Cherries!

The price of cherries has dropped and its time to make something! When I make pie dough, I always make extra and freeze it, so I can come up with something quickly if the occasion arises. I was expecting a guest, so I decided to take those luscious cherries and make a turnover to go with tea.

To make the filling, use tapioca--its a good thang to keep in the pantry for just such occasions. For this little turnover, I used less than a tablespoon added to the washed, pitted cherries. My favorite cherry spices are cardamom and, of course, cayenne. Don't forget a small pinch of salt and a sweetner. I chose sugar. As you can see from the photos, I also sprankled the pie crust with a little sugar (as it had none) and a liberal dose of cinnamon. I rolled my crust very thinly, because I like it that way. However, I had a small fissure, visible in the photo, which is never any good but not the end of the world. After loading half the crust with the cherry mixture, I simply folded it in half, pinched closed, brushed with a little cream/water mix and sprankled more sugar and cinnamon on top. Since I had a fissure, I didn't add any slits on the top. Into a 400 degree oven for about 30 minutes or until nicely golden and the fruit has begun to bubble in the fissure (or slits, if you did it right).

No canned or frozen or dried cherry comes close to the divine flavor of the fresh fruit. We ate this turnover while it was still warm. It was so good, I forgot to take a picture of the finished turnover, and it wasn't until we were seated at tea, gobbling away, that I dragged out the camera!