The date on my calendar may say January 21st and over night the temperature just may have dropped to a chilly 18 degrees Fahrenheit. The good news is that right now the thermometer says 69.5 F on my back porch (indoors is a cozy 73.3F). I mention these details not to make my friends and relatives in colder climes feel sad or even envious, but simply to demonstrate that eating a local cherry pie in January can miraculously bring summertime back in the midst of winter…

Okay — full disclosure — I live just north of Denver in the lovely state of Colorado and this is our 6th day of over 60F weather and the 3rd or 4th over 70F in the last week. And, the good weather came several days prior to me baking this pie. However, the good weather did remind me that on a luscious day last July, I mixed up enough cherry pie filling for two pies and froze half for a cold winter day!

Yesterday may not have been cold, but eating cherry pie just seems a classic American thing to do. And so to celebrate the Inauguration of Barack Obama, our 44th President, I baked up a Star Spangled Cherry Pie. It was the least I could do. Especially since I could not join my super lucky girlfriend who spent the night twirling away at the Southern States Inaugural Ball in DC (where the Obama’s just happened to make an appearance)!

Eco-Cooking Tips:

To make a pie crust follow this recipe (you can substitute Earth Balance Buttery Sticks). The key with good pie dough is that once you add the water DO NOT over mix or your crust will be tough and not light and flaky! To keep your pie from burning or turning too dark cover it with a piece of foil. Bake your pie on a cookie sheet in case any juice boils out.

When baking a cherry pie with cherries that are not perfectly ripe or perhaps not bright red (sour cherries can be white inside) use pomegranate juice instead in your filling. This will keep your fruit a luscious red without the use of artificial colors! Also, add some almond extract (the real stuff) to fruit pies and feel free to reduce the sugar in your favorite recipe. Pies are also wonderful way to use up organic fruit that is still good, but perhaps a little old or starting to get mushy!

I always recommend baking with organic flour and an all purpose white flour is best for pie dough. If you live in a state that grows some wheat you may look into finding some locally produced flour. For example I know that in both Colorado and West Virginia you can buy flour locally from the flour mill!