Lately this place has been like Grand Central Station for cherries, berries and cream, and I’m afraid it’s only going to get worse. Standing over the stove in summer is not one of my favorite things to do, and with all of those fleeting summer fruits coming into season anyway, it’s much more pleasant to turn on the oven, pop something in and head for another part of the house until the timer goes.

Of course, that hasn’t stopped me from getting some canning in, but I also (finally) received two of the most talked-about cookbooks of 2015 in the mail yesterday– The Violet Bakery Cookbook, by Claire Ptak and The New Sugar and Spice, by Samantha Seneviratne. I’m especially excited about the latter, because the desserts in this cookbook all ratchet up the spice while cutting back on the sugar, which is right up my alley.

A friend recently asked me if I’d be willing to do him some desserts for his tea shop, which is exciting, but I immediately started to look at my home cooking in a different way as a result. I make decent desserts for family and friends, but I still feel like both my palate and my technique are missing a lot of polish when it comes to imagining that people might pay real money for the things I make. I’ve never set foot in even a hobbyist cooking class, and the only cookbook I’ve ever laid hands on is my grandmother’s ancient Pastors Wives Cookbook (yes, that is a real thing; yes, my grandmother was a pastor’s wife). I don’t really want to take a class right now, because I’ve already been delaying lessons at a local pottery studio, but that doesn’t mean I can’t try to push myself a little harder the way I always have: at home. But I thought getting a few cookbooks might be a good place to start. This is going to sound funny coming from a food blogger, but I haven’t had the best luck with internet recipes. Cookbook recipes are guaranteed tried and tested. So I’m going back to the basics.

Speaking of basics, one of the staples in our home is granola. Unfortunately, granola is one of those things that hasn’t quite caught on in Korea yet. It’s around, but it’s always the same few varieties with astronomical price tags slapped on them. The ingredients to make granola at home aren’t much cheaper here, but at least I can add some variety to the flavors.

This week, I reserved one of the quarts of cherries I’ve been rolling through to make cherry chocolate granola with coconut, coconut oil, honey, almonds and sea salt.

When you dehydrate cherries (or when you do anything with cherries, really), you can end up with a cabinet full of rich byproducts. If the recipe calls for the cherries to be sweetened, a sifting of sugar over the top and a night in the fridge after they’ve been pitted results in a concentrated cherry simple syrup. Pits in a mason jar with brandy for a couple of weeks gives you cherry liqueur. The little white kernel inside the pits can be extracted and soaked in vodka to make almond extract.

The pits can also be combined with other stone fruits, hard liquor and various spices to make amaretto, which I’ll get around to later this summer, when more fruits begin to come into season.

There’s something comforting about using all of something, wringing it out for every last drop of goodness. It feels like gratefulness, like not taking things for granted. Fruit is the most finicky kind of crop. It’s so sweet and delicious, we are far from being the only creature to love it, which makes organic fruit a true wonder of a farmer’s dedication and tenacity. The same sweet juices that make it seem decadent and forbidden also cut its lifespan short. Its oftentimes tender skin renders much of it impossible to pick except with human hands. There’s a lot to be grateful for, when a fruit survives all odds to make it to your table. Using as much of it as I can feels like the least I can do.

Continue reading Cherry Chocolate Granola, Cherry Simple Syrup and Cherry Liqueur