pretty lights and a pound of pits, or skrillex and sour cherries

Sour Cherries!!! First time I've ever managed to get them before the season is gone!!! First time I've even really seen them in Toronto (obviously I have fairly poor eyesight). For my trial run, I bought one pound today (for 4.99) at my local veg store, literally downstairs from my apartment. I'm going to try to look around for them a bit more, as I feel that may be a bit expensive. My work schedule is pretty packed for the next week, and they only last for two weeks, so that may or may not happen. Having read, as usual, a fair bit online about sour cherries, pitting sour cherries, sour cherry recipes, etc I decided to use the chopstick method: remove the stem, push the chopstick (thinner end) through the stem end, popping the pit out the bottom. Reading about pitting cherries (especially the softer sour cherries) had filled me with dread, and impatience, and reluctance. However, it was super quick and easy!


I put on some Pretty Lights since I'm going to see him and Skrillex next weekend at Fort York in Toronto. I saw Pretty Lights open for Nero last summer and it was...unexpectedly amazing! I've never REALLY been into hip hop before (don't get me wrong, I do like old school tribe called quest, and the roots, and probably anything else along those lines, and I'm not saying that PL is hip hop by any means) but this was like some great mash-up of hip hop, rock, dub, electro, trance, psy, etc etc, that really got me dancing. So....I put on some Pretty Lights (new track for me, not my favourite, gotta say I'm partial to High School Art Class, Hot Like Sauce, and I know the Truth. ) I suppose I do sometimes question their use/mash up of other tracks, but I find it quite danceable. And great for cherry pitting. Which took all of 4 minutes 39 seconds apparently.

Now what to do with the cherries? I only pitted them because there is apparently a one-minute expiry date on their freshness, and even leaving them in the fridge overnight can result in armageddon. So now I guess I'll freeze them - even though I have imminent plans for jam, infused bourbon, maybe a pie a cake a crisp a clafouti, Sour cherry soup? and perhaps some sort of quinoa or wheatberry salad or pickles??? Lots of plans for sour cherries (and despite my preconceptions, they're pretty tasty for just eating), so I'll keep squirreling them away for now. Also, there are apparently a bunch of things to do with cherry pits, so i'm keeping those too. Nevermind, I threw them in a mini mason jar with some vodka. And I cracked a few open and ate the noyeaux inside...crossing my fingers i don't die of cyanide poisoning.

No good pics! I pitted them too quickly. Maybe next time :)

Also: as part of this being my own keeping-track-journal, I want to write some potential unusual flavour combinations to try, inspired by my re-re-reading of ONE OF MY FAVOURITE BOOKS EVER - The Flavour Thesaurus by Niki Segnit. More about this book in an upcoming post. For now (note to self): sweet corn!