Drunken Cherries

Oh my. Y'all, cherries are on sale at Publix this week - go get you some. I got mine drunk and now I am a very happy girl. You can do it too! Really.

Simple, simple, simple. Now I canned mine - meaning that I processed the jars (wash them by hand or stick them in the dishwasher, then boil them for about ten minutes and keep in hot water till you are ready to fill them with the cherries). Visit www.freshpreserving.com for more information about easy canning.



Okay, so onto the drunken part. Wash the cherries thoroughly and submerge in water. Discard any cherries that float (supposedly, they might have worms in them). Using a pitter, pit all the cherries. Trust me, a pitter is a worthy investment. You'll start making pies after this. Really.



In a saucepan, bring some (recipe below) sugar, water and lemon juice to a rolling boil. I also added a few strips of orange peel with about 50% of the pith removed. Once the syrup is boiling, lower the heat to keep a simmer and add all the cherries. Gently stir it all up and let it simmer for five minutes. Remove from heat and add the liquor (I used Gran Mariner - go crazy: brandy, cointreau or hazlenut liquor would be yummy).



After all that, ladle cherries into jar and top with the remaining liquid. If you're processing your cherries, I put them in a boil bath for ten minutes. Spoon over ice cream, into a pie crust or over chocolate cake. These are so good. SOOOOO GOOD!

I just started canning. My marmalade, while tasty, came out cloudy. My red pepper jelly is pretty fantastic, but I tried to do something with pears that we will not talk about. Ever. Loved this quote from angry chicken "Well, nothing like homemade gifts." Let me know if you get your cherries drunk!



Drunken Cherries
4 lbs Cherries - washed, stems and pits removed
1 c. water
1 c. sugar
1/4 c. lemon juice
Thinly sliced rind from 1/2 an orange
1 1/4 c. liquor