Southern Cherry Pie...A Plea for the Tree

"As important as the cooking, as the cakes, was the Christmas tree. Wreaths were fashioned and hung on doors, mistletoe suspended from lintels, garlands of evergreen entwined in the stair railing in the hall, but the tree was the focus of decoration. Although we needed alot of help with it, we children were made to feel that it was ours, from procuring it to adorning it. We always wanted to put it up early; our mother tried to delay us as nearly as possible until a week before Christmas. "It'll dry out and needles will be all over the parlor. It might even catch fire!"

When she could withstand our pleas no longer, we went and got the tree."

~excerpt.."Christmas Gift"

A Good Southern Cherry Pie

1 1/4 cups sugar

3 tablespoons cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon butter, softened

2 (14 1/2 ounce) cans pitted tart cherries, drained and reserving 1/2 cup juice

1/4 teaspoon red food coloring

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1 pastry for a double-crust 9-inch pie

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Drain cherries, reserving 1/2 cup juice. Combine sugar, cornstarch and salt.
Combine cherry juice, food coloring, almond extract and lemon juice.Add to dry ingredients, mixing well.
Add cherries and mix well again. Add butter and let stand for 15 minutes.Pour cherry mixture into pie crust and finish top with second pie crust. Be certain to create a few small slices around the top of the pie crust for vents. I always sprinkle a teaspoon of sugar on top just like mother did. Bake for 50 to 55 minutes.
~ Miss Helen, Vicksburg, MS.