Since moving to the Midwest I have developed a fondness for cherry pie. Not the cherries, just the pie. A good cherry pie seems to be a little difficult to come by and the cherries are kind of expensive. Low and behold, my neighbor has a cherry tree. I asked if I could have enough for a pie. She graciously agreed, saying we don’t use them anyway. Take as many as you want.
I convinced a buddy of mine to go along on this little adventure. So off we went to pick cherries. My neighbor had even put the ladder out for us. Guess that was her way of saying, ‘you’re welcome’. Mind you, I had never picked cherries. Never even seen a cherry tree before moving to the Midwest. I asked my buddy about picking cherries. She promptly replied, “I don’t know. I have never done this before”. Darn, the only reason I brought her was because I thought she knew more than I did. Well, we are both college graduates. This couldn't be too difficult. In about an hour or so we managed to pick enough cherries for pies. We headed back to my house for the pitting session.
Saying that pitting cherries is a difficult job is an understatement. To get that little pit out without losing all the fruit is a challenge not easily accomplished. It took about 4 hours for two people to pit enough cherries for two pies. We added a little sugar and frozen them for later use.
I guess you are wondering what lesson I learned. I gained a new appreciation for pitted cherries. I no longer think cherries or cherry pie is expensive. I don’t know who I am going to feed my cherry pie to, but they had better appreciate it. ‘Cause picking and pitting is not a job to be taken lightly.
