Good quality Spirited Cherries can be very costly, often about $14 for a small jar of shrivelled up cherries. I use them a lot for cooking, baking and entertaining. I was reading one of my French crafting magazines and found a great recipe for making them at home. Bonus, they make fantastic hostess gifts.

1 1/2 pounds of fresh cherries (or as many as you want to make)

1 cup of sugar

dash of Cinnamon

Cherry Liquor

layer the above ingredients and pour in the liquor to cover.

Store in a cool dry place for 6 months (do not refrigerate)

once they are opened then you can refrigerate

Perfect in the Cherry Champagne Cocktail, poured over vanilla ice cream, served with cheesecake.

I was able to get two good size jars out of this recipe. I think I only spent a total approx. $16 and made 4X’s the amount of the one jar I purchase for approx. $14 in the gourmet store