Cherry Pie

It won't be long before cherries are in season, so I decided to finish up the few bags of frozen fruit I have in my freezer. I'm not sure I'd mess around with cherries if I had to pick them, but the local farm market will have wonderful sours before too long. They're messy to pit, but taste wonderful in a pie or crisp in the dead of winter. My family got into this one before I had a chance to shoot a photo. It obviously tasted good!

OVEN: 375 degrees

4 cups fresh or frozen pitted sour/tart red cherries
1 1/2 cups sugar (divided)
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 Tablespoon butter
3 or 4 drops almond extract

9" pie plate lined with pastry

Drain cherries; reserve 1 cup liquid. In a sauce pan, combine 3/4 cup of the sugar and the cornstarch. Stir in reserved cherry liquid. Whisk together to eliminate lumps. Cook and stir over medium heat till thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir 1 minute more. Remove from heat.

Stir in remaining 3/4 cup sugar, the cherries, butter and almond extract. Let stand while preparing pastry. Fill 9-inch pie plate with cherry mixture. Adjust a lattice crust over top and flute edge. Cover edge of pie and bake for 25 minutes. Remove cover, bake for 25-30 minutes more or till crust is golden. Cool on wire rack before serving ... or serve warm with ice cream.