I haven’t been very motivated to cook this summer instead I’ve been focused on another class and shots of things other than food (my pregnant friend for one) I’ve been somewhat sidetracked. I also haven’t been doing too much fun cooking either it’s been mostly utilitarian lately. But a couple of weeks ago I was surprised by a sale at the small grocery store across from my office and that has set off a chain reaction.
Cherries were on sale for a quarter of what they usually sell for and as I left the store I was thinking, How many cherries can one possibly eat? Because of that I didn’t overindulge until that is, the next day when I found a recipe for pickled cherries on foodgawker. Then it occurred to me that I could pickle these little gems and have them all through the winter, to snack on while I study.
Almost 20 lbs (cherries not me) and a few days later when I open the first jar I was sorry I hadn’t bought a whole truckload of these. Remember the question I was asking myself earlier? Well, I can eat a lot of cherries. Especially when they are this amazing and store well but alas they were back up to regular price when I ran back for more. But then the apricots were on sale for the same low price. I bet you know what I did… That’s right… I bought all the apricots they had and as I carried them back to the office I could just taste how wonderful they would be pickled the same way as the cherries!
Huge kudos to Jules Food for being adventurous and posting this recipe. I also had a bit of difficulty wrapping my head around pickled cherries, vinegar and cherries… don’t seem to go. But I trusted you and you were so adamant that they wouldn’t last you until winter so I couldn’t resist following in your footsteps. As I was making the brine and tasting it of course, I knew this was going to be magical, and it is! the first jar I opened I just could not put down. I kept going back until it was empty. Soooooo Yummmmmy!! So much so that when I brought home 16 lbs of apricots I sliced them into little half moons and decided to pack them with the last bag of cherries I was going to eat au natural. What a beautiful jars they make. I haven’t actually opened the Apricots yet, I’m rationing them… but the cherries are amazing… and I can’t wait until it gets cold outside and I can open a jar of these as I sit by the fire and read!
I’m sure you could use any fresh fruit with this… cherries and apricots are only the beginning, but alas not everyone in my house loves spice so maybe some will need to be a sweeter pairing.
Ah, my love, or rather addiction for cooking ebbs and flows… for now I’m on another flow! I was also shopping at the u-pick and have a basket of tomatoes waiting…. maybe next post.
I kept the recipe as discovered on Jules Food, except that I did cherries and Apricots.