No, I don’t have a cherry pie tree. But I do have the next best thing. If you have ever eaten a cherry pie made from fresh cherries, you will never go back to the canned cherry variety. I have seen pie cherries occasionally at farmer’s markets, but really, the only reliable source is a backyard (or frontyard) tree. Even in a less-than-ideal fairly shady spot, my cherry tree usually provides a few pies a year. And I can also get some cherries from my neighbor’s tree. I freeze these pies unbaked, and then pull them out and bake them as needed for Thanksgiving dinner and for dinner guests. Somehow I even had one last pie from last year for Father’s Day this year, and my husband was oh-so-happy.

Our trees are Montmorencies–and not only are the cherries great for pies, but they are pretty trees. We finally gave up on our Bing cherry tree, because the birds ate them all. Except the year we tamed and adopted a feral cat–she spent the whole summer in the crook of the tree scaring off birds. But then she decided “I’m in” and retired from useful work to a life of being waited on by her humans. So out with the Bing cherry and in with another pie cherry tree. Birds don’t bother these–except the ones I can’t reach that get overripe and ferment; then they will eat them.

Unbaked frozen pie

Fresh Cherry Pie

Combine in bowl:
1 1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/8 tsp salt.

Add:
4 cups pitted pie cherries (will probably take about 6 – 7 cups unpitted)
1/8 tsp almond cherries
Toss with sugar mixture, mixing thoroughly.

Make pastry for a 2-crust pie. Roll out 1/2 of dough pie and fit in 9″ pan. Add cherry mixture. Cut remaining dough into strips and make a lattice on top of pie. (I have always wondered why this seems to be essential for cherry pies, and not others, but I am an obediant type and always put lattice crusts on my cherry pies). Flute edges of pie crust, and cover edges with foil so they don’t burn. Bake at 425 for about 40 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Enjoy! If you don’t want to eat it right away, I freeze these unbaked and bake them frozen–it just takes a little extra time.