The cherry trees around town are fruiting and Matt and I have been hitting them up for their delightful bounty.
I don't use my dehydrator as often as I probably should, but this bumper-crop of cherries seemed the perfect occasion. I wasn't even sure I liked dried cherries, but I figured they'd be keen in baked goods and granola if not plain. They are quite tart cherries, but I like that about them. Matt does not care for them alone....too sour. I am in hog-heaven because for me they are nature's sour candies....my favorite type of candy.
Man, oh man, are those dried cherries sublime! Two out of every three
somehow ends up in my mouth and not the jelly jar I've been trying to fill with the dried fruit! The jar filling may be slow going (what with me eating them and all plus they fact that they took up A LOT more space before they were dried!), but I am certainly enjoying this task of preservation.
Tonight I will be picking for the third time this week....now that I know just how much I like dried cherries.
OH CHERRIES! When I was little and in upstate NY my Grandmother and I would go cherry picking at a farm aways from us. Oh those were the BEST things to eat fresh off the tree!
ReplyDeleteDried Cherries, these sound just delicious although I have to say I have never tried them or even seen dried cherries before...Thats the thing I love about Blogs, so many new things to learn. We can only buy fresh cherries from the supermarkets here and they are very expensive, would never have any spare to dehydrate, so I'll have to just imagine how good they taste! ENJOY!
ReplyDeleteThey're beautiful. Makes my mouth water, and pucker a little too.
ReplyDeleteBrenda
What a great idea to dehydrate them! And yes, there are so many ways you can use them. In baking, cereals but perhaps also in meat-based stews (together with some dried apricots, dates or figs?) The photos look so colorful and fun!
ReplyDeleteVisiting you from the 'Down to Earth' link up :)
Blessings,
This Good Life
http://this-good-life.blogspot.com/2011/07/on-my-mind-sprouting-consciousness.html
We're right in the middle of winter here, and cherries always remind me of summer. We start getting them around Christmas time, and one of my favourite things to do is stew them and make summer pudding. Yum! Or just each them fresh. Either way, they never last long. ;)
ReplyDelete~S.
They look fantastic, I love cherries wish I was there with you eating and drying.
ReplyDeleteBye for now
Chris
Gorgeous cherries. I've never tried dried cherries. I imagine they taste great.
ReplyDeleteI ate about a quarter of my small jam jar full of dried cherries last night. Good thing there are still more drying. They are so darn good. And since Matt doesn't like them I don't even have to share!
ReplyDeleteSweet cherries off the tree are the absolute best, but I've been impressed by these sour cherries I must say, particularly since I don't have a line on a sweet cherry tree at the moment. (maybe someday!) There are sour cherry trees scattered across town going unpicked. (until now) Woohoo.
And I am with you Gooseberry, the fruit has to be free or else I cannot afford to dry it. That is why my dehydrator doesn't see as much action as I wish it did. Oh well, I take it when I can. Dried cherries would never have been my first choice for dried fruit, but it turns out I like it more than I figured. It worked out great.
Now I have to try to get that jar filled without eating them all somehow....