life is just a bowl of 'em.

who doesn't love cherries?  come on now, you know what i'm talking about: perfectly ripe, firm, juicy and fresh.  delicious.


meet jalapeño (he is a cherry).  i consider him a very special cherry, with his especially shiny, rosy  skin and lush foliage.  we had a bit of a photo shoot and bonded (insert musical montage here), but then I totally ate him.  could. not. resist. 


my quest to discover more about our scrumptious friend led me to even more reasons to love the cherry:

• they are delicious (a given and already discussed, but deserving of another mention)
• cherries bruise like a peach, so keep the unnecessary bashing to a minimum. they are best stored with enough legroom to wiggle about 
• cherry oil and pits contain cyanide (who knew?) – not enough to necessarily be used as a weapon by the CIA, but enough to make you sick if you swallow too many pits - consider yourself warned
• cherries are low in fat and high in Vitamins A, C and E and beta carotene (hooray!)
• they are the highest fruit source of melatonin in all the land (way to go, jalapeño!). melatonin helps regulate your sleep cycle
• cherries can help reduce inflammation in the body (including arthritis)
• one cherry tree can produce enough cherries to make over 70 pies – yes, please!

it's almost the end of prime cherry season (may to august), but not to worry; there are still dried cherries, frozen cherries, cherry jams and compotes, cherry sorbet, cherry pie filling, kirsch, cherry popscicles, cherry jello...