1.  Make some cherry hand pies.

2.  Take photos and share the recipe with both of my adoring fans.

I’ve done neither.  That’s a less than passable photo from last time I made cherry hand pies.   My life got in the way.  Actually, my husband, bless his heart, got in the way.

Doesn’t he look a bit intrusive? In general, he’s a rockstar of a husband, but yesterday, I would have traded him in for a good pair of black, 1 1/2″ heel Donald J. Pliner sandals with a silver buckle on the side and those Tiffany sunglasses I’ve been swooning over.  It went EXACTLY like this…. (his version would not differ, I SWEAR.)

“Hi honey, I have a fantastic plan!  I’m going to sell my Volvo to the Volvo mechanic and then take the money and a bit more, and give it to our friend Dan who is driving out of state and he is going to buy a car trailer while he is there and bring me home a….

Karmann Ghia!!!!!” I sounded very enthusiastic.  VERY enthusiastic.  I’m still not certain how my exhuberance didn’t rub off on him.  I know, I didn’t do well in high-school drama, but this was for real. I was genuinely excited and somehow, this sentiment should have rubbed off on the man.

My dear husband, didn’t quite share my viewpoint. He is, however smart enough to wait a little while before throwing me into oncoming traffic.  He called me later to waylay my plans.  He very nicely explained all of the logical reasons why it wasn’t a good idea for me to buy a miniature 40 year old car and did his best to bring me back to reality.

The problem was, now I felt like EATING hand pies, but I no longer felt like MAKING them.

Let’s talk about all of the good reasons why I should get a Karmann Ghia.

1.  I grew up with a red Karmann Ghia.  It’s nostalgic for me.

2.  My dad bought me another Karmann Ghia as my first car. It’s even MORE nostalgic for me than it was after reason #1

3. I have blonde hair and would look very cute in that car.

4. I have a pair of red shoes that would match that car.

5. I have an unusually large dog who would ALSO look very cute in that car!

6.  It gets very good gas mileage. I live in California and it’s sunny most of the time and I could work on my tan WHILE I was driving around, looking cute in my car.

7. I want it. Badly.

:sigh

I feel very sorry for my husband.  He works VERY hard and likes to come home to a nice, tasty, dinner.  And now, that he won’t buy me the car that I want, and I have to find ways to scrimp and save several thousand dollars on the side, he might have to eat a lot of:

Those rolling hills in the background always turn green in late November.

And when the fruit trees start to bloom, I find myself driving from one orchard to the next to see the changing trees.

My poor family spends more time in the car while I am snapping photos than I would like to admit!

It was raining on this day and I still couldn’t resist!

Cherry Season in Brentwood means that everything else is just around the corner!  It’s the beginning of it ALL.  I have a friend who is more than mildly cherry-obsessed.  On the Saturday before Mother’s Day in May, I called her husband to tell him that “SEKO RANCH HAS CHERRIES!”.  She was out of town but he drove down to the orchard so that when she got home on Monday, she could have some of the first cherries of the season!

The first cherries to come in are the Burlats.  The Burlat cherries are just there to hold us over until the Corals come in.  The Corals are sweeter, crisper, juicier and just better all around!

Just look at those beautiful Cherries!  After the Coral cherries, the Bings come in and then lastly, the Texas Giants and the RAINIERS!!!  (Can you tell which cherries are my favorites?) I grew up near Mt. Rainier in Washington State and I remember going to Pike Place Market on Saturdays as a teenager and getting Rainier Cherries for the first time when I was about sixteen years old.  I’ve loved them ever since!  They even have a new Strawberry Rainier variety, but I prefer the original.

Very soon I’ll share one of my favorite cherry recipes with you and show you my favorite thing about Cherry Season in the Delta!

I feel sorry for anyone around me tonight, I keep singing Cherry O’ Baby by UB40!

I live in the Delta region of California, in the sort-of Bay Area.  Cherry Season has come and gone (more on that later)

and you can frequently see trucks laden with corn driving on our country roads.  I have a friend who actually follows those trucks and as the corn falls out, pulls over, picks it up and then drives the “Road Corn” around to friends and family.  We have special corn here that only grows about five feet tall.

Less time growing tall=shorter growing time=corn in a jiffy.  We have a long growing season so a farmer can get 2-3 crops of corn from one field in one year.  Our annual “Corn Festival” was just a couple of weeks ago.

My family loves corn salsa with tortilla chips and it’s best made with fresh corn!  If you live in the Midwest and can’t get Brentwood corn, you could probably substitute yours, I guess.

Corn Salsa

6 ears of fresh corn, corn cut from cob

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded, deveined and finely chopped

1/2 small red onion, diced small

8 oz. fresh tomatoes, seeded, diced

3 Tablespoons sugar

3 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar

2 Tablespoons canola oil

1 avocado

Mix all ingredients, except for avocado.  Chill at least 2 hours.  (The onion taste is too strong if you don’t let it sit for a couple of hours before serving).  Gently stir in chopped avocado just before serving. (I place the tomatoes, onion and jalapeno into my food processor and pulse it a few times until everything is finely chopped and then mix it into the corn.)

Serve with warm corn tortilla chips.

I hope you’ll try this and that you love it as much as we do!!

One recipe makes 32 rolls.  I know, it’s embarrassing, but 32 rolls isn’t enough to share.  My family of five needs 32 rolls all to themselves!

They are WONDERFUL, and not very hard, so even if you’re not familiar with baking with yeast dough, this would be a great recipe to start with!  (Unlike Cami’s croissants, but we’ll go there another time!)

Into the bowl of a mixer, dissolve 1 package yeast (1 ½ tablespoons) in ½ cup warm water. (not too hot, finger must be able to rest in water comfortably or it is too hot and will kill the yeast)

add 1 teaspoon baking powder and 1 teaspoon of sugar, whisk, let stand 20 minutes.

