Cherries and Yogurt - Video Recipe

Fresh fruit and yogurt go well together in my latest recipe video, Cherries and Yogurt.

Pre-mixed yogurt with fruit is too sweet for me. It is easy enough to slice and pit cherries to mix into yogurt. I use about 3 to 4 cherries per small yogurt container. The fruit and yogurt mix will keep a few days in the refrigerator -- if you can resist finishing it off in one sitting!

This isn't so much an original recipe as a recipe reminder of how easy and nutritious it is to add fresh fruit to yogurt.

Cherries are notoriously expensive, but for a month or so they come down in price, and I always get a few large bags during the summer season. At first appearance, they are around $2 per pound but wait a week or two and the price quickly drops.

Click on any photo to see larger.

I like to add them to yogurt or as a mealtime dessert -- I'll also nibble from small bowls throughout the day. They are especially good in yogurt, like almost any seasonal fruit would be. And if cherries are too expensive or hard to get, you can substitute with your own local fruit stand favorites, or even can/jar cherries.

Fresh cherries are a little messy to work with though, so you want to rinse off any surfaces that the cherry juice pools on, and especially clothing or kitchen towels.

It's easiest to slice around the cherry pit and twist cherry halves apart, then dig out the cherry pit. Once you get going it only takes a few minutes to get a cup full. You can go online to get a special device that pits them as well.

Anytime I find fruit on sale at my local 99c only Store, I immediately think of a light breakfast. My most common homemade yogurt with fruit including strawberries, pineapple, sliced mango, blackberries or blueberries.

As for yogurt I just use plain. Vanilla and other flavors are usually too strong and often have added sugar. But, if you like a certain type on sale then use it.

Sometimes an unusual brand will show up on sale like this creamy French-style yogurt called "oui" made by Yoplait. It was so good I got half a dozen jars. They also had a lemon-flavored that held up well with the addition of sliced cherries.

"Oui" is advertised as "French Style," whatever that means. But it is milder tasting - less sour than typical yogurt, with a slight almond flavor.

As with any new find at a 99c only Store, I will try it in the car parking lot, and if it's good then I will go back and get a whole bunch more. I've learned you gotta be impulsive there or it may be gone an hour later -- snooze you lose!

So do check out my latest stop-motion animated video. There's really nothing to this recipe and anyone can make it. Sometimes less is more, for a perfectly delicious recipe.

Cherries & Yogurt - Video

Play it here. video runs 56 seconds.

My YouTube video link for viewing or embedding, just click here.

Cherry Pancakes - Video Recipe

It's cherry season in California and now is the time to get them cheap. They come on sale at my local 99c Only Store and Latin market for, you guessed it, 99 cents per pound. So watch my video below to get a breakfast recipe I think you will enjoy: Cherry Pancakes.

Cherry Pancakes - Video

Play it here. video runs 1 minute 46 seconds.

My YouTube video link for viewing or embedding, just click here.

Cherries are notoriously expensive, but for a month or so they come down in price, and I always get a few large bags during the summer season. At first appearance, they are around $2 per pound, but wait a week or two and the price quickly drops.

I like to add them to yogurt or as a mealtime dessert -- I'll also nibble from small bowls throughout the day. They are especially good in pancakes, like almost any seasonal fruit would be. And if cherries are too expensive or hard to get, you can substitute with your own local fruit stand favorites, or even can/jar cherries.

They are a little messy to work with though, so you want to rinse off any surfaces that the cherry juice pools on, and especially clothing or kitchen towels.

It's much easier to just pop one in your mouth and chew around the cherry pit. But for pancakes it's best to slice around the cherry pit and twist cherry halves apart, then dig out the cherry pit. Once you get going it only takes a few minutes to get a cup full for my Cherry Pancake recipe.

A chopstick or plastic straw can push out a cherry pit, too. You can go online to get a special device that pits them as well.

For the pancake batter I use a commercial brand. If you have a homemade recipe then use it. I can get a large box of dry pancake batter at my local 99c only Store. Regular grocery store sells it cheap enough, too.

Start your day right, with my fruity cheap$kate breakfast of Cherry Pancakes.

