The Thumb...

If you haven't finished your vacation planning for the year, you might consider a trip to "The Thumb." Where, you might ask, is The Thumb?

If you check out a map of the United States and look closely at Wisconsin, the state looks strangely like a mitten. The part that sticks out looks sort of like the mitten's thumb. Some tourist brochures refer to that peninsula as "The Cape Cod of the Midwest." Everyone knows about Cape Cod in Massachusetts. Only the really smart people know about Door County, Wisconsin. The Thumb.

Door County is not only beautiful, pristine, green, clean and packed with all kinds of fun, it's not as crowded as Cape Cod. That's not to say it doesn't get crowded. From the 4th of July through Labor Day there are plenty of folks.

I'm lucky. I'm sitting in Door County right this moment in my timeshare condo looking out at a beautiful lake. The geese are floating by, the brilliant green trees are waving in the cool breeze and there's hardly a soul here. The restaurants aren't hard to get in yet. The lakes are practically empty, it's easy to find a sunning spot on the beaches--well, you get the idea.

Door County has everything. Plenty of sporting. Sailing--from the serious stuff to paddle boats. Golf to reading novels. Shopping--from t-shirts to serious galleries. But you're not here to listen to me sound like a travel brochure. We're here to talk food.

Door County specializes in cherries. Washington DC has nothing on Door County when it comes to cherry trees. Door County is covered with over 2000 acres of cherry orchards--Tart Montmorency cherries, to be exact. (Apples too, but they are secondary to the cherries.) Michigan has her blueberries. Door County, Wisconsin has cherries. Tons and tons of cherries. I went cherry shopping today just for you. I stopped at one of the new wineries. Wineries are the new thing in Door County. They are developing new vines that can handle the harsh winters here, so they are planting more grape vineyards. They've always had cherry wine here, but now you can get cherry-chardonnay. You can even get a $35 bottle of pinot noir that's grown in Wisconsin. Fancy that! But I digress. Back to cherries.

The winery my husband and I went to still has plenty of cherry orchards. What I had a hankering for and wanted to share with you is a recipe for cherry topping. There isn't a cafe or restaurant in Door County you can go into and not find something on the menu that doesn't include some kind of cherry topping. One of the best things is pancakes. Pancakes might have cherries cooked in them but the BEST ones have a cherry topping on TOP--just like you might put on top of cheesecake. Some places even put whipped cream and chocolate shavings on top of that! Okay, so now they've turned breakfast into dessert and they've gone past what I'm going to order, but cherries on top of pancakes is a picture-perfect thing.

I'll admit it. By the time I got out of the store, I had purchased five pounds of frozen Montmorency cherries, a large bag of the same cherries dried, a jar of the same topping I'm going to teach you how to make and a recipe booklet. They also tempted me with cherry jam, cherry sauces, cherry syrups, cherry salsa and even the cherry wine I talked about, along with hundreds of other things.

I'm going to give you the web address so you can "shop" there too. I'm not related to these folks. I just met them today. I'm not getting a commission. I just know several of you would be writing me next week asking me how to get the cherries, so I'm saving a step. You can also get on your browser and type in "Door County Wisconsin Cherries" and about ten more pages of cherry sources will pop up. You can choose. The one I was at today was www.orchardcountry.com. Really nice people. Most people from Wisconsin are. That's another reason to visit here.

Let me tell you one more story.

Julia Child visited Wisconsin some years back. I was lucky enough to meet her. I listened to a speech she made to about 75 women. (Not many knew she was coming, I guess, or more should have been there to listen to this wise woman.)

Julia loved Wisconsin and she didn't mind telling us. She talked about how our barns are shaped like little chateaus and how cute she thought they were. (Now imagine her using the little French accent she sometimes took on when she was joking around.) She said how she loved our little black and white cows (instead of the usual brown and white). Most think of Wisconsin as cows and corn and beer. It's so much more. She said she was going to keep the beauty of Wisconsin our "little secret" She said she loved Seattle too, and she told the world about Seattle every chance she got. "And look what happened. I'll never do THAT again," she chirped.

She never did. She never told people about Wisconsin. So consider this a little secret between you and me, okay? I don't want word to get out too far and wide. It might spoil our little secret. Come visit Wisconsin and "The Thumb," but keep it quiet, okay? And enjoy the cherries.

Cheers!

Cherry Shortcake Sauce

This recipe is not a Zola original but it is exactly what I was looking to conjure up had I not been on vacation. It's what I went to buy the cherries for. The Orchard Country Winery shared this recipe with me. It's in a little book called "101 Cherry Recipes" by a woman named Carole Eberly. I'm sure you can buy the book on-line at their site. It was $4.95. Serve this on shortcakes, cheesecake, ice cream and--of course!--pancakes.

1/4 cup sugar
1-1/2 Tbl cornstarch
1 cup water
1 cup Door County Montmorency Cherries (or frozen cherries from the grocer)
1 Tbl lemon juice
1/4 cup butter

In a saucepan, combine the sugar, cornstarch and water. Heat to a boil. Add the cherries and cook for three more minutes. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice and butter. Serve. Keep leftovers refrigerated.