The Flip Side

 

 

A storm ravages,

With dime-sized hail stones laying

Waste to this year’s crop.

 

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A couple of days ago I was invited over to a friend’s place for a visit, mostly for sharing some food and lots of catching up and fun conversation.

Since it was my first time there, all of us who had gathered went for a walk in the adjacent fields for some exercise and to see for ourselves what devastation had occurred after a recent severe thunderstorm in the area.

My friend’s family have a huge cherry orchard that they have been tending for a couple of generations.  Such a weird fluke of a storm luckily happens infrequently; however, when it does, the effects are essentially a year’s fruit production completely gone to waste.

I was told that the cherries on all the orchard trees were only days away from being fully ripe to be picked and processed.

And then nature stepped in….

In the next photos you will get to see the flip side…..no beautifully formed cherries hanging from the branches, which would usually tempt us to pick them for a treat.

 

 

The last two photos show the specialized machinery that is used to shake the cherries from the trees – as the fruit has to be collected regardless – to clear the trees for the remaining growth and recovering phases.

 

 

 

 

The Anybody Can Do It Cake

It’s baked in a bundt cake form and, with that traditional German touch, it gets a light dusting of powdered sugar once it has cooled down..

Years ago, when I was a teenager, my mom came home from work one day feeling all excited. She had been given a new recipe to try.  My mom has always been a good cook and baker, and because she enjoyed making good meals, she was also open to learning new things and trying out new ingredients.

“So what kind of cake is it?” I asked her.

“Well, I don’t know exactly,” she replied.  “It’s a regular kind of cake batter with butter and eggs and flour and such, and in my recipe here it lists cherries to be added as the last item.  But….then at the bottom there are other options, for example with chopped apples and nuts.”

“What’s it called then?”

With great gusto she smiled and declared, “The Anybody Can Do It Cake!”

The recipe is straightforward with ingredients and the  prep process, so I guess that’s why the title.

I have made it a few times over the years….usually with a jar of pitted cherries mixed in, for a bit of a treat from apple crisps and rhubarb coffee cakes, and it tastes just as tasty with chopped apples and chopped almonds as a different combination.  With my crew it gets eaten up within the day!  Haha!   I’m wondering just now what it would taste like with fresh peaches, as I’ve never tried that.  Hmm!  A new twist to an old favourite.