Sour Cherry Pistachio Crisp

Susan has been picking colanders of sour cherries this week. Go cherry tree!  Even after a hard day at work, picking cherries in the sunshine and pitting them on the deck gets her humming. Then comes the cooking.

We still have jars of Sour Cherry Freezer Jam from last year so Susan went online to find more cherry recipes. She found a Martha Stewart recipe for sour cherry crisp with a pistachio topping.  She said that Martha probably knows what she'd talking about when it comes to crisps. 

But I am not so sure about her faith in Martha... 

So wrong. Poor Frenchies.

Susan changed at least three things from Martha's recipe so she says she can call it hers now. I have to say, it turned out great. 

Do serve it with vanilla ice cream. The sweet, ice creaminess is the perfect foil to warm, tart cherry crisp. The pistachios add a nutty crunch you won't regret. But other nuts would be tasty too if you aren't up for running off to the grocery. Note: Susan found shelled, unsalted pistachios at Whole Foods.

The most important part to remember about this recipe is to put your bowls on the floor for the dog to help with clean up. Very eco-friendly.

Sour Cherry Pistachio Crisp

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Grease 8-inch baking dish.

In a medium bowl, stir together: 

1 - 3/4 pounds pitted fresh sour cherries

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons cornstarch

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

a pinch of salt

Pour cherry mixture into baking dish.

In medium bowl, mix:

1/2 cup unsalted, chopped pistachios

1/4 cup, plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons packed light-brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar 

With pastry blender or fork, cut into dry mixture - until coarse crumbs:

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

Sprinkle the topping evenly over cherry mixture. 

Bake until topping turns golden and juices are bubbling, 50 minutes to 1 hour. 

Let cool on a wire rack 1 hour before serving.

Serve with vanilla ice cream.

Maybe Martha isn't so bad, after all.

How My Garden Grows

 I love my garden. The paths meander through all the corners making patrol rounds very relaxing. Here's what is in bloom in this long, cool spring.

The pasque flowers gone to seed
look like Dr. Seuss lorax trees.

If I see a lorax in my garden,
I am going to catch it
and make it go squeakie-squeakie.
I'll bet they are pretty slow...

Star of Bethlehem flowers are
the only religious thing in our garden.
Needless to say, no one around here
was expecting big changes
last week for the Rapture. 

Susan likes weird creatures in the garden
that are no fun to chase.
That maidenhair fern behind the snail
is looking good this year.

Siberian irises are always pleasing.
I help out by gnawing out all
the crab grass from the clumps.

The bleeding hearts are huge bushes this year! 

The best part about gardening is that Susan takes care of all the work while I sleep in the sun and play with bumblebees.

Bees are easy to catch.
They sort of stick to your tongue
as they fly by.

Bumblebees are so adorable in their little polarfleece coats. They are very pokey fliers. I can snatch them out of the air with my lightening fast reflexes. I like how they buzz when I body slam them on the grass.

This is wrong. 

This is actually a rather cute bee.
But I don't think it could fly very well.

The other day while I was tossing a bee around the yard, I got this terrible pain in my foot. No idea what that was about... I thought I was going to die. But it went away so I went back to bumblebee hunting today.