Quick and Yummy Cherry Cobbler for the Thanksgiving Table

Making pies and cobblers with my aunts and grandmother was an all afternoon project. They were not in the habit of running down to the store to pick up what they needed when they were in the mood to bake. For them, baking cobblers included picking the fruit.

As in off the cherry trees. Everything was an adventure in that small farming community.

Time to make a cobbler? Ok, get on your old shabby clothes because they would soon be stained, drag out the ladder from the shed, go to the bathroom so you wouldn't have to run back to the house, (I always forgot that part!) shiney up the ladder, only to go back down and put the cherry sack around your neck, and then pick a little, pick a lot. and pick a little bit faster, please!

The aunts were famous for shoving the ladder at me and asking for the cherries that were just out of reach. And, since I ate about as many as I picked, this task took a few hours.

My Grandmother was a wonderful cook, rivaling her famous sisters by specializing in fried chicken, tender biscuits that had to be weighed down to keep on the earth, and cobblers and pies you would steal to keep for yourself.

For this cobbler, resist the temptation to use the cherry pie fillings in the can. The sour cherries make the flavor snap and it's worth the extra few minutes to boil the cherries and get them thick and sweet.

Get out the sugar, baby, here we go!

Ingredients:

• 2 cans pitted sour cherries (16 ounces each can)
• 1 c white sugar, taste as you cook the cherries, you may need more sugar
• 2 tblsp cornstarch
• dash almond extract
• dash vanilla extract, optional
• 1 c oats, uncooked, quick or old-fashioned style
• 1 c flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt (always optional, but it brings out flavor)
• 1/3 c butter, ice cold
• 1/2 c milk

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 400.
2. Drain the canned sour pitted cherries, reserving 1 c of the liquid.
3. Mix 3/4 c of the sugar and all of the cornstarch, stir in cherry liquid you reserved.
4. Bring to a boil over medium - high heat, stirring constantly until thick and clear.
5. Reduce the heat, and boil another minute.
6. Add cherries and almond flavoring, and vanilla if you chose it too.
7. Stir and pour mixture into a 8 inch square glass cake pan. Cobblers do better in corning ware or glass pans instead of metal.

Now, mix together your oats, flour, remaining sugar, baking powder, milk and salt. Cut in the ice cold butter with a pastry blender just until the mixture is moist. Drop by spoonfuls over hot filling that you have poured in the pan. Bake for 25 minutes or until top has begun to brown. Do not overbake, you don't want the topping hard!

Do I have to suggest ice cream or whipped topping when serving? I hear the cobbler calling!