Recipe: Summer Cherry Pie

There's a history to my love of pie-making. Ready for a quick story?

My second year of college, I was working as an Intern at an agency in Cleveland that frequently had cook-offs, bake-offs, and contests. That summer, they were having a pie-baking contest and even though I was the intern, I wasn't off the hook. I had never baked a pie before in my life and thought I was in for some tough competition, so I chose an unconventional pie recipe to make up for inexperience — a gingerbread linzertorte with raspberry filling. Looking back at this recipe, this is obviously a holiday pie and I probably shouldn't have made one in the middle of the summer {remember this, college kids: you are not at your intellectual peak}! I made a practice pie, messed it up, and made another one. The second one looked great, and everyone loved it at the tasting. I ended up winning the contest, and it was love at first pie.

We got a huge haul of local cherries in our Fresh Fork bag last week, and they were a bit sour for casual eating, which makes them perfect for baking. I made this cherry pie after scouring the internet for the right recipe, and I think I've found the perfect one. A little touch of almond extract enhances the filling, while boiling the cherries with sugar creates that gooey filling I was going after. It was pretty easy, not too time consuming, and {most importantly} tasted great!

I didn't have a pitter, so we followed the toothpick method to pit the cherries—but I've also heard that a paperclip or bobby pin work well. So interesting!

What's your favorite type of pie? Fruit? Pecan? Pumpkin...! I'm thinking about pumpkin pie without trying to rush into fall—but I can't help myself!