The Spice Satchel: I scream, you scream, we all scream for sweet cherry pie.

I've been wanting to bake a pie for a while. At the grocery store, they only have sweet cherries. I buy almost 3 pounds of sweet, dark red cherries. Amy is coming over soon, and I know she loves cherries. Turns out, cherry pie is her favorite! I think that probably, most often, cherry pie is made with tart cherries- like apple pie. I figure this means adding some tartness (maybe lemon juice) and less sugar than the average cherry pie recipe. I do so research and find this is correct. Also, the recipes I found included almond extract as well. We do not have almond extract because of Paul's allergies, I don't think it's worth the risk. I do more searching for a suitable substitute, finding that vanilla extract will work, but you should add a little more than the almond extract called for in the recipe.
First I make the crust, because I know you can wrap it in plastic wrap and stick it in the fridge.

Paul had a very long day at work, and his train was running very late as well. So, I also make the filling and put it in a container in the fridge. I don't have a cherry pitter- Paul doesn't like cherries, and we don't have them very often- so I use a knife, and my trusty fingers. :) Red, red work.

When I am finally ready to bake the pie the next day, the crust will not roll nicely, it keeps breaking- grr! Even though I let it warm up a bit first and everything. I don't know what is wrong, so I just push it into the pie plate, to make the bottom crust, it looks pretty good to me.

I wanted to make the top crust fun, or possibly lattice, as I had only ever made a plain top crust before. Since the pastry wasn't rolling anyway, it was a perfect time to try something fun. Amy and Paul had bought me cookie cutters for Christmas, so I cut out a bunch (well, 12) stars to use as the top crust. I smooshed the pastry into another pie plate, and cut out the stars one by one. Then I added the remaining pastry around the edge to complete the pie look. For being such a stubborn, unroll-able crust, I think it turned out very pretty.