Conference turris::cooks

    
    I buy mine from the grocery store...try the baking section.....they
    usually have everything (coconut, pineapple, green & red candied
    cherries, etc.). 
    
    good luck...k

    You won't find candied fruit in the baking section, Big D, Shaw's.
    Stop and Shop, etc. carry candied fruit in the produce section.
    Usually on and end cap around this time of year.  There should
    be a large display of candied fruits and different types of
    nuts.
    
    Linda
    

    Shaws in Merrimack had currents when I was there this weekend. 
    The other shaws stores probably do also.  There's one in So.
    Nashua, on Danial Webster Highway (the same road the Pheasant
    Lane mall is on, but a ways to the north - say about 6-8 traffic
    lights north.)  They're usually wherever the raisins are kept -
    sometimes with the canned fruits and sometimes in the baking aisle
    and sometimes with the produce, depending on the store.
    
    --Louise

    Mods, sorry if this is in the wrong place. :)
    
    About a year ago, friends of mine who own a cherry farm, sent me a
    large jar of black cherries, "pickled" in armaretto and cherry brandy. 
    I've only just opened it, and find that the cherries are *so* strong,
    as to make them inedible.  I'd hate to guess how many percent proof the
    alcohol content is. :)
    
    Can anyone tell me if this will "mellow" over time or if there is
    something I can do to tone it down and make the cherries and liquid
    more usable??
    
    Thanks.
    Joyce
    

I doubt that the alcohol content will mellow over time.  If they are too strong
as is, heat them in a skillet.  Ignite them and serve warm over vanilla ice
cream. 

Or... send them to me!

    Perhaps taking some/all out of the jar and after draining them put
    them in a container of water? (Just a guess).
    
    even better - put them in a punch!!!
    
    Monica

re .5 
thanks, I might try a flamb� and if that doesn't work, you can have ...some :)

re .6 Monica, I don't know if diluting will do any good. The taste of the 
alcohol is well... overpowering, but little else. It no longer tastes of 
armaretto *or* cherry brandy, both of which I'm quite fond of. I'm assuming 
that the  combination, with the addition of sugar (now alcohol) from the 
cherries, has created a new substance. :) I'll try it with fruit juice tonight 
and see. Thanks,

Joyce 

    Do you think the added sugar became alcohol?
    
    ed

RE: .7, .8

If the cherries were packed with amaretto and cherry brandy, there is zero 
chance that the added sugar was fermented into more alcohol.  Yeasts can't live 
at the alcohol concentration present in amaretto and brandy.

--PSW

re .8, .9

I don't really know *what* happened. :)  I've tried mixing amaretto and Cherry
brandy together, and it definitely does not taste like what's in the jar.  That
liquid is vicious!  It's not unpleasant... not after you've caught your breath
that is :) but it seems a waste to tip it out.

I've tried mixing it with orange juice, and that was *nice*.  The flamb� didn't 
work in that the cherries tasted pretty non-descript ... should I have added 
sugar?

You see, that's why I thought the sugar was converted, because the fruit has no
sweetness in it at all.. I got a box of fresh cherries, from the same batch that
these ones were taken, and remember that they were quite delicious.

Any other thoughts?

joyce

>>I've tried mixing it with orange juice, and that was *nice*.  
    
    So, back to my original suggestion; keep it for a large citrus punch.
    Betcha that stuff will last a long while so you can probably do several
    get-togethers with it. You can always mix sweet things into it,
    grenadine syrup comes to mind. However, you'd probably have to put
    potency warning labels on your concoction! 8-).
    
    Monica