Cherries. It's a wrap.

I think my poor grandmother, a pro at baking biscuits, rolled over in her grave last week.

On my final cherry project -- the last of 18 pounds! -- I attempted what seemed like a simple vanilla biscuit recipe for cherry cobbler. I was loving it...  

But the result was like Oklahoma in August. Hard, burnt and flat.

Part of the problem I suspect (or maybe my excuse) was the cooking implement. Given my relatively new living arrangement due to relationshipitorial stuffage (vague, vague, blah, blah), I'm without a proper oven. This is all I've got, babe.

"But you write about food!" you might be saying, "You can't operate without an oven!"

Oh but I can. This is an opportunity! The capabilities of a toaster oven are mine to master! I'm gonna try a pie in that beotch. And more biscuits to come, my friends.

In the meantime, I leave you with a final recipe from Project Ba Da Bings -- a spiced vanilla cherry jam. I adapted it significantly from the version here. But I say the vanilla, spices, brandy and lack of pectin make it better. Dessert-worthy like a cherry gloss for drizzling over ice cream with walnuts, but rustic enough for toast.  

Spiced Vanilla Cherry Jam

4 cups Bing cherries, pitted and halved

1/4 cup lemon juice

A little less than a 1/4 cup brandy

Pure vanilla extract to taste

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 1/4 cups sugar

1. Combine cherries, lemon juice, brandy, vanilla, salt and spices in saucepan. Bring to a boil. Stir in sugar and return to boil. Reduce heat and cook for about 10 minutes.

2. Pour into jars and process in boiling water bath (if saving for later). 

Maybe my biscuits were more like his biscuits (but not the biscuit in question, of course). 

Biscuit from Joseph Michael on Vimeo.

Cherries, almost gone!

Maybe I should have invested in a cherry pitter.

Regardless my cherry extravaganza rolls on!

I pickled cherries a few nights ago and would love to tell you how they taste. But...they shall sit quietly in the cinnamon-bay leaf-vinegar concoction for at least two weeks. Then, I’ll enjoy them with cheeses and nuts and maybe pot-au-feu (as the French apparently do)?

I can say, though, that the cherry-basil gazpacho recipe here was a massive hit. I took it to a vegetarian potluck after a yoga class. The Tabasco is key – it adds spunk and bridges the gap between the sweet of the cherries and fresh clean taste of cucumber and red/yellow peppers.

Michele from Cleveland, Ohio demonstrates a bite.

Michele teaches Jivamukti yoga, and she’s touring with Brandon (above) who plays live on bongos/guitar/etc during their class. They told great stories about their tour including a crazy night in Floyd, Virgina with a meditation teacher named Pierre. Find their blog here.

Last night I made these little jewels.

Tea cakes made with ground almonds, enough sugar to cause a cavity, and a slosh of cherry brandy.

They're like miniature muffins for adults, but the best part is their interactivity. With a pit and a juicy cherry tucked inside, you have to pay attention while eating (as not to crack a tooth or splatter a blouse), so you’re tuned in to every bite.

Tonight I’m making a spicy cherry jam, and finally (the piece de resistance!) Cherry-Lime Cobbler with Vanilla Creme Fraiche Biscuits.

As a Southerner, I have far too little experience with biscuits. We’ll see how it goes.

(Watch this. It will enhance your day, I promise.)

Davey Dance Blog -33- MINNEAPOLIS - Spoon - "You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb" from Pheasant Plucker on Vimeo.

Cherry on

Day One of Project Ba Da Bings: My tiny quest to make use of 18 pounds of cherries. (See my last post on why.)

Gotta say I'm off to a bit of a slow start. Nothing major...yet.

But when I showed up at work with a bag of the little garnets, it did prompt some nostalgia. One of my co-workers reminisced about cherry pies and cobblers and preserves that his mom would make from the fruit that grew in his yard.

Aww.

Then he said: "Mother would have me out there at the ass-crack of dawn pickin' cherries."

Breakfast: Oatmeal and cherries

Lunch: Simple salad of mixed greens with goat cheese, nuts, cherries (with pits in -- rustic!) and balsamic vinegar.

Snack time: Just cherries, again, with my pod peeps. Love these guys.

Next I'm taking cherries to Amy's house, and we're gonna chef it up. More later...

Ba Da Bings

OMG. 

I just bought an entire case of cherries.

Eighteen pounds of shiny little orbs with flesh so dark they could stain a glass of Cabernet. Oh the projects!

Whole Foods has them for $32 a box (a 22-dollar savings!), but I might have been the first to fall for the "SUMMER MADNESS" cherry sale. When I hauled my case to check-out it caused a slight ruckus involving a manager, a calculator and math (horror). 

With problem solved I carried on with hipster check-out dude thusly...

Check-out dude: (bored/disgusted) That's a lot of cherries. 

Me: Yeah!

Check-out dude: What are you gonna do with 'em? 

Me: Make pies, make jams, put them in salads, soak them in brandy...(I go on. He stops listening.)...

Get excited, friends. There's probably a pie in your future. Woot!