Last week my girls and I, along with my sister, ventured to my in-law’s home and spent the afternoon tangled up in branches and brambles.  It was picking’ time!  By the time the day was done, we ended up with two giant bowls of tart cherries and black raspberries.  Simply marvelous!

The black raspberries quickly became freezer jam, with the help of my six and eight-year old sous chefs.  And the cherries, well, the cherries ended up going into an absolutely amazing cherry tart.  I don’t often like to toot my own horn, but friends, it was good.  Very good.  Let me share the recipe…

Cherry Crisp

6 cups pitted tart cherries (This measurement was taken AFTER the cherries were pitted.)

1 cup local honey

2 T Non-GMO corn starch

Mix these ingredients in a large bowl and pour them into a 9×9 baking dish.  (I use this baking dish because then I can serve the crisp table-side and it looks as good as it tastes.)

2 cups oats

1 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 stick cold butter cut into cubes

Mix all these ingredients together in a large bowl (such as one of these sustainably harvested bamboo bowls) using a pastry blender.  Pour the crumbled mixture onto the cherry mixture.

Bake at 375 degrees for one hour.  Allow 20 minutes to cool before serving.  Enjoy!

*A note about all my recipes: I use all organic ingredients, local when available. I use non-homogenized milk, and all of the dairy we use is from animals raised on pasture. I also use oils that are non-GMO verified. All our meat is raised locally on organic feed, and our beef is grass-fed, grass-finished. All our spices and cane sugar are fair-trade certified and purchased through a cooperative.