Life is a Bowl of Cherries (or Several Bowls of Cherries)

There isn't much better than a day off in July. July means beautiful weather, sunning myself in the park, sailing in the Hudson, long journeys into the city, doing yardwork, and falling asleep under the cherry tree watching the Tour de France and playing The Sims 3!

Boo ya!

Nothing beats waking up in the early morning, watching bicycle racing then playing a mess of The Sims. All before it's even time for lunch!

And speaking of lunch . . .



I used some leftover bread and the cherry preserves I made with last week's farm cherries to make this delicious peanut butter and jelly sandwich. It may be the best peanut butter and jelly sandwich I've had since I visited that gourmet place called PB&J (or PB&J's) at the airport in Detroit.

The best thing about peanut butter and jelly is that Jen hates it! That means more for me! Apparently in Canada they operate under the false assumption that peanut butter sandwiches must be eaten with only two ingredients: peanut butter and bread. The saddest part is that they they don't even know that they've got it all wrong! The only thing better than peanut butter and jelly is peanut butter, jelly, and fluff. However, those sandwiches should be reserved only for very special occasions, like high school graduations or weddings.



For the salad I finished up the Locally Grown greens (which by this point were locally blown -- zing!) with some additional cherries from this week which I marinated in a little balsamic vinegar and drizzled with some olive oil and chopped almonds.



For the main course I made a spatchcock chicken which I pan roasted with a cherry glaze made with some ruby port, sugar, and a touch of orange juice. I glazed the chicken at the very end then served some additional glaze over the top when it came out of the oven.

I also steamed both tiny heads of broccoli and made some butter-boiled turnips with parsley as an accompaniment.



For wine I opened a bottle of Il Bastardo Sangiovese. It's hard to tell from all the cherries of the evening but I think it might have been a little off. Not off enough to prevent me from happily having a glass, but off nonetheless.



For dessert: brandy-soaked cherries with chocolate angel food cake and maraschino whipped cream. In hindsight I would have made an amaretto whipped cream and topped it with sliced almonds. Unfortunately I only thought of this after I'd started whipping the cream.

I like cherries but I may have reached my 2009 annual limit for cherry consumption. Fingers crossed that some other fruit arrives next week. I think I need a cherry vacation.

It's like a really sweet vacation from the 80's. "Man, this vacation is cherry!"