Check out these babies. Do they make your mouth water?

My editor, Kathy Lu, went cherry picking for her birthday on Saturday and lugged home 20 pounds of sweet dark and white cherries. She was kind enough to bring me a half-gallon of the little garnet jewels.

The orchard is called Levering Orchard, and it’s located out near Fancy Gap. Kathy says the cherries were $2.49 per pound. She and her husband pitted and froze most of theirs with plans to make ice cream, cherry sauce or smoothies. Since she’s also a talented baker, they may show up in a dessert at some point, too.

Unfortunately, while these cherries do make my mouth water, they also make my throat and ears itch like mad. It’s a mystery allergy that I seem to have developed over the past couple of years.

Some call it “Oral Allergy Syndrome.” Here’s an interesting article on the topic that appeared in U.S. News and World Report.

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