Summer Fest: Very Cherry Sangria

By: Cameron Curtis

Week four of our season-long garden party Summer Fest 2011 welcomes food and garden bloggers to feature garden-to-table recipes and tips. We’ll help you to enjoy all that this season has to offer. So far, we’ve delved into eggplant, peaches and cucumbers. Now we're chowing down on cherries.

In season summer fruit is so sweet and juicy, you don't even need to think about adding sugar to your favorite drinks, you can just add succulent fruit. One of the best ways to drink cherries this summer is in a classic fruity cocktail: sangria.

No matter how you make your sangria (there are so many options), I'd advise skipping the simple syrup and relying solely on the flavor of your fruit. Pick from white sangria that's chock full of lemons, limes, peaches and white Spanish wine or red sangria that's filled with apples, oranges and a dry red wine. Sangria is great for masking cheaper wines or serving drinks to a large crowd. Me, I'll just sip it on a Wednesday evening.

Purchase cherries from your local farmers' market.

Pit cherries and slice in half.

Slice oranges, a lemon and a peach.

Very Cherry Sangria
1 bottle inexpensive red wine, chilled
1 cup fresh cherries, pitted and sliced in half
1 fresh peach, sliced
1 Meyer lemon, sliced
2 blood oranges, sliced
3 oz. brandy
1 cup pineapple juice

Combine all ingredients in a pitcher and let marinate in the refrigerator for at least two hours. Serve over ice.

More Cherries from Family and Friends:
What’s Gaby Cooking: Cherry Chocolate Truffle Ice Cream
Big Girls Small Kitchen: Cherry Cornmeal Cake
Daydreamer Desserts: Cherry Crumble Cake
Ingredient Challenge Monday: Black Forest Ice Cream Done Two Ways
Spices and Aroma: Dilkush with Cherries
And Love It Too: Cherry-Pecan Chicken Salad
Food for 7 Stages of Life: South Indian Hot and Sour Soup
Virtually Homemade: Dark Chocolate Cherry Kuchen
In Jennie’s Kitchen: Cherry Conserves
The Sensitive Epicure: Gluten-Free Cherry Almond Clafouti
Napa Farmhouse 1885: Cherry Balsamic Vinegar
Virtually Vegan Mamma: Fresh Cherry and Almond Scones
CIA Dropout: Italian Cherry Cake
Cooking With Books: Cherry Cooler

Next Up

Summer Fest: Easy Tomato Galette

I grew up picking tomatoes straight from the garden and eating them like apples, warm from the sun. Since then, I've had a hard-and-fast two-tomato-a-day rule every summer. Sure, I love tomato salads, BLTs, and simple, garlicky sauce, but this summer, my favorite way to reach my daily quota is a slice of tomato galette.

Summer Fest: Grape-Filled Desserts

While grapes are great on their own for dessert, try featuring them in Cooking Channel's more-elaborate sweet recipes.

Summer Fest: Fresh Corn Muffins

Week five of our season-long garden party Summer Fest 2011 welcomes food and garden bloggers to feature garden-to-table recipes and tips. We’ll help you to enjoy all that this season has to offer. So far, we’ve delved into eggplant, peaches, cucumbers and cherries. Now we're on to a new crop: corn. Yes, I turned on my oven. It was worth it though to work sweet summer corn into a classic corn muffin recipe. These savory corn muffins are a great accompaniment to any summer dish but since I prefer to snack all day, I made them miniature. You can pick up corn right now from your local farmers' market, but there should also be plenty in stock at the supermarket.

Summer Fest: Savory Watermelon Recipes

While simply slicing up your melon and eating it straight from the rind is one of the staple desserts of summer, watermelon is a great option for savory recipes as well.

Summer Fest: Plum Good Sweets

Get Cooking Channel's best plum dessert recipes, including Plum Upside Down Cake, Kelsey Nixon's Berry Crisp with Plums and more.

Summer Fest: Broccoli Stir-Fry

You can avoid a lot of unnecessary oil and still get a ton of flavor by making stir-fry at home. Emeril's Stir-Fried Chicken With Broccoli has all the elements of Chinese takeout, so there's no need to dial for delivery. In addition to broccoli, you'll get crunch from water chestnuts and red bell peppers.

Summer Fest: Stuffed Peppers 5 Ways

Colorful and crispy, peppers of all colors stand up well when baked. Pick your favorite varieties at the market right now and stuff them full of everything from rice to cheese.

On TV

So Much Pretty Food Here