Ingredients (2 servings, using a pancake mix)

• 1 cup pancake mix - use any favorite.
• 3/4 cup water - okay to use milk for a richer pancake batter.
• 1 cup of pitted and sliced cherries - roughly sliced or chopped. Use any cherry amount that suits your taste. Okay to substitute with any fresh seasonal fruit like: blueberry, peach, apricot, strawberry, and even sliced banana or canned fruit.
• 1 tablespoon of cooking oil - to grease skillet. I like coconut oil. Add more when needed, depending how many pancakes you make.
• Butter and favorite pancake syrup - add as much as you like. I sometimes substitute coconut oil for butter.
• Okay to use vegan pancake batter.

Directions
Prepare pancake batter according to package directions. My pancake mix calls for 1 cup of flour and 3/4 cup of water.

Mix pancake ingredients in a bowl. When mixed it will be like thick country gravy.

Start to heat the pan over a medium/low heat.

Rinse off cherries. Removing the cherry pit is messy, with red juice that will stain clothing or a wood cutting board, so don't wait too long to rinse off any juice that gets onto surfaces or clothing.

I like to slice cherries this way: Cut though to the center of a cherry and rotate slice all the way around and twist cherry apart. One half of the cherry will have the cherry pit. Slice to remove the pit.

You can let the cherry pieces be on the large size.

Mix sliced cherries into pancake batter. Or arrange cherry slices on a hot grill and pour pancake batter over them.

Add oil to pancake pan and pour on the pancake batter. Brown each side of the pancake. Mine took about 2-3 minutes for each side. It really depends how hot your pan gets. The box directions above mentions cooking time to brown each side as 1.5 minutes each....hmmmm, they must be using a super hot pan!

If you want a dark brown pancake presentation, then just cook one side to get the right amount of brown, then cook the other side for a minute, to finish cooking through the raw batter. Serve browned side up, on the plate.

Serve hot with melted butter or coconut oil, and favorite pancake syrup.

Chocolate Covered Cherry - Video Cheap$kate Review

My latest Deal of the Day is  sweet with a cherry on top, that is, of the chocolate covered variety. The candy confectioner Queen Anne have supplied my local 99c only Store with milk chocolate, and dark chocolate, cover cherries for quite some time now. I've seen them there forever, and finally I could resist no more!

Click on any photo to see larger.

Queen Anne is one of the most popular makers of Chocolate Covered Cherries Their basic recipe has been around since 1948. You can read about them by clicking here. 

And just because they show up at my local 99c only Store doesn't mean there is a problem with the brand. Queen Anne also makes Chocolate Covered Blueberries and Peanut Clusters with Dried Cherries, so I think they know what they're doing. The candy is gluten free.

A few weeks before Valentine's Day I noticed them again and figured I might get a romantic holiday blog post out of these Cordial Cherries for a cheap$kate review. Well, read on to see if they made a passing  grade.

Chocolate Covered Cherries, or Cordial Cherries, are made with preserved maraschino cherries. You've seen the bright red cherries  in small  jars on the grocery shelf, or floating in a boozy cocktail called a Manhattan. Even the lowly canned fruit salad will sometimes have a few included.

They are over-the-top sweet, but somehow retain the flavor of cherry. I have the feeling that there is a lot of artificial flavors and color involved, so best to not indulge in these bonbons very often.

But for a romance inducing  aphrodisiac, they are a lascivious  way to start a fire. Of course, as a gift to my true love I would first buy Cordial Cherries from a better confection purveyer than a local dollar store. But if you need a sugar fix, these will satiate any sweet tooth.

For candy I prefer chocolate covered fruit like Raisinets. Once, I even got my hands on fresh strawberries covered in white chocolate - wow, what decadent bites.

This 99.99 cent box of Cordial Cherries holds 5 bonbons. I bought a couple boxes to review, milk and dark chocolate covered cherries.

The hard chocolate shells are standard flavored, nothing special, but nothing objectionable. Milk chocolate is mild and sweet, while the dark chocolate is more intense with a slight bitter bite. I liked both types. And they will melt if you hold them for any lenght of time, like it did while I animated with them.

