Cherry is one of my favorite fruits. Growing up, Maraschino cherries were a staple in the house, usually so we could put them atop the ham along with pineapples. It always stained the juice around the ham pink. Funny story: Dad wanted gravy one day to go with his biscuit Mom made to go with the ham. Dad always wanted gravy for his biscuits. Mom made the gravy with the juice from the ham. Best pink gravy we ever had! LOL! It tasted fine, it was just stained pink from those cherries!
Cherry is one of my favorite fruits. Growing up, Maraschino cherries were a staple in the house, usually so we could put them atop the ham along with pineapples. It always stained the juice around the ham pink. Funny story: Dad wanted gravy one day to go with his biscuit Mom made to go with the ham. Dad always wanted gravy for his biscuits. Mom made the gravy with the juice from the ham. Best pink gravy we ever had! LOL! It tasted fine, it was just stained pink from those cherries!
A friend of Dad’s gave him some bags of dried cherries and other things last week. I thought ‘how great, I can use them for the column this week’! So, I pulled out the recipes and went to the kitchen to get busy. Then, I had to stop eating the ingredients so I had enough to make everything! I even like dried cherries. You can toss them on salads or yogurt. You can use them in place of anything that calls for raisins, if you don’t like raisins. I am not a fan of raisins. Try mixing your own trail mix and add some of these too! Yum! They pair really well with white chocolate.
If you want to rehydrate the cherries and then use them, boil water. Cover the cherries in a bowl with about an inch to two inches of water. Let them soak for 15-30 minutes. Drain and use like you would regular cherries! You can leave them in water overnight if desired. They will plump up more, but store them in the fridge if you are going to go with overnight or longer. You don’t have to use water to rehydrate either. You can use vodka or if you want some flavor try Hot Damn or a flavored vodka or even a spiced rum. The possibilities are endless, just choose something that pairs well with cherries. You don’t have to drain the alcohol off if you so choose. Be aware though, the longer they sit, the more they will absorb the alcohol and the less they will taste like fruit.
Make your grocery list and pick up some dried cherries. Be careful what you pick up though. A lot of dried fruit has extra sugar added. Taste all the recipes as you go and adjust as needed for sugar content especially. Then, meet me in the kitchen for quick recipes that take little effort and are so yummy!
