Attention ageing Goth Queens! Soccer moms! Executive types! Whomever you are, if you're in or past your mid-thirties, anti-oxidants are going to become more important to you, and you're going to want to get as much of them as you can into your diet. Anti-oxidants prevent much of the damage ageing does to our bodies. They contribute to longevity, robustness and resilience and general glowing good health.

My solution, to quote Abraham as voiced by Esther Hicks, is to go for what feels delicious to me. Eating cherries has always felt like heavenly indulgence in something so good it must be forbidden - my favorite form has always been cherry pie, made with tart Montmorency cherries. Montmorencys have a reputation for making you suck your cheeks in at the tartness, but when combined with other pie ingredients, will make your mouth water and eyes cross in ecstasy - bliss definitely ensues.

Here 's some cool information on what cherries can do for you, then after that, the amazing dessert:

From: http://www.mi-cherries.com/anti03.htm

During the testing of tart cherry products, Brunswick Labs discovered for the first time that tart cherries contain a class of compounds that act like super oxide dismutase (SOD), which is a powerful enzyme and cellular antioxidant. It acts as a super scavenger of superoxide anions by ferreting out and destroying them throughout the body. The human body is often lacking SOD, thus the burden of defense often relies on intake of exogenous dietary antioxidants. Very few natural foods contain SOD.

Derived from two Greek words meaning plant and blue, anthocyanins are the pigments that make cherries red and are thought to play a major role in the high antioxidant activity levels observed in tart cherries.

Proanthocyanins are known powerful free radical scavengers and antioxidants. In fact, they are the most powerful chain breaking antioxidants known so far. There is a substantial quantity of proanthocyanins (condensed tannins) in tart cherries. People who follow a Mediterranean style diet, which contains catechins, anthocyanins and proanthocyanins are noted for their general good health and longevity.

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And now, for the perfect dessert to top of the previous Vegetarian Potroast recipe:

Cherry-Cherry Jumblejuice
(pudding, cobbler or whatever - simple enough for kids)

1 cup FRESH pitted Montmorency tart cherries plus enough water to cover in baking dish, or 1 can of tart red cherries packed in water - these will often be sold as "pie cherries" or have a picture of pie on the label. Water pack only.

3 drops real vanilla essence

3 drops almond essence

2 tbsps. brown sugar if you want a "brown betty" type taste

- Or - 2 tbps. rice syrup, concentrated apple juice or agave syrup

1 tbsp. Tupelo or Orange Blossom honey (non-optional)

1/2 tsp. tapioca starch

Process:
Mix all of the above together, stirring well. Put into small ceramic or glass casserole dish and set on a cookie sheet. Bake in 350 degree oven for 15 - 20 minutes (check your oven) uncovered, or microwave on high for five minutes, uncovered. Cherry juice may splatter over sides. Remove, allow to cool. Juice will thicken as it cools and will have reduced considerably.

The Bear likes this dish served with a healthy dollop of vanilla ice cream, but I prefer it plain as I don't do much sugar.

Neither stevia nor artificial sweeteners will do. The amount of sugar in this dish is small, and this amount doesn't turn on my internal "it's got sugar in it! don't eat!" alarm. A little sugar once in awhile in a healthy form like this is okay. If you want to go more healthy, use concentrated apple juice or agave syrup.

Serve yourself a half cup of Cherry-Cherry Jumblejuice for the day's anti-oxidant hit.

It might seem simple, but really, these cherries need no adornment but the above. I occasionally cobbler them by fork-mixing a crumbled slice of one of the sweeter gluten-free breads with the honey and essences, and adding a dash or two of cinnamon and a dab of ghee, then spreading this streusel over the top of a prepared bowl of cherries ready for the oven. Bake, and the streusel melts into the cherry mixture, making a pudding-like texture.

Broil if you prefer a more traditional cobbler look, watching carefully for burning, for just a few minutes. The streusel will harden into a thick crumb coating like you've seen on the cobblers and brown betty's gracing mom and grandma's Sunday dinner table.

Enjoy!

Love & Blessings,
Maryam