4 • June 2014 • UPBEAT TIMES.com C


herry comes from an Akkadian


ad- opted by the Assyrians


and Babylonians. They were the first to cul- tivate which


this has


fruit, been


consumed since prehistoric times. In 72 B.C. the first cultivated cherry arrives in Rome via Turkey.


After tasting the


sweet fleshy stone fruit in Flanders, Henry VIII trans- ported


them to England. While


across the channel, French chefs were creating the cus- tardy Clafoutis with its intense cherry flavor. That intensity stems from leaving the pits in the cherries while baking, increasing the fruits flowery notes. Cultivars of the sweet cherry originated in Europe and west- ern Asia and are native to the temperate regions of the North- ern Hemisphere. Today there


Eat Well & Prosper!


SWEET CHERRIES word


With Executive Chef Ron Skaar ~ ronskaar@comcast.net


are three species in Europe, two in America and many sour cherry varieties throughout Asia. Most sweet cherries are sold fresh while most sour cherries are processed. Cherry trees do not cross polli- nate. Growing the fruit is not cheap. The costs for irri- gation, spraying, and harvesting are high. Plus there is the expectancy of fruits being dam- aged from rain and hail. Com-


mercially the fruit is harvested by using a mechanical tree shaker. Hand picking is best to avoid any damage to the fruit and the trees. In both Eu- rope and American, June is the cherry picking month. The obvious difference be- tween the sweet and sour cherry is the sugar content. The sweet cherry has similar sugar content, per weight, to the grape, blueberry, banana,


pineapple and pomegranate. Like a couple of those other fruits, the red variety is high in antioxidant content. Deeply colored fruits contain more healthy compounds, then their pale cohorts.


The deep red pigment of the cherry seems to possess rem- edies for pain and inflam- mation.


Cherries are also


a good source of dietary fiber and vitamin C. Due to their moisture-re- taining fiber the dried versions (like prunes) are used to replace fat in hamburgers and a variety of baked goods. In the United most


States


of the sweet cherry crop comes from Washington, Ore gon, California, Wisconsin and Michigan. Sweet cherries cul- tivated here include “Bing”, “Brooks”, “King”, “Rainier”, “Sweetheart” and “Tulane”. They are usually the first fruit


trees to flower in the spring. In Australia and New Zealand the cherry trees bloom ushers in the Christmas season.


Dried cherries are a delicious snack, add spirit to salads, stand-out in cookie recipes and can be enjoyed, all year long. A bag of fresh sweet cher- ries signals the ar- rival of


all


the great flavors we will en- joy through-


out the new season.


Spitting the pits out is the add- ed attraction.


Fresh cherry pie is a sumptu-


ous treat this time of year. The cost of cherries and their prep- aration is a bit daunting. In this case, you get a big bang, for the buck!


MOM’S CHERRY PIE


Your favorite recipe for 9-inch two-crust pie 1 cup sugar


1/3 cup unbleached flour 4 cups red tart cherries, washed and pitted ¼ teaspoon cinnamon 2 tablespoons butter


Heat oven to 400 degrees. Roll ½ of pie crust into a circle to line pie pan. Stir together cherries, flour, sugar and cinnamon and turn into pastry lined pan. Dot with butter and cover with rolled-out top crust which has slits in it. Seal and flute. Cover edge with tin foil to prevent excessive browning: remove foil last 15 minutes of baking. Bake 35-45 minutes until crust is brown and juice begins to bubble from slits.


4 • June 2014 • UPBEAT TIMES


JOKES & Humor # 2


A scientist has come up with proof of something students have known for years -- chemistry lectures are boring. In an article published in the current issue of Chemistry in Brit- ain, a university chemistry lecturer introduced a guest lecturer to a class of 50 doc- toral candidates. Then, he and his colleagues studied variations in what he calls the HTFDR -- “head-to-floor distance reduction.” After about an hour , the average HTFDR dropped from 135cm to 121cm, said the author of the study, who preferred to remain anonymous.


The HTFDR immediately bounced back to normal when the speaker uttered the magic words:


“And in conclusion . . .” Weird Facts & Fun Trivia - 2


The ‘Census of


Manufacturers of 1850’ reported a total of 2,027 bakeries in the United States.


Christopher Ludwick, a German immigrant to Philadelphia, was the city’s first gingerbread baker. He was later commissioned by the early American


Congress as baker general of Continental Army.


There were 326 bakers in Rome during the reign of Augustus.


The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough. ~Rabindranath Tagore


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