The Cherry Bounce Cocktail

A riff on a drink made by Martha Washington

Cherry bounce dates back at least to 17th century England – and was quite popular in colonial America. In fact, Martha Washington made a big batch every year (we provide her recipe in the Notes).

Made the traditional way, cherry bounce takes a few months to age and mature. But we can’t wait that long. So we’re offering a cocktail version that’s much faster and easier to make, while still dispensing great flavor.

Martha (and George) would approve.

Hungarian-Style Cold Cherry Soup

Red wine livens up this summer starter

Chilled fruit soups are popular in Central and Eastern Europe. One of the best known is Hungarian meggyleves (Cold Sour Cherry Soup). It’s traditionally made from sour cherries, cream, and sweet white wine (in Hungary, that often means Tokaji).

Here in the US, it can be hard to find fresh sour cherries. But sweet Bing cherries are in season now—and abundantly available. So we use them instead of sour cherries in our recipe. And to avoid making the soup too sweet, we replace Tokaji with a drier red wine.

The result? A refreshing summer starter with outstanding flavor. And one that can provide a fun change of pace at your next dinner party—especially since this is a dish that many people are not familiar with.

Your guests are sure to be impressed. So start practicing a modest bow. You’ll want to be prepared for their accolades.

No-Churn Cherry Ice Cream with Chocolate

Or adapt this easy no-churn recipe for any flavor you like

How often do you make ice cream at home? Until recently, our answer would have been “not very.”

Mostly, that was because we couldn’t get decent results with home ice cream makers. The smaller “pre-freeze” units (the ones where you need to freeze the bowl) only kinda sorta worked for us. The larger machines (the kind with built-in condensers) do a better job—or so we’ve heard. But our kitchen space is limited, so we’ve had to rule out that option. And no way are we going to bother with rock salt and hand cranks.

Which meant that for years, we just shrugged and bought Ben and Jerry’s.

No more, however. We’ve discovered a quick no-churn, no machine way to make ice cream that produces superior results. And it’s a lot cheaper than buying pints of Cherry Garcia® (our favorite flavor, for which this recipe is a credible alternative).

Anybody want to buy a used ice cream maker, cheap?