I have a neighbor lady two doors down who loves to share treasures from her back yard with us. A few weeks ago, she brought a box turtle for the kids and the next day, a huge toad! She came by yesterday afternoon to tell me that we must stop by and pick cherries that night before the birds haul them all away. She has a beautiful old cherry tree in her back yard and every summer, she sets out a ladder and bucket with an open invitation via her gate by the alley to all who want to share in her tart little jewels. She knows how much my little ones love fruit and veggies so she saves the low branches just for them.
We filled an entire bucket with translucent red cherries and I swear, it doesn't look like we even made a dent! Her tree is so bountiful that she still has bags of cherries in her freezer from last season. Although they're sour, Rhys and Olivia love to sit with a big bowl of cherries and small bowl for the pits and devour them fresh. I'm not wild for cherry pie (I'm a peach or key lime girl) but I found some other recipes for sour cherries that sound fantastic. I think the kids and I will be making a batch of sour cherry brownies very soon!
Dark Chocolate Sour Cherry Brownies from Bake or Break
Sour Cherry Frozen Yogurt from Lottie + Doof
Chocolate Chip and Sour Cherry Cookies from Coconut and Lime
Sour Cherry Lemonade from Martha Stewart
Outfit
vintage striped dress- estate sale
navy and white tie blouse- Tatyana
cherry print scarf- warehouse sale
Do you have any favorite recipes for sour cherries? What are you picking this summer?
Sour cherries are really common in eastern european cooking and baking -- http://www.recipesource.com/ is a great resource to look for ethnic and sometimes vintage foods. I believe you can also search by ingredient? But I've found a great deal of delicious cabbage recipes from that site.
ReplyDeleteOh how wonderful!! I am just beginning to explore Easter European dishes, since my mom made chicken paprikash for us a few months ago. It was so simple but amazingly flavorful! I've been searching around for more traditional dishes from the area to try. St Louis is a great melting pot of cultures so we have a lot of access to specialty grocery stores for unique ingredients. I will be trying a bunch of these!!
DeleteHow kind of the lady to share her things with you all. I don't have access to a cherry tree at all, otherwise I'd love to try some of those recipes.
ReplyDeleteAmazing the birds haven't already gotten to them. What a very beautiful tree and I hope you are able to make some lovely creations with them.
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful to have such a generous neighbor. And you look like a picture postcard picking cherries. My mom lives down the street from us and has an unusually prodigious blueberry bush from which we've already picked a few gallons this month. I love fresh fruit and veggies and only wish I had more time to garden. And I enjoy hearing about your adventures with your kids.
ReplyDeleteSarah
What a wonderful, generous neighbor you have to share all that loveliness with you! My kids would have loved that too! We love cherries, but out of season they cost an arm and a leg. They have only just come down in price, so were making the most of it. This summer we will be going strawberry picking for sure! And, as always, you look wonderful! Tania x
ReplyDeleteIt's so heartwarmingly refreshing to hear of generous neighbours like this still. So often these days many of us don't even know our nearest neighbours by name, let alone interact beyond perhaps a courtesy "hello" if we pass by them, so it always warms my heart to hear about when folks interact and share with their street mates like this. It takes me back to the days of my youth growing up on a small street peppered with lovely senior citizens, many of whom were generous with their garden surplus as well.
ReplyDelete♥ Jessica
Yes she is the sweetest! She came running over yesterday when we got home from grocery shopping and said that it was the last day before the birds get them so please come pick more! We brought our friends from down the street with her little ones and all had a blast picking! Pj is making some cherry wine so we'll have to bring her a bottle as a thank you!
DeleteGosh, that brings back memories! Last time I picked cherries from a tree was in Austria. The train station near our camp site had five cherry trees in the car park, and my sister and I climbed the trees and picked bags of cherries! They were so good too... Mmm. I don't have any recipes though I am afraid, my cherries never make it further than my stomach 'coz I eat them all as soon as I get them. They are my favourite fruit. ≧ ω ≦ ♡
ReplyDeletexox,
bonita of Lavender & Twill
Wow, those look great. We mostly have sweet cherries here in the UK - and the birds go crazy for them. I bet you can get loads of recipes made with them. (Can you dry them?)
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful to hear of such a sweet neighbor.. Bet the kids totally enjoyed picking them too. Loved your outfit.. SO,SO cute..
ReplyDeleteI don't have wild cherries, so have no recipes.. enjoy.