My daughters were recently in Washington, DC during the annual Cherry Blossom Festival. Since Kristina took some lovely photos, I was all ready to do a blog with a cherry cookbook. Out of all my thousands of cookbooks, I found to my surprise that I didn’t have one single book on cherries! How did that happen? I love cherries! So now I will be on the hunt for a good cherry cookbook – suggestions anyone?
My first taste of cherries came from a cherry tree in my own childhood back yard. I have several photos of my little brother and me up on a small ladder, happily picking the plump glistening cherries, and anticipating the pie or other dessert that would follow.
The cherry is one of the world’s oldest cultivated fruits, dating back to 300 BC, and is part of the rose family. Its name comes originally from the Greek word kerasos, and in Latin means of or for the birds, due to the birds’ obvious love for the fruit. This year marks the 100th Anniversary of the Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, with five weeks of planned events featuring more than 200 international cultural performances and over 90 other special events from arts and exhibits to cuisine and sports. There are 3,000 cherry trees that the city of Tokyo gave to our nation’s capital as a gesture of friendship.
Here are some of the lovely photos taken last weekend from the festival:
Aren’t they lovely? Happy Spring everyone!
Here you go.
Cherry Home Companion, available from Amazon.
There are others, but I know Michigan is a special place for you.
I love cherries. Unfortunately, our cherry trees are ornamental. Fortunately, there’s a cherry orchard close to home.
Thank you! I will definitely go check it out. I have several Michigan cookbooks with cherry recipes, but not a single subject one. I think some cherry jam will be in order soon!
Speaking of cherries, do you read Cook’s Illustrated? I love the back covers with the beautiful pictures of various types of food. The new issue’s back cover is devoted to cherries. It looks good enough to eat.
Cherry jam sounds delicious. I need to make some this year.
I’ll look for the magazine next time I’m at the grocery store. I am hoping one of the local Farmer’s markets will have cherries soon, so I can make jam.
I love Cook’s Illustrated ! Wonderful recipes and information and no advertising. I also pay extra to be able to access the product tastings and expanded recipes on cooksillustrated.com. The mobile app lets me access their taste tests on my IPhone so if I need to buy, for instance, canned tomatoes or chicken stock/broth I can pull the ratings up on my IPhone when I am at the grocery store and buy the brand that they feel has the best flavor. I used it today when I bought Greek yogurt–and I was in luck as the brand of Greek yogurt they thought was the best–Olympus–was on sale at the ethnic grocery store in my area.
Interesting, Barb! I didn’t know this about Cook’s Illustrated. I need to get an iPhone!