It seems that cherries are ripe all across the county right now. My parents are enjoying a three-week road trip from North Florida north to Colorado. They planted themselves in Denver this weekend with my sister, Maggie, and picked cherries in her neighborhood for preserves. Sounds like they had a great weekend with house fix-ups, fried fish and kiddie pools. See my Dad’s blog post here on their adventures. 

But just as different as sisters can be, I dunked my fresh picked cherries in Markers Mark instead of preserving them! This is basically an impatient version of the classic Cherry Bounce. I filled a jar full of fresh unpitted sweet cherries (although they recommend pitting), sprinkled about 4 heaping spoons of sugar over them and then topped the jar full of Makers Mark. That is the traditional part. While they (they = a collection of “experts” on the internet) call to leave them be for about six months in a dark dry area, I refrigerated mine for about two weeks and then dove in.

Who says “all good things come to those who wait?!”

I’m not sure I can imagine staring at them in the fridge until November! They looked too delicious to resist on such a beautiful Sunday. We made cocktails last night with Makers Mark, a dash of bitters and club soda. It was particularly refreshing – and the cherries are particularly potent!

I highly recommend making a batch while cherries are in season. And test yourself on how long you can wait!