By Paige Wolven

This summer Brooke and I moved into a little house on the south end of the University of Arkansas campus.  I had been in the tiny apartment we moved from for three years, and it had just gotten smaller and smaller every year.  It’s such a relief to move into a house and have some room to breathe.

The best parts though, are the spaces we have outside.  When we first moved in, in early June, the ginormous yellow rose bush on the side of our  house was in full bloom.  Any time I was outside, people walking by would compliment it, and it seems to fit well as it’s on the side of our corner house that runs parallel to Rose Avenue. Just as that was running it’s course, a squat knobby tree at the very back of our yard, started popping out bright red cherries!

We discovered that they were cherries when my mom was visiting one afternoon and bravely popped one in her mouth.  They are a sour variety, and have a pretty clingy pit.  The bounty has proven difficult to keep up with.  Every evening I need a bigger container to collect the ripening cherries. What ripens before I get to it falls on the ground below, which is completely covered with a perfect layer of cherries. These are for our birds, squirrels, and even a young buck to share.

With more cherries than I knew what to do with and more coming in every day, I began to scheme up some uses for them.  Our first cherry dessert had to be sweet enough to compensate for and compliment the sourness of the cherries.  And so, I landed on blondies. I usually find these sugary chocolate-less brownies overly sweet, so they are a perfect fit.  There was nothing I’d change after my first try at them, so I’ll share that recipe without further ado!