The Taste of Sweet Cherries

We have a secret, just we three, The robin, and I, and the sweet cherry-tree; The bird told the tree, and the tree told me, And nobody knows it but just us three.

But of course, the robin knows it best, Because she built the—I shan’t tell the rest; And laid the four little—something in it— I’m afraid I shall tell it every minute.

But if the tree and the robin don’t peep, I’ll try my best the secret to keep; Though I know when the little birds fly about Then the whole secret will be out.

-Anonymous

I learned this poem in kindergarten. At the time, I was focused on the idea of a secret. Years later, I realized it was about the robin. Now when I think of it, I am reminded of the cherry tree because we had one in our back yard. Although for the record, when I say we had one, I am referring to the number of cherries. We watched and waited for that lone cherry to become ripe enough to eat. For two young children, it seemed almost as slow as Christmas, but finally it turned a beautiful shade of red.

Alas, that poor fledgling tree did not survive. We do, however, occasionally discuss it. For example, one of our most memorable conversations took place years later on my nephew’s first day of school. When he got home that afternoon, someone asked the obligatory question, “What did you learn in school today?”

His reply, “Oh, secrets,” sent all of us down memory lane as he shared with us a portion of this cute poem. Naturally, I felt duty-bound to share with him a story about his mother from when I was his age. You see, she was older than I, and had been showing just as much interest in that single piece of fruit as I had. While we were discussing how we were going to share it, she solved the problem by picking it off the tree and chomp!

Okay, so the ‘chomp’ was an embellishment to make the story more interesting for a five-yearold. That’s not the point. No, the main point was how his mother ate the one and only cherry we were ever able to grow. I’ll leave my childhood reaction to your imagination.

At the time, I wasn’t sure what cherries tasted like, nor did I know if I liked them. Now I know. Cherry pie is one of my favorites, along with cherry gelatin, cake, cookies and jelly. Recently, I found a new recipe and look forward to many years of serving it.

CHERRY BREAD

½ c. vegetable oil

½ c. sour cream

½ tsp. salt

½ c. milk

¾ c. sugar

1 tsp. almond extract

1 tsp. vanilla

2 lg. eggs

16 oz. jar maraschino cherries

¼ c. maraschino cherry juice from the jar

1 ½ tsp. baking powder

2 c. flour

GLAZE:

1 c. powdered sugar

2 ½ Tbsp. heavy cream

½ tsp. almond extract

Preheat oven to 350°. In large bowl, combine sugar, almond extract, vanilla, oil, milk and juice. Add in eggs and sour cream. Whisk to combine well. In separate bowl, combine flour, salt and baking powder. Drain cherries, saving the juice. Roughly chop the cherries. Sprinkle some flour over cherries and toss to combine. (This will prevent them from sinking.) Stir the remaining flour mixture into the milk and eggs. Stir until