Cherries make me homesick. I don’t have any childhood memories of cherries, in fact when I think about where I’m from, cheese & beer is what comes first to my mind. It’s my mom who loves cherries and she often talks about her trips to the Door County, WI cherry orchards where she picks them by hand. I always make sure I have some fresh cherries if she comes to visit in the summertime.

She and my Dad will be here next week. I’m traveling again and this time it’s for two solid weeks (Portland then Alaska). Normally I’m only gone for a few days or a week at a time, so this time we decided we need Nana and Papa here to make it easier on the girls.

Time to stock up on fresh cherries!

I spied a fresh cherry tart on Pinterest and it looked so good I had to try it. I made a few changes {what chef doesn’t, right?} and it was a real treat. The graham cracker crust flavor is definitely present so be sure you love that flavor before you try this. Or just make the filling; that’s really the best part anyway. I diced the cherries, soaked them in grand marnier {what else is new?} and layered them with the filling. Holy shitake, it was good!

This is another one of those make-ahead desserts that would be great for a party or end of summer picnic. Bite-sized tarts with just one cherry in the center would be adorable! The original recipe for this cherry tart called for making one large tart but I opted to make individual tarts and a second batch of just the parfaits with grand marnier cherries. So many ways you could serve this – fresh raspberries or blackberries would be wonderful and colorful.

I know one thing for sure: my mom is going to love these! I’m going to store them in the basement refrigerator and leave her with a note that says to check there for a treat! (Don’t worry…she and my dad are never on their computer and the odds of them reading this before 2014 is slim to none :)