brandied cherries
To start, a note of caution.
It is spring decidedly here– I have green tomatoes and Bill promises the first zucchini will be ready to pick before the weekend is over. There are apricots and runner beans and garlic scapes– and all the total summer bombshells (the melons and sweetcorn and brandywine tomatoes) are leafing out and shooting upwards. It is all downhill from here to the last gorgeous pumpkin and the first frost.
But beach-bunnies, do not be fooled by your own green beans. The winter will come again, and it will be long and dark and interminable and on top of everything else, you’re not going to want to be stuck with red number 40 in your manhattans.
Cherries are going to be the first to go– gather them up now and pack them lovingly away in brandy, cardamom, allspice and cloves. Sneak a few in six weeks when they’re soaked through, and then secret the rest away in some dark cupboard for the scotch, bourbon, whiskey, rum and rye season that, yes, will inevitably come to all of us again.
I just bought my Cherries to make my favorite dessert Cherry Clafoutis {Julia Child’s recipe}.
I grew up with jars of Turkish Sour Cherry preserve, yumm, paired with Turkish tea and French Bread.
and Cherry Vanilla ice cream.
Now I wanna try the brandied ones!
Back to the store..
i want a manhattan RIGHT NOW
I just love the color and the effect! I don’t even DRINK Manhattans and I want to fill my cupboards with these!
Can you offer any more guidance? Do you have to worry about boiling/sealing/poisoning yourself, like with canning?
Hiya,
So I boiled/sealed/risked swift death in my sleep, and I *thought* that I was going to have to encourage you to do the same, but this collection of recipes I just found today says they’ll keep for a year in the fridge. If you drink half as many manhattans as I do, there’s not a chance they’ll last long enough to near expiration. So go for it!
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