By Sara Gomach

– for use with those fabulous Door County Cherries that are now available at the market!

Recipe from gourmet.com.

1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 1/2 lb fresh or thawed frozen sour cherries, pitted (2 1/2 cups)
2 tablespoons kirsch
Premium vanilla ice cream

-Rub together sugar and lemon juice in a 12-inch heavy skillet with your fingertips until mixture resembles wet sand. Heat over moderately high heat, swirling skillet slowly, until sugar is melted and pale golden, 5 to 6 minutes. Add butter and swirl skillet until incorporated, about 30 seconds (mixture will bubble up). Add cherries, swirling skillet to coat, and bring to a boil (cherries will exude liquid; caramel will harden). Cook cherries, swirling skillet, until caramel is dissolved, 5 to 8 minutes. Pour through a medium-mesh sieve set over a bowl, then return liquid to skillet and boil until reduced to about 3/4 cup, 6 to 8 minutes. Remove from heat, then add cherries and kirsch. Return to stove and boil 30 seconds.
-Spoon warm cherries into shallow bowls and top with scoops of ice cream. Cooks’ note: Cherries can be cooked 3 hours ahead and kept, covered, at room temperature. Bring to a boil just before serving.

By Sara Gomach

10 -12 beets, cooked
Peel and chop beets.
Put them into a large pot with approx. 5 c water
2 t salt/ ½ t ground pepper
1 t dill weed (not the seeds)
Juice of 1 lemon
1 whole onion, peeled.

Bring to a boil. Cook for about 15 minutes. Remove the onion
and use it for something else.
Sometimes people put a couple of eggs in here. If so: beat two eggs in a heat-proof bowl. While beating, add some of the hot liquid to the eggs. This is called “tempering the eggs”. Then continuing to stir, pour the egg mixture into the soup and bring back to a boil.

Take the pot off the stove, cool and place soup in refrigerator
until ready to eat.
While the soup is cooking, fix bowls of chopped dill pickle, chopped cooked cold potatoes, chopped beets, chopped hardcooked egg, Keifer or sour cream or crème fraiche, seeded chopped cucumbers, dill weed, chopped scallions, and anything else you want. Place the bowls onto the table so the guests can add their own while eating.
Serve the soup in bowls and let each person dress the soup as
they choose.