Tuesday, June 13, 2006

Life is the Pits

One of my favorite summertime treats as a kid growing up was a big bag of frozen cherries. As a family we would go to Grover's Orchard and pick cherries. I remember standing in tall wet grass under these old narled trees the limbs weighed down with red. We'd then come home, clean, destem and pit the cherries. Then my mom would either bottle them or freeze them as snacks for my brothers and I for the summer. We would come inside from a long day of playing in the hot sun and open up a bag of cherries. We'd sit outside in the grass and eat that sweet cold goodness until I teeth hurt from the cold or the cherries thawed. "Ooh, it's So Good!"

Our Stake had a welfare farm. They grew cherries, apples, apricots, peaches, grapes, asparagus, potatos, tomatos and countless other things. The food from the welfare farm went to the Bishop's storehouse for families that might need assistance. The farm was a way for people that have received assistance to pay it back you could say. The farm always needed help when it came to harvest season and I remember my family would often volunteer to go help. (Though I do remember not being really happy about the idea. Especially when I had to wake up at 5am). But I do remember that once we were there and awake we enjoyed the work. Plus there was practically a 2:1 ratio of cherries that went in the bucket as what went in my mouth.

Bing cherries are good. That's the kind most people associate with fresh cherries. But being the Washington girl I am I KNOW that there's another species of cherry; the Rainier Cherry. The Rainier cherry is really great for just snacking. They're my favorite. They always have.

July 2002 was the first time we visited Washington during the summer. I was so excited to show my Idaho-grown-potato-harvesting husband how beautiful it was there during the summer. We made a trip up to Grand Coulee Dam with my brothers. And we went over to Leavenworth with my parents, and drove by Mt. Rainier and through Vancouver, Wa. We stopped in Wenatchee for dinner on our way to Leavenworth. We pulled into the parking lot of a grocery store and because we had our little dog with us we waited out in the camper while my parents went in the store. We were sitting outside on the bumper when I looked across the parking lot and saw a guy selling cherries out of the back of his truck. I started jumping up and down all excited. For one I was 5 months pregnant so was "jonesin" for some cherries, but for another I was so excited to introduce my husband to real Washington Cherries. The vender was only selling Bing's at the time but that was okay. My hubby wasn't all that enthusiastic about buying a bag of cherries out of the back of a truck until he ate one. He ate almost the whole bag in less than 24 hours! He was then on a mission scanning the horizon for more trucks selling cherries. When we got back to Kennewick he wanted more so we went to a local grocery store that I remember selling really good produce. They had Rainier cherries! I was way excited at that point. Though my hubby did like them he admitted he liked the Bing Cherries better.

From that time on we've bought a bag of cherries (or a few) from the store every summer. Even though they're not from Washington and especially even though to get them at the store in New Mexico is $4.98/lb when we had only paid $1/lb off the back of a truck!

The first tree we planted when we bought our house was a maple tree that had leaves that would turn red in the fall. Next were two bing cherry trees! This is the 4th summer for those trees. They do produce fruit, but they're kinda on the small and sour side. The kids have discovered the hidden fruits of the backyard. Cherries and Stawberries. Sy will go outside, point and say "bewwie, bewwie". It's so cute.

This summer my kids discovered what we had been hoarding/hiding. Every time I turned around I would find W in the fridge getting out the bag of cherries. Daddy taught them how to eat the cherries like an apple so they wouldn't eat the seed, but after a week of finding stems and seeds and half eaten cherries all over the house I needed to come up with a better plan. Besides my husband and I only got a small handful out of that bag!

I bought a new bag of cherries with the groceries yesterday but this time I had a plan. I would also buy a cherry pitter. Too bad Wal-mart didn't have one and the associate I asked didn't even know what I was talking about! I took a chance and drove across town to this little kitchen supply store called "Now We're Cooking!". Seriously, it's the coolest store ever, if I had extra cash and free time without worrying what W was pulling off the shelves I could go crazy in that store! I walked in and they asked me what I was looking for. I told them and they immediately pointed me in the right direction. The didn't just have one. They had three to choose from! From the low end, to the one that had a bowl where you just poured the cherried in and they fell into a little slot voluntarily where I could pit them. I chose the cheap one and came home. I set up the sprinkler in the backyard so the kids could play and I set to work pitting the cherries. Juice was splattering all over my hands, face and clothes. Soon the kids discovered what I was up to and for every three cherries I pitted I'd have to pop one in each of their mouths!

I finally got the pitting done, got them divided into two bags and stuck in the freezer. Just then hubby walked in. He walked over to the cherry tree and plucked an almost ripe fruit from the branches. I then whispered to him that he might like whats in the freezer better. He hurried in and got a bag before they were frozen, as he was eating and sharing with the kids he commented "these are even more enjoyable without the seeds!" I had to giggle.

I'm hoping that by putting the cherries in the freezer they might last a little longer. They won't all get eaten in one sitting. I've done the same thing with grapes and blueberries. It gives them a little summertime snack, and they don't sit and eat them all at once. I just hope my kids enjoy it as much as my brothers and I did as kids.


(P.S. I thought about entitling this post "Big, Black Horse in the Cherry Tree".)
Posted by ABQ Mom :: 6/13/2006 08:17:00 AM :: 8 Comments:

Post a Comment

---------------------------------------