Cherry Crisp

This is the recipe I used for Cherry Crisp using tart pie cherries from the North Star Cherry tree.

All along the plan was to make a cherry pie and be nostalgic about my late mom's cherry pie.  I'm too tired to make the pie.  Crisp is easier.  This was internet recipe.  I changed some ingredients.  Replaced shortening with butter.  Added vanilla.  I might have added almond flavoring but wanted to see how much the cherries tasted like cherries.

Cherry Filling
4 to 5 cups pitted sour cherries - I used 5 cups.  Cherry pitter worked great.
1 1/2 cups white sugar - seems like a lot, but that's what I did
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract.

Topping
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup old-fashioned oats
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup butter

Preheat oven to 375F.

Sprinkle vanilla extract over cherries and stir to mix.  Combine cherries, 1 1/2 cups white sugar, and 4 tbsp flour. Pour fruit filling into 9x13 inch baking dish.

Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, oats, and brown sugar. Cut in butter and shortening until crumbly.  Except I softened the butter, and it was difficult to make it crumbly.  It was more on the chunky side.   Almost a cookie dough.

I did my best to crumble it with my fingers and distribute the crumbs uniformly over the cherries.

Bake in preheated oven for 45  minutes until topping is golden brown.

It's in the oven now.  I'll edit this post when it's out.  And say how it tastes.  I proud of this.  It's the first thing I've baked from this cherry tree, which I grew from a small sapling.  In terms of slow food, that's about as slow as it gets.