It's A Grand Old Flag . . .

It surely is

And today is "Flag Day"

Although not a holiday

(although it should be)

it is the day that all those many years ago

we adopted these stars and bars

as the official flag in 1777.

We always fly a big flag at Linderhof

To show our patriotism

And on Flag Day

(and Veteran's Day, and Memorial Day and the Fourth of July)

we put smaller flags in the front planters.

The tired pansies will soon be replaced

It's getting too hot for them to be happy.

Two in each

It's our way of celebrating a "Grand Old "Holiday"!

And because, I received so many comments

And because it seems such a patriotic dessert

The German cherry pie

In all of it's red and whiteness

on a blue and white plate!

The recipe

(from my old and loved and much used copy of

The Joy of Cooking)

Although I am of German descent, we never had a cherry pie like this when I was small.

But as both The Lunch Bunch and Husband Jim can testify

It is a good pie!

The cherries were prairie cherries, frozen last year,

but you could it them with frozen store cherries or fresh cherries -- but never canned cherries!

GERMAN CHERRY PIE

Drain and keep the juice from:

2 1/2 cups solid pitted cherries, fresh or frozen

Pour over the cherries:

6 T. sugar

Very acid cherries may require more sugar.   Permit to stand for about 1/2 hour, until the sugar is dissolved.    Stir gently several times.    Drain and reserve juice.

Prepare:

1 1/2 cups flour

resift it with:

1 1/2 t. cinnamon

6 T. sugar

1/8 t. salt

Cut into these ingredients with a pastry blender or two knives (or the more modern food processor) until blended

1/2 c. butter

Add to the above:

1 beaten egg

Now, wade in with your hands and work the dough until it holds together but no longer (or you can use the food processor as I did!).    Chill it.   Pat it into a 9 inch ovenproof glass pie pan.   Let it come to the upper edge of the pan.    See that it is spread evenly.    Crimp the dough around the edge with the tines of a fork.

Preheat the oven to 350.

Measure the sirup drained from the cherries.    There should be 3/4 cup.   Taste it.   Add sugar if it seems to be too sour.    Reserve 1/4 cup.   Place the rest over low heat.    Stir into the 1/4 cup until smooth:

4 t. cornstarch

When the rest of the juice is boiling, stir in the cornstarch mixture.   Stir and cook over low heat for 2 to 3 minutes until the mixture is no longer cloudy.    Add

1/4 t. almond extract

Place the cherries in the pie shell, pour the hot juice over them and bake from 50 to 60 minutes.

It's Friday and I'm sharing my patriotic dessert (although it really didn't start out that way) with Michael at Rattlebridge Farm for Foodie Friday.