My friend Anne is nuts for cherries. She has monogrammed cherry stationery! But mostly, Anne is so committed to cherry pie, cherry juice, cherry jam and every cherry recipe you can imagine that she and her husband drive from St. Louis to northern Wisconsin -- that's ten hours each way -- to pick up 360 pounds -- yes, that's pounds -- of cherries, pitted cherries. That, my friends, is one big bowl of cherries.

Anne's fascination -- obsession? -- with cherries opens my eyes to their many possibilities. Cherries are in season in the northern hemisphere. But the good news for cherry lovers is that fresh cherries are wonderful, but so are their frozen, dried and even jarred versions. So cherries are a good choice for year-round treats, both sweet and savory.

Be sure to watch if you're getting sweet cherries -- in the U.S., supermarkets mostly carry a variety called 'Bing' -- but sour cherries are something quite special, definitely my (and the cherry-obsessed Anne's) favorite. Sour cherries can often be substituted for sweet cherries but if a recipe calls for sour cherries, it's a good bet that the sourness is an important feature. But this year, let's get obsessed with cherries, sweet, sour, savory. Tis the season.

Sweet Cherries

Simply Recipes ~ Cherry Ice Cream with Chocolate Chips (pictured above)
Smitten Kitchen ~ Sweet Cherry Pie
Fridge Full of Food ~ Blackberry Cherry Cobbler
Food Blogga ~ Fresh Cherry & Peach Upside Down Cake
La Tartine Gourmande ~ Chocolate Cherry Clafouti
A Sweet Fantasy ~ Chocolate Chunk & Dried Cherry Cookies
EggBeater ~ Cherry Stone Ice Cream, don't let the pits go to waste!

Sour Cherries

Our Kitchen Sink ~ Dried Cherry Buttermilk Scones (pictured above)
No Recipes ~ Cherry Vanilla Clafoutis
Seasonal Ontario Food ~ Sour Cherry & Apricot Sorbet
Coffee & Vanilla ~ Almond Panna Cotta with Cherries in Orange Syrup
Cafe Fernanco ~ French Toast with Sour Cherries

Savory Dishes with Cherries

Fatfree Vegan ~ Cherry Pie Oatmeal (pictured above)
Steamy Kitchen ~ Persian Sour Cherry Saffron Rice (that gorgeous bowl of cherries, above? it's Jaden's photograph)
Mac & Cheese Review ~ Sweet & Sour Coleslaw
Culinary in the Country ~ Grilled Tilapia with Cherry Salsa
Closet Cooking ~ Lamb Chops in Cherry and Port Sauce

BlogHer food editor Alanna Kellogg loves a fruity sauce made with peaches, cherries and blueberries that she calls Peacherry Blues.