The chocolate shell is thin but holds up for a couple of bites. That's half the story. The inside is filled with  milky sweet sugar. The syrup is a mix of white and clear.  Both are pure sugar sweet with a slight cherry fruit flavor. Some people prefer clear sugary liquid centers, but I bet there is little difference in taste from milky white syrup.

The preserved maraschino cherry is firm,  plump and whole, no cherry stem of course. The cherry is bright red and loaded with cherry flavor (probably enhanced by chemicals.)

Queen Anne's Cordial Cherries are a flavor bomb. I'm sure there are finer made brands out there like Godiva (about $10 for 6 pieces,) but these pass my chintzy test for tastiness.

So how do Chocolate Covered Cherries by Queen Anne rate on my Cheap$kate Dining Scale of 1 to 9, 9 being best? Well just watch the video below to get all the tasty details and rating.

Chocolate Covered Cherry - Video

Play it here. video runs 1 minute 24 seconds.

My YouTube video link for viewing or embedding, just click here.

Cherry Pancakes

It's cherry season in California and now is the time to get them cheap. They come on sale at my local 99c Only Store and Latin market for, you guessed it, 99 cents per pound. So read on to get a breakfast recipe I think you will enjoy: Cherry Pancakes.

Cherries are notoriously expensive, but for a month or so they come down in price, and I always get a few large bags during the summer season. At first appearance they are around $2 per pound, but wait a week or two and the price quickly drops.

I like to add them to yogurt or as a mealtime dessert -- I'll also nibble from small bowls throughout the day. They are especially good in pancakes, like almost any seasonal fruit would be. And if cherries are too expense or hard to get, you can substitute with your own local fruit stand favorites.

They are a little messy to work with though, so you want to rinse off any surfaces that the cherry juice pools on, and especially clothing or kitchen towels.

It's much easier to just pop one in your mouth and chew around the cherry pit. But for pancakes it's best to slice around cherry pit. Once you get going it only takes a few minutes to get a cup full for my Cherry Pancake recipe. You can go online to get a special device that pits them as well.

For the pancake batter I use commercial brand. If you have a homemade recipe then use it. I can get a large box of dry pancake batter at my local 99c only Store. Regular grocery store sell it cheap enough, too.

Start your day right, with my fruity cheap$kate breakfast of Cherry Pancakes.

Ingredients (2 servings, using a pancake mix)

• 1 cup pancake mix - use any favorite.
• 3/4 cup water - okay to use milk for a richer pancake batter.
• 1 cup of pitted and sliced cherries - roughly sliced or chopped. Use any cherry amount that suits your taste. Okay to substitute with any fresh seasonal fruit like: blueberry, peach, apricot, strawberry, and even sliced banana or canned fruit.
• 1 tablespoon of cooking oil - to grease skillet. Add more when needed, depending how many pancakes you make.
• Butter and favorite pancake syrup - add as much as you like.
• Okay to use vegan pancake batter.

Directions
Prepare pancake batter according to package directions. My pancake mix calls for 1 cup of flour and 3/4 cup of water.

Mix pancake ingredients in a bowl. When mixed it will be like thick country gravy.

Start to heat the pan over a medium/low heat.

Rinse off cherries. Removing the cherry pit is messy, with red juice that will stain clothing or a wood cutting board, so don't wait too long to rinse off any juice that gets onto surfaces or clothing.

I like to slice cherries this way: Cut though to the center of a cherry and rotate slice all the way around and twist cherry apart. One half of the cherry will have the cherry pit. Slice to remove the pit.

You can let the cherry pieces be on the large size.

Mix sliced cherries into pancake batter.

Add oil to pancake pan and pour on the pancake batter. Brown each side of the pancake. Mine took about 2-3 minutes for each side. It really depends how hot your pan gets. The box directions above mentions cooking time to brown each side as 1.5 minutes each....hmmmm, they must be using a super hot pan!

If you want a dark brown pancake presentation, then just cook one side to get the right amount of brown, then cook the other side for a minute, to finish. Serve browned side up, on the plate.

Serve hot with melted butter and favorite pancake syrup.