June 18, 2006
Cherry addiction (Part II)
I have a thing about cherries. So how could I not absolutely love our friend Steve, who brought us these gorgeous babies from the Loire valley where he'd been staying. He picked them off the tree himself before hopping in the car to see us. It's the next best thing to having your own orchard. (Which I intend to do some day, I swear!)
I'm off now for a picnic in the park with fried chicken, tomato salad and cold vichyssoise soup, a football, a boy and a dad. And cherries.
HAPPY FATHER'S DAY EVERYONE!
Posted by Meg in Sussex at June 18, 2006 12:59 PM
Nor had I! We had a cherry tree in our yard when I was growing up, but it was a sour variety and so only good for cooking.
They were not quite as sweet as the store-bought ones I usually get, but very intense in flavour. It was a very thoughtful gift!
Posted by Meg in Paris on June 19, 2006 at 3:43 AM
I am one of those weirdos who likes to eat sour cherries right off the tree.
In fact, I prefer them to sweet cherries, and always have.
That said, I would never turn down a gift of sweet or sour cherries....
Posted by Barbara on June 20, 2006 at 1:59 PM
Like Barbara, I actually prefer sour cherries to sweet. I've been on a huge sour cherry binge lately, since my parents' treeful had to be used up completely in the past week or so. I love this time of year!
Posted by Danielle on June 22, 2006 at 9:44 AM
Regarding sour cherries, here's a tip: put them in a food dryer and reduce them to little red flavor bombs. They lose much of their acidity, and retain their sweetness with a hint of their former pucker power.
Alas, even if you get an orchard with sweet cherrie trees you will find it difficult to harvest any without resorting to avian audio abuse - professional orchards use a propane powered 'gun' to scare away the birds every few minutes. Starlings and robins can strip a tree of its edible fruit in one pre-dawn morning. Sadly, I was able to pick only a handful of sweet dark cherries down at the as-yet-unnamed-Farm on Father's Day.
Kurt
Willamette Valley, Oregon
Posted by Brother Kurt on June 22, 2006 at 5:26 PM
Kurt, I'm sorry to hear you didn't get more off your farm! Still, you are supporting a diverse eco-system this way...
We are lucky in that none of the birds seem to have discovered our 9th floor terrace.
Hope you had an enjoyable Dad's Day anyway!
Posted by Meg in Paris on June 23, 2006 at 5:40 AM
I have a thing about cherries. So how could I not absolutely love our friend Steve, who brought us these gorgeous babies from the Loire valley where he'd been staying. He picked them off the tree himself before hopping in the car to see us. It's the next best thing to having your own orchard. (Which I intend to do some day, I swear!)
I'm off now for a picnic in the park with fried chicken, tomato salad and cold vichyssoise soup, a football, a boy and a dad. And cherries.
HAPPY FATHER'S DAY EVERYONE!
Nor had I! We had a cherry tree in our yard when I was growing up, but it was a sour variety and so only good for cooking.
They were not quite as sweet as the store-bought ones I usually get, but very intense in flavour. It was a very thoughtful gift!
I am one of those weirdos who likes to eat sour cherries right off the tree.
In fact, I prefer them to sweet cherries, and always have.
That said, I would never turn down a gift of sweet or sour cherries....
Like Barbara, I actually prefer sour cherries to sweet. I've been on a huge sour cherry binge lately, since my parents' treeful had to be used up completely in the past week or so. I love this time of year!
Regarding sour cherries, here's a tip: put them in a food dryer and reduce them to little red flavor bombs. They lose much of their acidity, and retain their sweetness with a hint of their former pucker power.
Alas, even if you get an orchard with sweet cherrie trees you will find it difficult to harvest any without resorting to avian audio abuse - professional orchards use a propane powered 'gun' to scare away the birds every few minutes. Starlings and robins can strip a tree of its edible fruit in one pre-dawn morning. Sadly, I was able to pick only a handful of sweet dark cherries down at the as-yet-unnamed-Farm on Father's Day.
Kurt
Willamette Valley, Oregon
Kurt, I'm sorry to hear you didn't get more off your farm! Still, you are supporting a diverse eco-system this way...
We are lucky in that none of the birds seem to have discovered our 9th floor terrace.
Hope you had an enjoyable Dad's Day anyway!
those look heavenly. I have never had cherries that fresh