"We should not look back unless it is to derive useful lessons from past errors, and for the purpose of profiting by dearly bought experience." -George Washington

      What an inspiration to us all. George goes and cuts down a cherry tree in youthful exuberance, and instead of getting scolded by his father, he gets a pat on the back for being honest about the event. Now, when we went to go pick cherries a few weeks ago, we also ate a lot of plums. I thought about being like George and owning up, but decided if no one saw me do it, it might have not even happened. Only the cherries and I know what savagery occurred in the plum grove that day.The cherries did make it home safely, for they had a higher calling. I didn't get enough for a pie, but decided I could make a good amount of jam from these sour gems. Like eating pie every morning.

Sour Cherry Jam

This jam is fairly simple to make, except pitting the fruit can be a pain. You have three options when working with fresh fruit:

1. You can buy a pitter and pit those babies all summer long.
2. You can use a knife to remove the pits, but you might want to kill yourself in the end. 
3. You can leave the pits in and strain at the end, which is what I did, because I'm lazy.

So all the you have to do is cook down the cherries for about half an hour over medium heat with about a cup of water and half a cup of sugar. At this point you will strain the pits out if you need to, then blend the fruit and return the mixture to the stove. Now add a small pinch of salt and reduce until the jam has thickened. Take the mixture off the heat, add vanilla, and let cool completely. I just put my jam into a clean canning jar and keep it in the fridge; I'm sure you can actually can this goodness, but ain't nobody got time for that. 

Recipe

1 qt sour cherries

1/2 c sugar

1 c water

1 tsp vanilla 

small pinch salt

     Three Cheers for the Red, White, and Blue!

     There are two things that I truly excel at: being thrifty and laziness. If that paints a negative picture of me as a person in your head, than you probably wouldn't be sad about not getting invited to any of my parties anyway. This combo of learned skills is especially good for summer dessert making. No one wants to spend more than an hour in a hot kitchen making a dessert, and most of the time, you don't have to. Unless, that is, you're like me and have been roped into making a Grateful Dead tribute cake. What is life? Anyway, this last dessert I made was very easy to make, ticking the "lazy" box, and used up the extra egg whites I had leftover from making ice cream. Also, we went fruit-pickin and had to put the little gems to use fast.

     Patriotic Pavlova 

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     To begin, wash and prep your fruit to your liking. We kept the pieces pretty big because we're professional eaters. Once everything is prepped, add to a bowl and sprinkle with a few tablespoons of sugar, depending on how sweet your fruit is. Cover and refrigerate until needed.

     Next, you want to consider fillings. I had leftover pastry cream from the cake I made for my Dad, which you can view a recipe for here. You could also make a curd and/or whipped cream the landing zone for the fruit. Just make sure whatever you go with has cooled.

     To make the pavlova base, beat room temperature egg whites with cream of tartar and vanilla until foamy. Next, beat in the sugar, on tablespoon at a time, until glossy and stiff peaks form. On a lined baking sheet, spread the egg whites out into a flat circle, making the shape slightly concave. 

     Bake the base in an oven that has been preheated to 300 F but is then turned down to 250 F once the base has been placed inside. Bake for 50-60 minutes. Turn off the oven and allow the base to sit inside for the next hour and then remove. We had extra egg whites so some cocoa was added and we snagged a fabulous little beach treat.

     To assemble, just spread your filling of choice evenly over the base and cover with the fruit that has been macerating. 

     Is it weird that I picked an Aussie treat to celebrate the 4th with? Ask yourself this: who would we be if we didn't take in other's desserts and make them our own? Not America.

Recipe  (Adapted from "Your Homebased Mom")

300 F to preheat then immediately lowered to 250 F 

50-60 minutes

Pavlova base

4 egg whites, room temperature 

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

1 c sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Filling (your choice)

2-3 c

Pastry Cream option

Fruit

3-4 c your choice 

1-2 tbsp sugar, based on sweetness of fruit