"cherry" news and stories

Happy National Cherry Popover Day!

Typically taking the form of a fluffy, hollow muffin-sized bread, popovers rely upon liquid-heavy base ingredients (milk, eggs, butter and flour) to create the intensive steam that leavens the batter into its fluffy texture. Baked in muffin pans or specialized, deeper popover pans, the baked goods take their name from the batter's ability to expand and "popover" the edges of the molds.

While today's food holiday focuses on cherry-flavored popovers, they can be flavored with anything from herbs and spices to cheese or fruit. For a quick and easy recipe -- which uses a pan for added simplicity, like the photograph pictured above -- check out Real Simple's Dried Cherry Popover recipe -- it will even adapt to a popover pan if you'd like individual servings.

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Happy National Cherry Pie Day!

Cherry pie may be thought of as quintessentially American, but English tradition credits Queen Elizabeth the First with having created the dessert. Nonetheless, history tells us it's unlikely that she spent very much time in the kitchen, if any, and pie has become integrated into American culture in the last couple centuries.

This photographer made Martha Stewart's Sweet Cherry Pie, a classic variety with an attractive latticed crust. Don't be intimidated by the golden handiwork topping -- using thicker latticed strips doesn't lose any of its visual appeal, it just shaves off some prep time.

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Over the past few summers, cherry-based cocktails have become something of a signature for me, to the point whereupon being proposed to in mid-July a few years back, I immediately began pulping and freezing cherries for use in our wedding cocktails the following October. Fresh cherries have a cruelly short season, and I do my best to make the most of every phase from sour to Rainier to Bing. Each has a distinct level of sweetness and depth of flavor and is complemented by different suites of ingredients. Rich, dark Bings stand up to wood smoking and full-bodied lemon and limeades, but tender, young sour cherries seem a natural fit for a subtly refreshing sweet iced tea. Oh - and booze.

Recipe follows after the jump.

At first I thought, there's no way I'm taking a bunch of cherries and rubbing them on my arms and legs, but then I saw that you have to eat them.

Our sister blog That's Fit has a post about how eating tart cherries can actually help you if you have soreness after a hard workout. They're a natural anti-inflammatory, if you eat them twice a day, that is. This news comes via research conducted at the University of Vermont.

They could also help with arthritis.

We've been baking cookies like crazy around these parts, all December long. I'm giving my rolling pin and baking sheets a break today and dipping into the archives to bring you some cookies from our archives.

Looking for a recipe that will look gorgeous on your buffet? These Cranberry-Cherry Icebox Ribbons are alternating stripes of red and white and are awfully nice to look at and will be tasty to boot.

Nicole's Vanilla Cut-Out Cookies incorporate buttermilk for a soft consistency that isn't cake-like. She also brought us Gingersnaps Two Ways last holiday season.

Want an easy, seasonal cookie? What about this Cranberry, Orange and Dark Chocolate Chip cookie? It's a quick mixing drop cookie with a great taste.

For the chocolate lovers in the crowd, check out these Chocolate Peppermint Drops.

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