning for this trip. 


It was a beautiful (but hot) morning in the Leona Valley, where there are more cherry farms than you can shake a stick at.

When we got to the farm, the farmer informed us that it was the last two days that the farm would be open, and that there are still plenty of cherries, but we would have to search for them. The bonus, of course, is that everything left is completely ripe. Heh. Good thing we didn't wait until next week! I guess my lack of planning panned out (this time).

Between my three kids, one extra friend, and my husband and I, I think we ended up with more than 20 pounds of cherries. I'm sort of glad we had to search for them. Imagine how many they would have picked if every branch had been loaded down, like it was last year!

My daughter and her friend went off on their own, reading the chart at the farm, locating the different types of cherry trees, and harvesting specific varieties. They climbed high up into the branches to pick their cherries, and filled their buckets up to overflowing.


My youngest son proclaimed himself to be in charge of the lowest branches. He walked around half-stooped, winding in and out of trunks to find the cherries that had been missed due to being directly underneath leaves and out of the line of sight of anyone over 4 feet tall.


My middle son went for volume. He filled a couple of buckets by looking for the trees that had the most cherries, and then getting to work all in one place.

So now I have the happy task of cherry cooking. As we drove home, we discussed what we will be doing with all of these cherries. We sounded a bit like Bubba Gump...


"Cherry pie... Cherry cobbler... cherry cheesecake... cherry jam... cherry vanilla shakes... cherry chocolate cake... cherry salsa..."






First up was some cherry jam. 

I am reading a book right now, "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver. I am planning to do a little review/recap when I finish reading it. For now, though, let me say that it is about the importance -- as well as the benefits and the obstacles -- of eating locally produced food. I was very excited to buy some local fruit, get it off the tree and made into jam all on the same day. It doesn't get much fresher than that!

Cherry Jam


4 cups cherries, washed, pitted and chopped up very finely
1/4 cup lemon juice
5 cups sugar
1 package pectin


Prepare the cherries. Combine the cherries and lemon juice, and slowly stir in the pectin. Place it on the stove, and bring to a full boil. Add the sugar, all at once, and stir to combine. Bring it back to a full boil, and cook for one more minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Scrape the foam off the top. 


 Ladle into hot jars (The jars need to be hot so that the glass doesn't crack when the hot jam is poured in.) Fill each jar to 1/4 inch from the top. Wipe the edges of the jar clean. Place a lid on each jar, and screw on the band until it is finger-tip tight. Place the jars into a large pot of water, and boil for 10 minutes. (for higher elevations, check this chart for processing times). The water level needs to be 1-2 inches above the top of the jars. After 10 minutes, remove from the water using a jar lifter (or tongs). Let them sit, undisturbed for 12-24 hours. You will know if they are properly sealed if you press on the lid and it doesn't give at all.


This recipe makes 7 half-pint jars, plus a little extra for enjoying right away.

a rose by any other name

In the box this week was a big, beautiful bunch of cherries.

These are Ranier cherries, which (as I learned from the newsletter) were created when two types of dark red cherries were crossed. As you can see, the babies came out light yellow and pink, not red at all. It kind of makes me wonder if one of the parents demanded a paternity test. 

Regardless of whether these are legitimate or not, they sure are sweet and tasty.

I decided to make a cherry cobbler out of them. So, I set out the cherries, the pitter, the flour, sugar and cinnamon, and a baking dish, and then I went to bed. In the morning, nothing was changed. I guess elves only help this kind of cobbler. 

The kind of cobbler I wanted was either a Betty, a Grunt, a Pandowdy, a Slump, a Buckle, or a Sonker. Of Course. 

What? I don't know. Wikipedia tells me that these are all types of cobblers. Apparently there are different names for this dish in different parts of the United States. And according to Wikipedia, only the deep south allows for serving it with a scoop or two of ice cream.

I just wanted to make life easy by not having to roll out a pie crust, and so I made a cobbler. Mine had the very specific name: Cherry Cobbler. It may have been a Cherry Slump, for all I know, actually.  

Hey, did you wonder where the name cobbler comes from? I assumed it was because you just get to cobble together a bunch of stuff and have it come out awesome-tasting. It is actually because the dish resembles cobbled streets when it is done. Who woulda thunk?

You know what else Wikipedia told me? There is also a drink called a Cobbler... made with wine, citrus juice, and sugar. Hmm.... I think I should have skipped right to that kind of cobbler in the first place.

Ahem. I think I may have digressed once or twice. Back to the ingredients the elves didn't use. 

Cherry Cobbler (from Emeril Lagasse)

This can be made with any type of cherry. I used the Ranier cherries I got in my CSA box, and I added a few Bing Cherries, for their dark red color. I thought it looked nicer with the glaze turned deep red from their juices.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Remove the pits from 6 cups of cherries. If you don't have a cherry pitter, get one. If you don't want to get a cherry pitter, made apple cobbler. Just kidding. You can use a paper clip or a knife. It just takes a while and stains your fingers temporarily.

Combine the pitted cherries, 1 1/4 cups sugar, 1/4 cup water, and 4 teaspoons of cornstarch in a saucepan. Cook, stirring until bubbling and thickened, a few minutes. Pour into an 8x8 baking pan.

Meanwhile stir together 1cup flour, 1/4 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, and 1 teaspoon baking powder.

Cut in 3 tablespoons of cold butter, until it is all crumbly.

Lightly beat an egg, add 3 tablespoons milk, and add to the flour/sugar mixture, stirring just until it is all combined.

Drop the topping by teaspoonfuls onto the cherry mixture. 

Pop it all in the oven for 25 minutes, or until it is all brown and bubbly. Serve it warm, with vanilla ice cream (if you live in the deep south, that is).