TODAY Food Club

It's cherry season in Michigan. Growing up on a farm with cherry orchards, it's one of my favorite times of the year. We grew both, sweet and tart cherries. I have fond memories of riding on the cherry shaker with my grandfather, dad and uncle. Sour (tart) cherries are shaken off the tree and sweet cherries are hand picked. If you ever have the chance to go out into a cherry orchard and watch them shake cherries off the trees, you should go and watch. It's a really fun thing to see. (Maybe I will add a video to my blog on the cherry tree shaking process.) Traverse City, Michigan is home to the National Cherry Festival - July 2-9, 2016 and is the Cherry Capital of the World. When you visit Michigan, you will see a "Michigan Cherry Salad" on just about every menu. I pair my salad with my "Black Cherry Mimosa", this is a great combo for your next cocktail hour and/or brunch.

Black Cherry Mimosa & Michigan Cherry Salad

• Servings: 1 champagne flute
• Yield: 1 serving
• Prep Time: 10 min

Ingredients

• 2 black cherries, de-stemmed and de-pitted
• ⅛ teaspoon almond extract
• 1 ounce orange juice
• 3 ½ ounces champagne
• 1 sweet cherries for garnishing

Preparation

1. Add 2 black cherries and almond extract and muddle together in a small bowl.
2. Add cherry mixture to bottom of a champagne flute.
3. Add orange juice to flute followed by champagne.
4. With a sharp knife, cut down the side of the cherry and carefully remove the pit. Keep the stem attached for garnishing. Garnish glass with the cherry.

Recipe Tags

• Summer
• American
• Drinks