I had an awesome trip this past week. I ventured into Michigan Cherry Country with a bunch of bloggers from around the country to learn all that is "CHERRIES." It was such an awesome experience. Wendy Bazilian We started by attending a lecture by Wendy Bazilian who is a Dietician and all around smarty-pants when it comes to food. She explained all of the health benefits of cherries including anthocyanins Cherries lecture and Twitter feed (the active antioxidant that is an anti-inflammatory) Apparently cherries are great for Arthritis, Heart Disease and general muscle health and recovery. After that we visited The Gregory Cherry Orchard and toured the entire grounds. Rows of Cherry Trees We saw the rows and rows of beautiful bright Tart Cherries and Sweet Cherries. We even got to sit on the "Shaker" and harvest the cherries ourselves... WICKED COOL! Cherries Shakin' After the cherries are harvested the farmers keep the suspended in water to protect their delicate skin. It was my first time eating a cherry right off the tree and it was unlike any cherry I had ever eaten. Delicate little cherry The delicate skin burst as I bit into it then intensely sweet and sour juice finished the experience. They take the cherries to a "Cooling" station where they quickly drop the temperature and firm the cherries a bit for transport. Then they go on their way to become dehydrated, freeze dried, frozen, turned into pie filling, turned into salsa, burgers...you name it cherries can do it. We went to The Cherry Republic, this place was crazy! Talk about cherry heaven... anything and everything cherries. We had a BBQ with Cherry Sauce, Cherry Cream Soda, Salsa, Juice, wine...yes wine. We actually did a Cherry Wine tasting...AWESOME! It was surprisingly dry and delicious. We also did a tour of the Cherry Horticultural Center. It's basically a research facility where they test everything from Safeguarding the cherry crop to developing new and more efficient ways of pollination. This pic is of the Bee Box where the pollinators breed. Pretty cool. I also saw a bunch of varieties Tart, Sweet, Gold... no Bings or Ranier cherries...why? you ask. Those cherries come from Washington or PA the tart cherries in Michigan are used for Dehydrated cherries and all the other fun stuff. Next time you find yourself pondering what to make that is unique and clever, grab some cherries. They arent just for Dessert anymore... hahaha Seriously they are super versatile.
Later,
Nater