Cherry Bomb

So our next door neighbor has 2 cherry trees that he does not pick from. He lets us take all we want and the rest go to the birds. They are tart cherries so they have to be baked or cooked in some way and he must not be one to bake. He is a single guy who lives alone.

We pick every summer, but this summer the cherries were extra abundant. I usually freeze some and this year have about 6-8 cups of frozen cherries. The problem with cherries is that you have to pit them all which is no fun and gets "not worth the effort" after awhile.Here is what I make with our cherries....This year I made 2, one for us and one for our neighbor whose cherry trees we pick from.

Cherry Crisp

Mix 4 cups Cherries, 1.5 cups Sugar and 4 tablespoons Flour in a bowl. Pour evenly into 9x13 pan.

In a seperate bowl mix 1.5 cups Flour, 1 cup Oats, and 1 cup Brown Sugar. Cut in 1/2 cup Butter and 1/2 cup Shortening. Sprinkle over cherry mixture.

Bake at 375 for 45-50 minutes. Easy as that. Eat and enjoy!

Last time I made it, I used a 9x9 pan because I wanted to use the divider that bakes individual pieces already cut (see above). It turned out fine and when put in the fridge it firmed up and turned into bars. Here is my thought for next round...I'm going to pack half of the topping down into the bottom of a 9x9 dish, then pour on the cherry mix and then the other half of the topping. I'll let it cool and put it in the fridge to firm up and I'm hoping for nice solid dessert bars. If you try it, let me know how it turns out.