Cherries, as you have probably figured out, make a good snack just as they are. They keep well in a cool dry place on the counter. But, after a couple of weeks, they will start to get soft and mushy. Mushy fruit is not good to eat.

There are a couple of things that you can do if you find yourself with surplus cherries. Consider baking a pie. Cherry pie is a favorite at church socials, county fairs, and backyard cookouts. For those diehard cherry lovers you can add a few extra cherries since you have so many. If you want them to last a really long time, put them in a fruitcake.

For a sweet or tart twist on your favorite salad, cut up a few ripe cherries and throw them on top. Cherries are appropriate on top of yogurt with a bit of granola thrown in for fiber. Speaking of toppers, cherries can be used in a glaze and drizzled on top of a piece of New York cheesecake. For fizzy drinks, float a few cherries in them as a garnish. When we were young, they used to serve cherries as a garnish for Shirley Temple drinks.

Use these suggestions and others you may have heard to avoid throwing away extra cherries.

Spring means the beginning of fresh fruit. Each fruit has its time when it is at the peak of freshness. Cherries are just one of those fruits. You can find them at farmer’s markets and fresh in the grocery store.

There are three main kinds of cherries: Bing, Lambert, and Rainier. I hear people talking about Bing cherries mostly. My sister absolutely loves fresh cherries. She eats them like candy. It’s a good thing that they are healthy to eat!

A good cherry has a deep red color. The skin will be shiny and smooth like it was wet, but it really isn’t. If you rub the skin, it won’t wrinkle up. The fruit itself should be firm to the touch with no breaks in the skin. The cherry will stay firm longer as long as the stem is still attached.

Cherries can be sweet or tart. I don’t like anything that is tart, so I would prefer the sweet ones. When you finish eating them, you can try to tie the stem in a knot with your tongue.

The one thing about visiting the farmer’s market is that your eyes are bigger than your refrigerator and your stomach. The fruit looks so delicious that it is not easy to leave with only a small bag of a fruit like cherries. So, you may find yourself with a surplus of cherries after you have tried to eat several handfuls in one or two sittings.

There is no such thing as having too many lemons. In the kitchen, lemons have additional uses. Take half a lemon and sprinkle the juice on a piece of baked fish to mask the odor of fish in the household. I love to eat Alaskan salmon, but I don’t like how my kitchen smells. Lemon juice rubbed on apple slices will keep them from browning.

Use lemon juice to flavor sauces for pasta. Add some lemon to your Alfredo sauce for a different taste. My mother loves the taste of lemon in most all of her food. Zest some lemon rind over vegetables like green beans and asparagus.

Now, I did say that the lemon has many uses around the house and that includes ones that don’t include eating them. If you just happen to find a lemon hanging around that you forgot about and you don’t want to take a chance on eating it, use it to clean up after yourself.

Lemons are a great way to freshen the entire household. They remove stains and less than pleasant odors from hands. Drop a lemon half into the garbage disposal to remove any unpleasant smells. Many cleaners contain that essence of lemon because it is such a powerful cleaner with a pleasant smell. Whether for eating or for cleaning, lemons are useful.

This is a unique yellow fruit that has been around for a long time. Lemons can be found all year round but their season is mainly from April to July. If you’ve got a lemon, you have a handy fruit that can be used all around the house.

Lemons were originally native to Asia. They are a zesty and sour fruit. Most people don’t eat them as a snack because of their jaw-pursing quality. That is except for my niece who loves all fruit and will eat a lemon down to the rind. I’ve never seen anything like it.

Lemons are mainly used as a drink. The most refreshing drink on a sunny day is lemonade. Fresh squeezed lemonade is easy to make. The taste of lemonade can be accented with some strawberries, blueberries, or other fruit. The juice of a lemon provides the flavoring for cakes and other desserts. The rind of the lemon can be candied to use as treats for kids or a garnish for ice cream.

Examine your lemons. The best ones are smooth with a skin that is not too thick. Lemons with thick skins mean that there is less flesh and therefore less juice inside. Put back any small lemons or lemons with a bumpy skin. The heavier it is the more juice is concealed inside.

Plums are best eaten alone. Most people bite into the juicy flesh until there is nothing left but the pit. If you find yourself with a few extra plums, don’t worry about having to throw them away.

The firmer plums can be sliced and added to your morning yogurt. True fans of the plum can add them to their salad for a tart and tangy taste. Sauces for meats can be the solution for any soft plums you have left.

How about making some prunes of your own? If you eat a lot of fruit, invest in a food dehydrator. You can reduce those plums to their sweetest components. Dehydration removes any excess fluid and leaves only the sweet and the nutrients. Drying the fruit will give you another two weeks to enjoy their goodness.

People who aren’t too fond of plums may like prunes better. They make a handy snack for the kids when you are out in the park on a Saturday or shopping in the store. Just take one out and pop it in their mouth (or yours) to stave off the hunger for another thirty minutes.

Plums are a small fruit that can fit in the palm of your hand. Eat them alone when you buy them fresh from the market. Use them in salads and as additions to other foods to use them up before they perish.

My family loves these tiny dark fruits. Plums range in color from red to deep purple and come in several varieties. They can be purchased in stores from May all the way up until October.

What is so special about the plum? Did you know that once they are dried, they are better known as plums? Most people probably know that fact. But, my favorite type of plum is not actually a pure plum at all. It is called a dragon plum. Their common name is a pluot because it is a cross between a plum and an apricot. Pluots come in several varieties with golden to reddish colored flesh that resembles that of a plum.

Plums range in taste from very tart to mildly sweet. The skin of a plum is smooth to the touch and doesn’t wrinkle. Slightly squeeze a plum when picking up the fruit. If it is too hard, the fruit will tend towards the tart side. A softer fruit will be sweeter. If they are too soft, they are probably overripe and won’t last long after you buy them.

I love pineapples because of their sweet and pungent taste. A fresh pineapple has more of a tangy taste than the slices that come in a can. The acid from a fresh pineapple makes my tongue feel sore if I eat too much at one time. A pineapple is a natural tenderizer for meats. When you garnish a ham with pineapples on Easter, wait until the ham is cooked through before adding the pineapples.

Pineapples are great to eat alone or in a salad. Tossing a few chunks on top of a green salad with a little Italian dressing makes a light lunch on a warm day. A large pineapple may be too big for one person to eat. If this is the case, try a few other uses to keep that pineapple from going bad.

Did you know that pineapples are a symbol of hospitality? Whip up a pineapple upside down cake or a yellow layer cake with pineapple icing and bring it to a picnic or potluck dinner. Others will love the taste of fresh pineapple in your recipe.

Pineapples make excellent snacks as dried or candied fruits. You can dry them at home yourself. The next time you grill out, skewer a few pineapple chunks and some chicken or beef. Pineapples do well on skewers and will have a sweet, yet smoky flavor to them.

Experiment with your pineapple. Try out some pineapple preserves or pineapple ice cream. Don’t just give up on your fruit; find new ways to use it.