that's the pits

At the end of June, I saw a link that someone posted on facebook for a video of how to make a cherry recipe. The French dessert, called Cherry Clafoutis, suspends the cherries in a thick-crepe-like batter as it's baked.  

The cherries on our pie-cherry tree in the backyard were ripe, and I thought the recipe looked yummy, seemed easy to make, and would be a good use of the available cherries. I don't do much with the cherries that grow on that tree every year, because they get infested with tiny worms, and also because the birds ravage that tree so much that usually within a week or so of the fruit being ripe enough to eat, they are all gone. But I was determined, once I saw that recipe, to get at least some worthwhile use out of the ripe cherries this year!  

One evening at the beginning of July, the 3 younger boys helped me pick cherries. The cherry tree is huge, and is a good climbing tree, and they picked some of the higher cherries as I picked the ones that I could reach from where I stood on the ground. We wanted more ripened red ones, as they're less tart that way, and after we picked them, we had to inspect every single one for tiny holes made by the worms that infest the tree. For about every 5 cherries we picked, just one would be good, and it would be placed into a container; the rest we just threw onto the ground or under the deck. It was very time-consuming and frustrating. It would've taken me so much longer without the boys' help; we spent over an hour together picking enough cherries to fill a 1 quart container. Good thing the birds aren't picky, or we'd have a lot of rotting cherries on the ground!

so many cherries!

It took longer than I thought it would
to fill up this glass measuring cup

I didn't want to have to remove the pits by hand from the small cherries (I've done it before, and it's such a time-consuming process), because the recipe showcases the cherry, and whenever I remove the pits by hand, it breaks apart the cherry. So, I went to town and purchased a cherry-pitter for the job (it was about $20). There was just one left at King's, and I'm so glad, because it was extremely useful!! You just place 6 cherries in the contraption, push down the lid, and it removes all the pits! I should've gotten one of these years ago!

I had all the ingredients on hand, so once the cherries were picked and pitted, it was pretty easy to combine them all together and bake. It smelled amazing, and I was so excited for the final product! Whenever I duplicate recipes, though, it never looks quite like the professional picture taken of the finished product. It tasted better than it looked (it looks a lot more ugly than the picture at the top of this post).

The clafoutis was delicious, and I liked the tart flavor of the cherries mixed with the creamy filling, and the hint of almond from the almond extract was a nice touch, too. But unfortunately, nobody else in my house would even try it! None of the boys like cherries, and neither does Josh, and nobody wanted to give the dessert a chance. I was kind of sad about that. So I ate most of it myself, and took some to a neighbor, too.

I'm glad that I did something useful with the cherries on our tree (usually I feel guilty when I don't), and making this recipe forced me into buying the cherry-pitter (which I love and will be so helpful in the future), but I don't know if I will ever make this recipe again, since I don't think it's worth all the time and effort to make something that only one person in our family will enjoy!