“Tastes so good makes a grown man cry…

Sweet Cherry Pie”.

After single-handedly devouring several pounds of sweet, summer cherries, I felt the need to be a wee bit productive and share the deliciousness with others.

The result?

A perfectly sweet and tart cherry pie filling that I turned into the easiest pie that anyone could make!

Check out this yummy treat, and add it to your summer supper menu!

Ingredients:

8 cups pitted sweet cherries (I cheated & split mine in half to pit)

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup organic sugar

2 Tbsp fresh squeezed Lime juice

3 Tbsp Corn Starch

1 whole vanilla bean, split in half

Making The Filling:

Combine all of the ingredients in a large pan on your stovetop.

Cook on medium-high, stirring occasionally to keep the cherry mixture from sticking to your pan.  The mixture will thicken up and be ready to remove in 8-10 minutes.

Remove from heat, store in pretty jars, and keep in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Now why in the world would I make cherry pie filling to hold onto is beyond me, so over the weekend I whipped up the easiest cherry pie you could imagine for Sunday supper.

And when I say this pie is easy to assemble  I mean it is so easy that even my daughter who recently used a hair dryer to melt butter for a brownie recipe can make it!

All you need is an 8-inch Lodge cast iron skillet, a box with two roll-out Pillsbury pie crusts, a star-shaped cookie cutter, and 18 ounces of cherry pie filling.

Spray your skillet with coconut spray and use one of the pie shells to line it.  Using a fork, poke holes in the bottom of the crust, place in an oven, and bake at 350° until the crust is light brown.

Remove from the oven and fill with your cherry pie filling.

Take the other pie crust and roll it out flat.  Using the cookie cutter, cut stars and arrange on the top of the pie filling.

Bake at the same 350° until the pastry is golden brown and the filling is bubbly.

Remove and serve with scrumptious vanilla ice cream for Cherry Pie a La mode!

I love the ease of baking this pie and its rustic look… It gives off an old-fashioned vibe that screams “just relax” in a time when we often forget to savor the simple moments of family dinner.

Give it a try and let me know what you think!!