In the American South, we have plenty of peaches, strawberries, blueberries and figs, often in our own backyard.
Cherries, not so much.
But that does not — should not — stop us from loving the sweet little fruit that appears in stores and markets every summer. Ripe for popping, cherries are a delicious, healthy snack loaded with all kinds of vitamins, nutrients and things that are good for us.
To be perfectly honest, I think cherries are the bomb.
Last summer, I went from eating cherries out of hand to cooking with them, and even making drinks out of them. I stirred sweet Bing cherries into cobblers (with or without peaches and other fruit). I crushed them in a glass, added bourbon, a generous glug or two of ginger ale and a few drops of orange bitters, creating a bright red summer sipper that accentuated the sweetness of the cherries and the smoky allure of the whiskey.
Then, on a trip to Door County, Wis., I tasted my first fresh tart cherry, and my world changed.