Cherry Time!

We have some very generous friends who have a farm about 12 miles from here.  They had 6 or 7 cherry trees just loaded with cherries.  They said we could 'pick as much as we wanted'!  So we picked about 5 gallons.  
     The past few days I've been working with them, making a pie, jelly, jam, juice, and a wonderful ice cream topping.  I have more cherries left to make a cherry crisp tomorrow for company coming (Harold's sister from Texas).   The kitchen smells wonderful with all this fruit processing!!  Cherries are one of my favorite fruits, so I'm delighted to have the chance to work with them. 
Here's a couple photos of those wonderful cherries:

About 3 gallons of cherries right here.  There are 2 more pails full not in the picture.

A close-up of these beauties!    They are baking cherries (sour cherries).

While working with these cherries, we had several bad storms.   We lost power for 18 hours one day.   When the power came back on, we figured the storms were over.   About 3 hours later I put a lovely pie in the oven.  Halfway through the baking, the power went out again!  And it stayed out for 6 more hours!  When it finally came on at midnight, I tried to continue baking the pie, but I quickly learned that a half baked pie that sits for 6 hours becomes a soggy mess and baking doesn't help it.  Bummer. 
     I wanted to make a nice ice cream topping with the cherries, and searched all my 600 cookbooks for a good recipe.   You would think with that many references I would be able to find a good recipe, right?  I also tried the internet, but didn't find anything that came close to what I was looking for.   Finally, in an old Ball Blue Book from 1964, I found the perfect method for making a very tasty ice cream topping.   It is truly delicious!   The Ball Book calls it "Cherry Preserves", but to me, it's ice cream topping!  It has a fresh taste, not too sweet, not too tart, and is only cherries, sugar, and water.  No pectin.   No chemicals.  No preservatives.   I offer the recipe here, in case you ever come across a nice batch of cherries and would like to make some. 

A ladle full of the delicious cherry topping for ice cream!

CHERRY TOPPING FOR ICE CREAM

4 heaping cups of pitted tart red cherries

4 to 4 1/2 c. sugar (depends on tartness of fruit)

Drain juice from cherries (there won't be a lot, maybe 1/2 cup).  Add sugar to juice (if not enough juice to dissolve sugar, add a little water - up to 1/2 c no more)  Cook the juice and sugar mix until sugar dissolves, stirring occasionally.   Cool a little, then add cherries and cook rapidly (a good boil), for about 15 minutes, stirring constantly.  Cover and let stand for 12 to 18 hours in a cool place.   Next day, bring to a boil and cook at a high boil for 1 minute.  Pour hot syrup and cherries into sterilized jelly jars, adjust caps and lids, and process in a boiling water bath for about 10-15 minutes.  (I processed for 13 min)

Yield:  4 half pints. 

Note:  I doubled the recipe and all was fine.   Got 8 jelly jars full. 

And this tastes just like the cherry sauce you get at the ice cream parlor when you order a cherry sundae!  Pitting all the cherries is the hardest part, but it's worth it!  I used a cherry pitter, and it went quickly.