Cherry Bounce, Part I

Cherry Bounce. Have you ever heard of it? I hadn't, until I fell over a copy of the Yankee Cookbook, 1939 (1963). It's a cherry cordial, and dates back a bit...

You take 6 pounds of cherries, two fifths of whiskey or rum, and (after stemming the cherries), snuggle them up together in a gallon crock.

They mess around for three weeks.

Then you strain off the clear liqueur and...that would be telling.

I'm part-way into the "three week" period. The gallon crock sits on my pastry slab, in the kitchen, and at least every other day I find myself lifting its lid and taking a deep, appreciative sniff of its contents.

Sugar and distilled water figure largely in the end product. It's not an inexpensive experiment, but--cherry cordial!--and a recipe possibly centuries old...I could not resist trying it.

With luck, I will end up with at least three fifths of cordial, some happy gift recipients, and divine cordial for me, my husband, and our guests!