Pickle time and cherry bounce

It's pickle time in our part of the world. I planted enough pickling cucumber plants this year to make it worth my while. I have been using "The Pickled Pantry" by Andrea Chesman since finding a copy of her book at the library several years ago. My daughter's purchased a copy for me that same Christmas. Pickles are not the only thing that make this book my go-to for pickling. Check it out and you will see why.

The thing about pickles is they go really well with dill. The thing about dill is it is ready well ahead of the cucumbers unless you remember to plant successive crops which I don't. I came up with a solution to my problem and that is I pickle the dill as it is ready. I have a half gallon Ball jar in my fridge that I fill with dill heads and vinegar when they are ready. I use fresh heads as long as they keep coming. When the cucumbers outlast the dill, I just pop some of the pickled heads into the jar with the new batch of pickles I am working on. Sometimes I will use a bit of the vinegar to boost of the flavor as well. The dill keeps for a very long time like this, well into the winter so I also have dill vinegar in winter.

NorPro Deluxe Cherry Pitter with suction base

I am also fermenting cherries for a delicious cocktail mix in. I never saw my mom do this, but my oldest cousins remember her having this on hand during one of the family get-togethers. I found various recipes in German cookbooks and it was also published in our local paper also published a version of it. After looking over the options, I came up with my own version of proportions which are a bit easier to remember. I also don't want raisins in mine.

Cherry Bounce
2 pounds of pitted pie cherries
2 cups of sugar
1 qt of moonshine or other liquor
Mix the pie cherries with the sugar in a large jar (mine is one gallon). Cover with screw on lid and mix well. Keep jar on the counter out of sun and swish the cherries and sugar around once or twice a day to keep it well blended and the sugar dissolving with the juice. 

After a week to ten days, add the liquor to the jar and mix well. I seal mine with a bit of plastic wrap as well as the screw on lid. Set the jar in a cool, dark place for two months. You can put it in smaller jars to share or store. Enjoy on its own or in a cocktail.