Inspired by a friend’s Instagram photo, I decided to make cherry-brown butter bars from Smitten Kitchen (plus cherries were on sale at Kroger) of course cherries must be pitted and I do not have a dedicated pitter. Then I discovered a tip among the comments on the smitten kitchen website. This is what you do: cut an x in the bottom of the cherry and place it, bottom side down, on the mouth of a bottle. Using a metal straw, push down on the stem part of the cherry and— voila — the pit is pushed out and drops down into the bottle, slick as can be. I pitted a pound of cherries in no time. Of course, wouldn’t you know it, John found a pit in his cherry bar.
