Pie cherries!

Pie cherries = cherry pie!!

It'll be a grand and glorious Fourth!

Four quarts of sour pie cherries.  Step one: stem the cherries.

Step two: pit the cherries.

Dang, took me about an hour and a half to stem and pit all the cherries.  The delightful part is that I'm allergic to the raw cherries (not life-threatening, but really annoying sneezing, itchy eyes, etc.).  I have to wear gloves when I handle the fruit.

6 cups stemmed, pitted pie cherries
2 cups sugar
1/2 tsp salt
4 1/2 Tbp Minute® tapioca
1/8 tsp almond extract
2 Pillsbury pie crusts, rolled out and cut into strips
1/4 cup half-and-half
Turbinado sugar

Combine the cherries with sugar, salt, Minute® tapioca, and almond extract, and let sit for about 10 minutes.  Pour into an appropriately sized baking dish.  Cut the pie crusts (I used a ravioli cutter, which gives the edges) into strips, and artfully arrange them over the fruit in the baking dish.

Brush with the milk, and sprinkle with turbinado sugar.

Place on a non-stick foil-lined baking sheet, and bake at 375°F for about 60-65 minutes, or until crust is nicely browned, and the fruit is bubbling up around the edges. 

Cool completely.  Serve with sweetened whipped cream or ice cream.