Cherries?

[CalaRei]

I have a slew of tart/sour cherries my aunt gave me from a tree in her yard. Two gallon sized ziplocks.

They're tart, but not inedibly so, though too many of them would probably give you a belly ache!

My hubby's on a diet, so I might make a small two person pie just for us to eat with one dinner night, but we don't want pie hanging around here after that. What could I do with the rest?

Would dehydrating some prove useful? The pits squirt right out, I don't think it'd be too bad - might take a while. I've heard they can have a diuretic effect, and thought, well, maybe it'd be useful to have a little supply for after I have my babies in the fall. We could also use a small sprinkling of them in granola - just for a zing here or there.

[wholesomemama]

First off, congrats on the babies!!! How exciting!

I LOVE cherries - all those natural vitamins, you just can't beat them! I like to make cherry preserves with mine. I used agave nectar as a sweetener but since we like ours a bit on the tart side, I didn't have to use much. I love making my own preserves as it is hard to find a good store-bought version.

Interested to hear what other ideas people have as I am always looking for new ideas!

[cristeen]

With sour cherries - really, their best use is pie, IMO. Pit them, sprinkle them with some sugar and freeze them. And count yourself lucky - sour cherries are hard to come by, I'm jealous. Only one vendor at our market carries them, he has them 1 day of the year and he has a limited amount. I bought 5# of them a couple weeks ago as a special treat for my grandma, since pies made with regular cherries aren't nearly as good.

That being said, they can be dried - tart cherries are yummy dried. But really, I can find dried tart cherries at Trader Joes.

[Jojo F.]

Oh how we love sour cherries!!!! Those bags would only last 2 days in our house & we'd eat them plain.

Pie
cobbler
in oatmeal
dehydrated in trail mix
jam

[Llyra]

We freeze them. Pit them, sprinkle with some sugar, and freeze in an airtight container. The sugar helps maintain the color and texture when freezing. When you use them, use them while they're still only partially defrosted-- if they defrost completely, they'll get kinda mushy.

You can also make jam. Add sugar, about as much in quantity as you have cherries, and then boil them hard until they start to thicken, then cool the mixture. It'll keep about a month in the fridge, or you can freeze it for up to a year if it's in a good container.

[reeseccup]

With tart cherries, I'd either pit and freeze or pit and dry. Yes they are great for pie/preserves, but I love to have them on hand for medicinal purposes as well.

A handful (10-20) works great as an anti-pain/anti-inflammatory, like ibuprofen.