Early Rainier Cherries!

It's been a mild winter and it's warm this spring. Cherries are here!!! Very specifically, Rainier cherries. I've loved Rainier cherries since I was a little girl; I like them better than their more robust darker plum cousins. Now that I'm right here in Washington state, I'm so overdosing on it.

Rainier cherries are delicate, sensitive to temperatures and bruise ever so easily. That means more care has to be taken during growing, harvest and transporting. These cherries aren't cheap. They can go for anything between US$7.99 to US$13.99 per pound (i.e. S$11 to $20 per 453g), depending on which markets you go to, and the farms that supplied them. Picked up mine from Pike Place Market on a week day when there weren't crazy crowds like the weekends. There're a couple of fruit stalls. Take your pick.

Zoomed straight to the stalls to inhale punnets of in-season delicate Rainier cherries. Bought three pounds easy. Ate them all as snacks and dessert over two days. Not too shabby at all for something this early in the season. This batch was good- firm, little bruising and sweet without being cloying. Mmmmmm. Then I went out to buy some more. Heh. Next to the Japanese sato-nishiki cherries from Yamagata prefecture, Rainier's my favorite.