Recipes

Several years ago, John encouraged me to learn how to make Cherry Moos exactly like his grandma made it. I'd never tasted moos, let alone his grandma's moos, so this was rather tricky. (Well, I'd only tasted moos that tasted like canned cherry pie filling and hated it. John assured me that real moos was much better than nasty store canned pie filling.) The most difficult part was finding the sour cherries. (Really, moos is just pudding with cherries in it.)

Last year we hit cherry paydirt. The Hesston Food Market orders sour cherries, peaches, and pears in bulk each summer. If you pre-order you're guaranteed to get as much fruit as you want. Last year we pre-ordered 15 pounds of sour cherries. They come pitted and frozen in a 4 part fruit: 1 part sugar mixture.

The down side is that they come in one bucket, so you have to thaw the cherries, measure them out into freezer bags, and re-freeze them. Thank goodness for the deep freezer!

A relative learned that we'd ordered 15 pounds and offered to split the order with us. We had to turn them down. Fifteen pounds may sound like a lot, but it doesn't really result in that much moos.

This year we got 30 pounds of cherries. I don't think John could ever get enough moos, and now Jacob enjoys eating the sour cherries plain. "Mmm, mmm, mmm. Cha-ees!"

The details:
30 pounds cost $50.17, plus tax
30 pounds = 60 cups
1 cup cost $0.84

Cherry Mus and Moos recipes from The Melting Pot cookbook:

Trial #1: Kirsche Moos
Results: John says, "Good, but it doesn't taste like Grandma's." Terah likes this one best.

2 c. sour cherries with juice
1 c. sweet cream
1 c. sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
3 T flour

Mix warm cherries with cream. Combine sugar, cinnamon and flour and stir in enough water to make a thin paste. Add to fruit and cook until thick.


Trial #2: Cherry Moos
Results: John says, "not that great." Terah couldn't eat it; way too sour.

Heat 1 quart canned cherries. Mix 1 round tablespoon flour, 1/4 c sugar, and 1 c. cream. Pour on hot cherries and gradually bring to a boil.


Trial #3: Cherry Mus
Results: John says, "This is great!" Terah's okay with it, especially after adding cinnamon to her own serving.

Cook: 1 quart sour cherries in 1 quart water (or use 4 c. frozen cherries with juice & don't add extra water)
Add paste made of:
2/3 c. sugar
1 c. sweet cream
5 T flour
Cook until think.