Boozy Sour Cherries

- Merrill

Last week, I narrowly avoided a Cooking From Every Angle disaster. I arrived at our photo shoot on Tuesday bleary-eyed and totally exhausted, having been struck down by the worst cold I've had in a long time. With the help of our stalwart food52 troops, I made it through the day -- though not without an hour-long nap on the end of Amanda's bed (see below).

I'd planned to make blintzes with a sour cherry sauce to shoot for this week's Cooking From Every Angle, but all of a sudden that seemed much too labor-intensive. Kristen, Amanda, Kristy and I mulled over what else I could make with the sour cherries we'd gotten from the farmers market -- something simple yet fabulous. Kristy was the one who finally hit on the winner: she graciously shared the basic recipe for booze-soaked sour cherries that she and her fiance had recently concocted as a homemade cocktail garnish. She had covered sour cherries with Luxardo (Maraschino liqueur), brought them to a simmer, then turned off the heat and let them cool in the Maraschino.

So, boozy sour cherries it was: I added a few strips of lemon peel and decided not to pit the cherries, as Kristy and Michael had diligently done. (I'd like to say that this was a purely aesthetic choice, but the truth is, I just didn't want to pit the cherries.) These little booze bombs are both tart and sweet at the same time and would be the perfect garnish for a Manhattan or an Old Fashioned, or another cocktail of your choice (I wouldn't put one in your kid's Shirley Temple, though).

Boozy Sour Cherries

Adapted from Kristy Mucci

Makes 1 cup cherries

• 1 cup sour cherries, with stems and pits
• 3/4 to 1 cup Maraschino liqueur (you can substitute cherry brandy, but add a little sugar if you do)
• Peel from 1/2 lemon, in strips
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See the full recipe (and save and print it) here.