Super simple cherry pie filling

Yep!  That’s right folks, it’s canning season again.  When that free food starts rolling in I just can’t help myself!  I have to put it away for winter. 

This pie filling is perfect for putting over ice cream, tucking in to tarts, or (of course), making a wonderful pie!  It tastes JUST like the pie filling from the can that I used to beg my mom to buy when I was little.  I used to eat it with a spoon straight from the can.  True story.  So this is actually filling a void in my homemade/homesteading life that I didn’t even realize was there.  I may or may not have eaten about a pint of this stuff as I was putting it away…

My friend Ryan just bought a house.  His new back yard is covered with neglected fruit trees.  He has apples, pears, plums, grapes, and cherries that are all in stages of neglect.  Many have to be pruned as soon as we are able, but for this summer, we are leaving them to do what they can until they are dormant and we can cut them back. 

Last week Ryan texted with a picture of his leggy little cherry tree just FULL of little tart cherries and asked if I would use them. 

Um… that’s a big, fat, emphatic “YES!” 

Not wasting any time, I picked his whole tree clean and set to work cleaning, pitting and canning them. 

For a full day my hand and wrist were stained with cherry juice and my kitchen smelled heavenly… and now I will have 5 cherry pies to warm our bellies later this year.  (I may even share one with Ryan.)

Super Simple Cherry Pie Filling

• 5 cups of pitted tart cherries
• 3/4 cup of sugar
• 2 Tbs lemon juice
• 1/2 cup water
• 4 Tbs corn starch

Place pitted cherries in a large pot and add in sugar and lemon juice.  Turn heat on med and allow cherries to get hot and start cooking down and releasing all of that yummy cherry juice.  Stir often.

Mix water and corn starch together in a small bowl and add into the hot cherries.  Bring it to a boil. 

When the mixture starts to get nice and thick, you may can it (according to the Ball Complete Book of Preserving that means “waterbath process for 35 minutes for both pint and quart jars”) or you can place it in a prebaked piecrust and eat the amazing pie you have ever eaten or you can do what we did and eat with a spoon!

Happy Summer!