17-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Thursday, June 13, 1912: I guess I’ve forgotten.
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
My sour cherries are getting ripe and I made an old-fashioned cherry pie. Grandma mentioned picking berries on June 10—but hasn’t mentioned cherries. I wonder if cherries ripened this early in 1912.
Here’s the recipe I used to make the pie:
Old-Fashioned Cherry Pie
Pastry for 9-inch two crust pie (see pie pastry recipe in previous post)
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup flour
4 cups fresh pitted sour cherries
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
Heat oven to 425 degrees. Stir the sugar, flour, and almond extract into the cherries. If the mixture is very juicy add additional flour. Turn into pastry-lined pie pan. Make a lattice top crust and flute edges. Brush crust with a small amount of milk; sprinkle with sugar. Bake in oven for 10 minutes; then reduce heat to 350 degrees. Bake an additional 20 to 30 minutes or until crust is lightly browned and juice just begins to bubble.
I made my own pie crust dough using the recipe that I previously included in the post for Rhubarb Sponge Pie. I doubled that recipe since I basically needed two crusts for this pie.
For the lattice top crust, I cut the dough into strips about 3/4 inch wide and laid them on the top of the pie. I try to lay every other one perpendicular to the previous one—but the lattice never ends up being woven exactly right. I never worry much about that because the pie tastes so awesome.
A Hundred Years Ago 
I miss fresh sour cherry pie here in Florida, What a lovely blog I will be following you.
Welcome–I hadn’t realized that sour cherries didn’t grow in Florida. I learn something new each day.
Cherry Pie and Rhubarb Sponge Pie both sound delicious Sheryl!
I wonder what Helena forgot….
I wonder if she didn’t actually write this entry the following day –by which time she’d forgotten what had happened the previous day.
It does look good. I’ll like a scoop of vanilla ice cream on my slice.
Sounds good. My husband said we should make ice cream to go with the pie–but we didn’t actually do it.
YUM!!! …
Oh that looks yummy…and looks like it’s sitting on my kitchen table (I think we have the same mats)…and sure wish it was! It looks great!
We must have similar tastes in place mats. 🙂
Indeed…and similar tastes for pie! 🙂
I was glad to find your rhubarb pie recipe. I have a friend who keeps giving me rhubarb and I can only eat a bit of it at a time. This sounds like a great idea… many thanks.
I really like rhubarb sponge pie. Since it uses less rhubarb than a regular rhubarb pie, the rhubarb taste is less intense.
I’ve copied your recipe and will be giving it to my friend this evening. Rhubarb is always so plentiful and it’s always a joy to find a new use for it. Many thanks. Merrill
I’ve always liked this recipe. I hope your friend enjoys it.
We don’t have cherry trees here so there will be no pies for me, but this post brings back so many memories of my brother…his favorite pie.
It’s my favorite pie, too.
Thanks, Cheryl!
I’ll try that again – Thanks, Sheryl! 🙂