HM was powering down the cherry pie when we went down the hill last week so I thought I would surprise him and bake one. Since I never baked a cherry pie before–I hoped it would come out right.

One of the problems is that cherries are not in season so I purchased pitted cherries with juice–not the compost or ready to use filling.

Not too long ago my pal in San Diego informed me that she bought a cherry pitter.

Yep, I asked the question–”Just what is a cherry pitter?”

Basically, it is a kitchen tool to specifically help you pit cherries. So, wondering how everyone else pits cherries, I asked around.

Evangalene uses a straw to puncture the cherries and push the pits out, while Emma finds that a paper clip works just fine and doesn’t waste any of the cherry meat. Perhaps you have a particular favorite you want to share?

Now, imagine my surprise when I found that antique cherry pitters are more reasonably priced than the newer models. Plus, they have been around a long time. The cherry pitter pictured below is from the 1950’s but I’ve seen cast iron ones and others that look like modified surgical devices.

Gosh, how did I ever live my life without a cherry pitter?

My life is so sheltered so I headed over to the Unofficial National Red Cherry Institute site…

Okay, enough of that.

The cherry pie turned out great–even though I did not include the butter. HM said it was the best cherry pie he ever had…and then my pal from San Diego was chatting with me and she had a visitor show up with…a cherry pie!

So, I welcome you to try it and below is the cherry pie recipe for you:

Cherry Pie

• crust for a 9 inch double crust pie (cheat with Mrs. Smith’s pie crust and the roll out top kind)
• 4 tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup white sugar
• 4 cups pitted cherries
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 tablespoons butter

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C).
2. In a large mixing bowl combine tapioca, salt, sugar, cherries and extracts. Let stand 15 minutes. Turn into bottom crust and dot with butter. Cover with top crust, flute edges and cut vents in top. Place pie on a cookie sheet to prevent dripping onto the oven.
3. Bake for 50 minutes until golden brown.
4. If you use cutouts on top the crust will need slightly longer–watch that you don’t burn it!

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