If it had been your son who chopped down the cherry tree, would you have punished him or would you have let him off the hook because he told the truth about it? What if he was standing there, axe in hand, and then nobly said, "I cannot tell a lie; I chopped down the cherry tree." Good for you, Georgie. Who cares about that cherry tree when you are such a virtuous child? I have a child who is as honest as George. He never, ever tells even a fib. "Yep-I smacked my sister." "Yes, that was me that ate all the Oreos." "Me again-I didn't finish my spelling homework." "I was jealous that Sailor got more ice cream so I switched our bowls." I don't even have to ask. Sometimes I don't even know there is anything to ask, but he volunteers his misdeeds anyway. So the boy hasn't chopped down any fruit trees as of yet, but telling the truth hasn't exactly earned him a get-out-of-jail-free-card either. Or maybe it has. With him, I find myself saying, "Oh....well, just don't do that again." So let's hope he doesn't chop down the ornamental pear trees we just put in the backyard. But if he does, I won't have to stand around trying to figure out who did it. The boy cannot tell a lie. Maybe he's headed for the Oval Office.
Here's our favorite cherry dessert for President's Day. It's easy enough that honest young chaps can make it all by themselves. It's suprisingly good for having a mere three ingredients. If you don't get to it for George's sake, it would be nice with ham on Easter or with barbecue chicken for Fourth of July. Who am I kidding-it's good all the time. Honest.
Cherry Crunch
Estimated Cost: $8.00
Notes: Any fruit pie filling will work here so choose one that you can get for a reasonable price.
2 (21) ounce cans cherry pie filling
1 box yellow cake mix
1/2 cup butter, cut into pieces
3/4 cup chopped nuts, optional
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour pie filling into greased 9 by 13 inch baking dish. Sprinkle cake mix over pie filling. Dot with butter and sprinkle with nuts, if using. Bake for 40 minutes, or until browned and bubbly. Serve with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream.
Next Up:
Chicken Paprikash with Buttered Noodles
We've got guests for Memorial Day! We had a lonely two days without out of town company, but now we are back in business. Thus begins our busy summer season. When you live somewhere gorgeous and warm, with the added benefit of my parent's resort style backyard just a couple of doors down, we soak more company than we do summer sun. And we absolutely love it. Would you like to come for a visit? Our door is always open. But call ahead since the rooms fill fast. So with all this company, I'm rolling up my sleeves and heading to my lovely kitchen. The Quiet Man bought a few nice racks or ribs and I thought I'd tinker around with a sweet cherry barbecue sauce. I'm mighty glad that I did, because we've got a new overwhelming favorite. 
Even the non-meat eaters lapped up the cherry barbecue sauce on homemade onion rings (onion ring recipe coming soon). 
The carnivores ruled the day with these sticky-sweet-smoky and slightly spicy ribs, so tender they could fall right off the bone. I made a variation on my homemade barbecue sauce with a bit of reduced cherry cola, ketchup, mustard, oh, and a bit of this and that. After boiling, I added in some cherry snow cone syrup to give it a fresh pop of cherry flavor. You could also use cherry grenadine, or some pureed cherry preserves. It's the perfect way to say hello to summer days. And if you've got Memorial Day company, they may never want to leave. So plan accordingly.
Cherry Barbecue Sauce (Makes about 3 cups)
Next Up:
On Friday night, a gentleman/retired-old fashioned-cowboy that lives in the neighborhood, dropped off some zucchini and apricots from his garden. He kept apologizing for the small amount, claiming he was embarrassed to just be sharing just a few dozen apricots and a couple pounds of zucchini. So Saturday morning he came back with 18 fat red ripe tomatoes, plus more zucchini and apricots. That's right-if you're going to drop off free vegetables and fruit to Prudy Pennywise, you'd better bring a bushel, by golly! Thank you, although I'll be sure to tell you again in person. This week I'll be using my free produce all week, starting with this delicious pie. 
Start by making a double pie crust recipe. I used Dorie's recipe (link below), but I added half whole wheat flour. Roll out the dough and fill the bottom of the pie dish. 
Scatter 1/2 cups dry crumbs on the bottom. I used graham cracker crumbs, but even bread crumbs will help keep the bottom crust flaky. For a fruit filling, I used 5 cups sliced apricots, 1 cup pitted and quartered cherries, 1 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon ginger and 1/2 cup flour. It was scrumptious! 
Cover fruit filling with a rolled out double crust or make a quick rustic lattice top. (Rustic is code for imperfect around here. Pretend like you didn't notice.) 
With the extra crust, my two little charges made miniature lattice berry pies. Rustic again, yet perfect in a diminutive sort of way.
Bake a big pie at 350 for about an hour and serve it up with warm with lots of ice cream. (Little pies needed about 25 minutes.)
For a complete recipe, visit 
Coming Tomorrow: 