Cherry Strudel

My grandmother sent us 5 or 6 jars of food that she canned over the summer. She sent us homemade pickles (which I'm rationing so the kids don't devour them in one sitting). She sent some plums and cherries, too. She told me they were ready to eat out of the jar. I didn't think my kids would eat them out of the jar. They are funny about cherries. I decided to make a strudel. (I didn't think I had enough to make a pie.) Yummy! Well, I think I outsmarted myself because while I was pitting these cherries, Kaitlyn was sneaking into the kitchen and stealing them as fast as I could pit them!

Two things about this recipe. First, the cherries I used were yellow, but that's just because those are the ones Grandma canned. This recipe works fine with red cherries, too. Second, I had to pit my cherries because they were home-canned. I used a knife to slice the cherry in half and popped the pit out with my finger. It might be more difficult with fresh cherries, but because the cherries were canned it was really easy. I've read that you can pit cherries using a fountain drink straw or even forceps, but it didn't really come to that.

Ingredients:

1 can (14 1/2 oz) pitted tart cherries
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup dried cranberries or raisins
3 Tbsp cornstarch
1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts
1 package frozen pie crust, thawed
1 egg, lightly beaten

Drain cherries, reserving 1/3 cup of the juice. In a large saucepan, combine the cherries, sugar, cranberries, and butter. Cook and stir over medium heat until heated through. Add cornstarch and reserved juice to the pan. Bring to a boil. Cook and stir about 2 minutes or until the mixture has thickened. Remove from heat and stir in walnuts.

Unfold the pie crust. Put half of the cherry mixture on the lower half of your pie crust. Be sure to keep the cherry filling away from the outer 1 inch of the pie crust. Fold the top half of your pie crust down and pinch the edges. Place the strudel on a greased baking sheet. Repeat this step with the other pie crust. With a sharp knife, cut diagonal slits into the top of the strudels. Brush with egg and sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 400°F for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

**Stay tuned! I haven't decided what to make with the plums.