My maternal Grandmother would make her grandchildren pick fruits and berries from spring 'til fall. We'd would then spend many days canning and baking the fruits of our labor. One of her favorite fruit pies, which I made for her each year until she died in 1986, was her recipe for Sour Cherry Pie:

Make two of lolaleigh's pie crusts - or buy two.

  • 2 1/2 to 3 cups of fresh sour cherries, seeded
  • 3/4 cup of white sugar
  • 3 tablespoons of flour
  • 1 tablespoon of butter (or pat), divided into 8 pieces
  • dash of salt

Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees.

Lightly spray your pie dish with a non-stick spray.

Line your pie dish with one of the two pie crusts. You can get fancy and cut the other pie crust into strips and lattice them over the top of the cherries if you like. I don't. But then, I'm lazy.

Mix all the ingredients except the butter in a large bowl. Pour the cherry mixture into the pie dish and then dot the top of the mixture with your 8 pieces of butter.

Place the other pie crust on top of the mixture (or create a lattice on top), cut three or four small holes in the top to the let the steam out, crimp the top to the bottom and then put the dish in the oven to bake for 40 minutes. I strongly suggest you put the pie dish on a baking sheet lined with parchment or tin foil or something you can easily dispose of. These pies tend to leak.

Her birthday is coming around, July 10, and this year I'll be baking the pie again. For her, her family and for her favorite holiday, the Fourth of July.