cherries

Cherry Season is so short! by George Geary

Cherry Season.. Where does it go?

Here in Southern California we have great farmers markets. Many of the vendors grown their fare in neighboring counties. Some drive 4 hours one way to get to the markets. Not many of the larger orchards and farms are in the Los Angeles area. So if you want to pick your own produce off of trees and bushes you have to go a few hours out.

Last weekend I drove out to the very outskirts to Villa del Sol, sweet cherry farms. They are only open for a few weeks. Bing and Rainier Cherries are packed the first week of operation. I picked the second and last weekend. If you are in the area, you should get to the farm as soon as they open. Here is the site: Cherries. Sign up for the alerts for next year! 

I picked about 11 pounds of fresh cherries. I pitted them and put them into four categories; Bing with and without stems and Rainier with and without stems. I then places them on baking sheets lined with parchment paper and let them freeze over night. The next morning I placed them in my Seal-a Meal and now have cherries packed in the freezer.

Tonight I made a Cherry Almond Tart with a flakey sweet tart dough crust. Here are the recipes:

Cherry Almond Tart

Sweet Tart Dough