My February and March have evaporated into a haze of sleep deprivation enveloping the routine of round the clock care for my Mom. My best intentions to accomplish projects—blog posts included-- disappear into the mist as the daily requirements of food, medicine, cleaning, and sleeping take precedence.
I have accomplished ordering seeds and plants. All of my seeds have now arrived. My bare root Montmorency cherry tree from Trees of Antiquity arrived last week. Fortunately our weather has cooperated with warm early spring days so Dave and I were able to plant it the day after the big brown truck brought it up the lane to the house. The tree gets its name from the Montmorency Valley in France where it is said to have been developed sometime before the seventeenth century.
I have accomplished ordering seeds and plants. All of my seeds have now arrived. My bare root Montmorency cherry tree from Trees of Antiquity arrived last week. Fortunately our weather has cooperated with warm early spring days so Dave and I were able to plant it the day after the big brown truck brought it up the lane to the house. The tree gets its name from the Montmorency Valley in France where it is said to have been developed sometime before the seventeenth century.
Sadly, the cherry tree that was in the orchard for as long as I can recall died last spring. It was from old age as far as I can tell without calling in a botanical CSI forensics expert. It produced many a bucket full of small, bright red, tart, cherries packed full of intense flavor. There is no better variety of cherries for pies and jam. Forget canned cherry pie filling. Don’t even think about putting a purchased frozen cherry pie in the oven. Everything else cherry pales in comparison to these bright, profoundly flavored, little gems so much so that it makes the labor intensive process of picking and pitting worth the effort.
Hopefully the new tree will thrive where we planted it. We won’t have cherries this year. Maybe we will have a few next year and maybe the year after we will have enough for one pie. I still have enough cherries in the freezer for one more pie so I will wait for a special occasion to savor the last Montmorency cherry we will eat for a couple of years.
Montmorency Cherry Pie
Enough pie dough for a double crust pie (See Flaky Foundation post)
4 cups of Montmorency cherries –fresh or frozen
¼ cup minute tapioca
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon pure almond extract
Mix the cherries, tapioca, sugar and almond extract in a bowl.
Montmorency Cherry Pie
Enough pie dough for a double crust pie (See Flaky Foundation post)
4 cups of Montmorency cherries –fresh or frozen
¼ cup minute tapioca
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon pure almond extract
Mix the cherries, tapioca, sugar and almond extract in a bowl.
Let stand 15 minutes while you roll the crust. See Flaky Foundation II for detailed instructions.
Fill the crust with the fruit mixture, cover with the top crust.
Bake on the lower shelf of a preheated 400 degree oven for 20 minutes then reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees and continue to bake the pie until the juice is bubbling through the vent hole about another 45 to 60 minutes. Cool completely before cutting. Serve with whipped cream.