Place one cup milk, 1/3 cup sugar and  1/3 cup butter (5 1/3 Tablespoons) to a simmer in a small saucepan, just until butter melts.  Cool until comfortable to touch. Set aside.

Add to yeast mixture in mixer:

2 beaten eggs

1 teaspoon salt

Stir in warm milk mixture.

Add 4 ½ cups flour and turn mixer on to medium and mix well.

Dough will be wet (and photos of wet dough will have large shadows on them!)

Cover and let stand 1 ½-2 hours until doubled in size. Punch down. Divide dough into halves. Take half of dough and form into ball-shape. Place on floured surface and roll out into large circle 1/3-1/2” thick. Cut into 16 pieces (like a pizza – using a pizza cutter works great!)

sliced rolls

Roll into crescent roll starting at the wide end. Place onto either buttered cookie sheet or cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or a silpat mat.  Let rise for at least 30 minutes. Bake until light golden brown at 375º for 12-13 minutes.

Serve HHOOOTTTT with butter and jam.

Peanut Butter Cookies

Preheat oven to 325

1 cup butter (2 sticks), room temperature

1 cup creamy or chunky peanut butter

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar, plus more for rolling cookies in

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

Place peanut butter and butter into mixer and using paddle attachment, mix until well blended.  Add brown sugar, granulated sugar, eggs and vanilla and mix for 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy.  Add flour, baking powder and salt and then mix until flour is completely mixed it.

Roll into golf-ball sized balls and then roll each ball into granulated sugar.  Place each cookie onto either greased cookie sheet or a cookie sheet that is lined with either parchment paper or a silpat mat.  Take a dinner fork and press cookie with fork, making a criss cross in the top of each cookie and pressing the cookie down until it is 1/2″ high.

Bake at 325 for 12-14 minutes until very light golden brown on edges.

Store in airtight container for up to 3 days.  They’ve never lasted that long at my house.

When you read the ingredients, you may decide never to make it because of the risk of death by sudden heart attack factor.  It’s worth it. Do it anyway.

5 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

4 cups heavy whipping cream

2 cups milk

1 cup sugar

3 1/2 cups (1 1/2 bags) white chocolate morsels

6 large whole eggs, plus 12 large egg yolks

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 24-inch day old French bread (not sourdough), cut into 1/2 inch thick slices

Ingredients for Raspberry Sauce, White Chocolate Sauce and garnish:

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup sugar

2 teaspoons grated orange zest

2 cups fresh or unsweetened frozen raspberries

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 cup white chocolate morsels

1 pint fresh raspberries

4 ounce chunk of white chocolate

Preheat the oven to 325F.  Brush a 9×13x2 inch baking pan with 2 Tablespoons melted butter.  Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper.

In a 4-quart saucepan over medium heat, combine the cream, milk and sugar and heat until just hot.  Remove from the heat, add the chocolate morsels and stir until melted.  Set aside to cool slightly.

In a large bowl, whisk together the whole eggs, egg yolks and vanilla.  While whisking, gradually drizzle the warm cream mixture into the eggs, continuing to whisk until smooth and well blended.  If the cream mixture is too hot, the eggs will curdle.

Lay half of the bread slices in the bottom of the prepared pan. Pour half of the cream mixture over the bread and allow to absorb the liquid, about 5 minutes. Layer the remaining bread on top and pour the rest of the cream mixture over it.  Press down on the bread, making certain it completely absorbs the liquid.  Cover the pan with aluminum foil.

Bake the pudding for 1 hour.  Uncover and continue to bake until the liquid in the center has evaporated and the pudding is golden brown, about 30 minutes longer.  Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.

When the bread pudding is cool, cover and refrigerate until cold.  Run a sharp knife between the edges of the bread pudding and the sides of hte pan to loosen the pudding and then invert the pan onto a cutting board and tap the bottom to release the pudding. Peel off the parchment paper.  Trim off the crusty edges around the sides.  Cut the  bread pudding into six 2×3 inch rectangles and then cut each rectangle in half on an angle to form 2 triangles.  Wrap and store in the refrigerator.

This dessert is served with both Raspberry Sauce and a White Chocolate Sauce, and then garnished with fresh raspberries and white chocolate curls.

To make the Raspberry Sauce, in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, combine 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup sugar, and 2 teaspoons orange zest and stir frequently, until the mixture is thick and syrupy, about 3 minutes.  Add the raspberries , reduce the heat to low and cook until the fruit begins to fall apart, about 3 minutes.  Remove from the heat and let cool slightly.  Then, using the back of a spoon, force the sauce through a fin-mesh sieve placed over a bowl to remove the seeds. Set aside until ready to serve.

To make the White Chocolate Sauce, in a small saucepan over medium high heat, warm the1/2 cup heavy  cream until hot.  Remove from the heat and add 1 cup white chocolate morsels and stir constantly until the chocolate is completely melted and the sauce is smooth.  Keep warm.

To finish and assemble the dessert, preheat the oven to 350F. Butter a rimmed baking sheet and place the bread pudding triangles on it, leaving space between the pieces.  Brush the triangles with the remaining 3 Tablespoons melted butter. Bake the triangles until heated through and lightly browned, about 12 minutes.

For each serving, stand a hot bread pudding triangle on its side int he center of a large dessert plate.  Run a stripe of White Chocolate Sauce across the plate, including over the top of the pudding.  Pool some of the Raspberry Sauce at opposite edges of the plate.  Garnish with raspberries and with ribbons of white chocolate cut from a chunk of white chocolate with a vegetable peeler.

From the Nordstrom Friends and Family Cookbook