Come on over to the sour side...

I'm very excited about today's extra special panini - Roasted Pork Loin with Sour Cherry Chutney. We also have the Pesto Caprese Panini.

After two quarts of pie filling, six pints of jam and chutney for today's special, I still have about five pounds of the precious ruby fruit. Next up is a Sour Cherry Marmalade and a Cherry Cordial.

Plans are afoot for another cherry picking and then a staff field trip to the farm. I promise news will be of a non-cherry nature in the very near future. It's just that they're so delicious and available for such a short period of time. Unlike asparagus imported from Brazil, strawberries from Argentina or leeks from Holland, sour cherries are only readily available from local farms. And at $1.99 pound (for 10 pounds or more) they are a tasty bargain. The big black bing cherries are delicious to eat out of hand, but for baking and preserving sour cherries are the way to go.

There are several more cherry projects in the works but when I've had enough my housemate will be bribed to sit down behind the pitter and I'll freeze the extra berries in 4 cup containers. In the cold of winter a hot cherry buckle will be just the thing.

"But Carma, you have a restaurant. What could I possibly do with 20 pounds of cherries?" Go ahead, Google "sour cherry recipes". I double dare you. And I'll see you in the orchard.

PS: Bring your cherries to the cafe, grab something to drink and a table on the terrace, and I'll loan you my cherry pitter.