One Cherry Leads to Another

When I was looking for a creative quote-- something other than "life is a bowl of cherries" or "with a cherry on top," I came across the Italian expression, "una cilegia tira l'altra." Literally, one cherry leads to another, or in other words, something that you can't just eat one of. Whoever said it, it's true.

Like waiting in line for concert tickets, my husband and I are at the orchard early morning and ready to pick. Last year, to the disappointment of farmers and pickers, rains just prior to cherry harvest split many of the cherries in our local orchards, resulting in a less abundant harvest. We chose to skip picking all together and set our sights on blueberries. This year, the torrential rains came after the ripening, and we picked despite the weather. Note to self: pack rain gear in the car.

This year, sweet cherries were so plentiful and heavy on the trees that the branches seemingly bowed to us as we entered the orchard. We claimed our spots beneath the heavy branches and began filling our pails. Picking cherries this year during the rain was probably the most fun that I've had at an orchard in a long time. We were drenched head to toe, and I could feel my feet sloshing about in my worn sneakers. The little bit of mascara that I had put on that morning was running down my face, and I was beginning to look more and more like Alice Cooper than a zealous homesteader. The rain didn't let up, and picking continued as we filled our buckets with cherries, and we laughed heartily despite of the cold rain that drenched us.

Our pails and stomachs now filled with cherries and water, we headed out of the orchard. With over thirty pounds of cherries in hand, and clothes completely saturated and clinging to us, the easy part had been accomplished.

Cleaning and pitting thirty pounds of cherries sounds exactly like what it is-- a lot of work. For a brief moment, I sighed and wondered if I should have shown a bit more restraint at the orchard that morning. We don't own a cherry pitter. Truthfully, I've seen them, but never used them. Along with the metal strawberry huller, they are on my list of gadgets that I won't be adding to our already crowded utensil drawer anytime soon.

We got busy. (As I've told you, my husband's a great sport!) Placing a cherry between my thumb and forefinger, I plunged my thumb into the fruit and popped the pit out. I developed a rhythm and began feeling pretty accomplished until I looked at the mountains of red fruit before us and our fingers which were quickly becoming stained.

I did a quick Internet search for ideas on how to efficiently pit the cherries. I tried several different pitting methods including one that involved holding the cherry over a soda bottle and pushing a chopstick through until the pit drops to the bottom of the bottle. Then, I tried a similar method without the bottle. I used a paring knife and cut into the cherry to release the pit. I felt most methods were unsuccessful. I rifled through my kitchen drawer of utensils for a solution, and decided that a pastry tip just might do the job.

Back to the table, we went, still facing a sizable mound of cherries. With the pastry tip in hand, I placed the smaller end over the cherry and firmly plunged it in. The pit was released, and I was on to the next!

Sweet cherry preserves, pie filling, whole preserved cherries, hand pies, and one of my favorites-- chocolate chip blondies studded with cherries were among some of the final products to come from our visit to the orchard. This Thanksgiving, we will be grateful for that rainy day in June when we picked, and stashed a large bag in our freezer for cherry pie.

I hope you enjoy the recipe for my Chocolate Chip Cherry Bars. They're especially good with vanilla ice cream and a cherry on top!