We can't wait for summertime fruit! Here in Washington, cherries are at the heart of our local farmers' markets all through July. At Chefshop, we work with multiple generations of the Stennes Family farms in Eastern Washington to bring you the most delicious cherries anywhere - sweet, crisp, juicy, dark-red...everything a cherry should be.

These are just-in-time, picked-at-their-peak cherries. It is never too early to place your order to hold your place in line for cherries.

Every year we wait impatiently for the cherries to arrive at the warehouse. With great anticipation, we open the box for a first peek at all those impeccable red beauties, each with its stem intact.

We can hardly wait to taste, and then we launch right into the nuances of this year's crop. Is it better than last year's? What about the ones we had three years ago?

We talk about the way the cherry crunches, how much juice spurts out when our teeth break through the skin, and how unbelievably sweet and fresh they are.

Early Robins come first. They are larger and seem sweeter than Rainiers, and they extend the cherry season by coming in even earlier than the coveted Rainiers.

The cool nighttime temperatures of northern Chelan help to create a firmer fleshed cherry than their brethren to the south. That is just one factor to why our cherries are so good and worth waiting for.

The goal is to have the cherry harvest and delivery to be spread out over weeks, from end of June to end of July. The last few years nothing about timing has been the same. We won't know until the cherries are harvested. And then we start packing!

This year is going to bring surprises for the crop and harvest timing. As you may have heard, the weather is extremely different with temperatures higher in many places in the world than ever before. And the drought continues...except for here, where we have cooler than normal temperatures and more rain than ever so far in June.

What this means is that crops here and all over the world will have changes in timing of harvest, size of crop, and even failure. Even though this is going to be tough at the store, it is going to be even tougher for the farmer.

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Make this with perfect or simply good cherries, it doesn’t matter. Clafouti is one of the easiest, greatest, simplest, most delicious, and healthiest (sort of) desserts you can make blindfolded. And this is the time of year for cherries and cherry clafouti.

See the Easy Clafouti Recipe here!

The Rainier Cherry is the sweetest of all the sweet cherries. With its characteristic cream-colored flesh, Rainier Cherry farmers will not pick them until the sugar brix (a measure of how sweet the cherry is) reaches at least 17. That is one of the reasons they are so memorable -- and addictive.

The Rainier is a cross between a Bing and a Van -- two sweet-red varieties. Created by Harold Fogle in 1952, who, at the time, directed the cherry breeding program at Washington State University. And boy, are we happy that Harold did what he did. We love this cherry best!

OMG....those Rainiers are absolutely outrageous!!
"What a surprise and a treat to have those arrive yesterday. I am trying to hold off eating them all so that I can share some with my daughter and son-in-law tomorrow, but it that point it will be nip-and-tuck as to whether they will still be around."
-- Love These Cherries

Shop now for Sweet Rainier Cherries!

A brilliant red, Sweethearts are a fairly new sweet cherry developed in British Columbia. A large, bright red fruit that typically matures five to seven days after Lapins, the Sweethearts have great flavor with a nice hint of tart on the finish to balance the sweetness.

Their unique taste is a spectacular finale for the summer cherry season. The ever-so-slight tartness makes them the best of the bunch for baking, as they lend that slight "sour" cherry flavor to pies, breads and my favorite recipe: cherry clafouti

The last four harvests have produced the most spectacular Sweethearts and they are a wonderful eating cherry! We love this cherry best!

Order your Sweet Sweetheart Cherries!

You can order all five cherry varieties - for a total of 23 pounds of cherries. We love all the cherries – and you will, too!

Can't choose? Choose them all! We love all the cherries!

ChefShop cherries define my summer!!
"I have ordered and enjoyed cherries from ChefShop for ten years. Early Robins, Rainiers, Bing, Sweethearts and Lapins each have their moment in the all too brief season and each are sublime. The cherries are firm and perfect every time. ChefShop defines my summer. Life really is just a bowl of cherries. And BTW the customer service is super."
-- phyllis

Shop now for all 5 Cherries here!

A new twist on a ChefShop.com classic, the bitters add an element to take the brownies from great to unbelievable.

See the Chocolate Brownies with Chocolate Bitters Recipe here!

Traditional farfalle (bowtie) pasta - drawn through bronze, so that the surface is rough, and ready to take whatever sauce you throw at it. Just like when you were a kid - but way way better. Made only with locally grown wheat that is certified Italian Grown Durum wheat.

Shop now for Sgambaro Farfalle Bowtie Pasta!

Though it finishes with saltiness, this salt starts with egg. That’s right, egg, or more correctly, the sulfur (iron sulfide) compound that transforms the salt.

And if you don’t know that's what's coming, your taste buds instantly will, and they send emergency alerts racing out the back of your mouth on an impulse nerve to your gustatory cortex to panic you that what you are tasting is spoiled...

...but then something else happens and you reach for another crystal to taste, just to confirm what your gustatory cortex is telling you. This time though, because you expect an eggy taste, you also taste an explosion of vapor, if that makes any sense at all. And the salt comes alive, as a partnership of elements which surprises and pleases, yes pleases, your palate!

Kala Namak is also known as Indian black salt, Kala Loon, Himalayan black salt, and Sulemani Namak. The color of the salt ranges from brownish-pink to dark purple after it has been ground.

Kala namak starts as a halite, commonly known as rock salt, and is mined from the Himalayan salt range. The halite is put through a reduction-oxidation reaction; this is any chemical reaction in which the oxidation number of a molecule, atom, or ion changes by gaining or losing an electron.

Our Himalayan Black Rock Salt is mined in the Indian subcontinent and is in its purest form, without treatment or any refinement process. Packed with 84 essential minerals, it is black after the reduction–oxidation reaction and turns the red-purple color when it is ground into a finer salt.

Long considered a cooling element in Ayurveda medicine, it is used as a digestive aid and for heartburn. Lower in sodium than many other salts, it is a good option for those who need to watch their intake of sodium.

Used in chutneys, Chaats, salads, and fruits - in almost any dish. The salt can be used with tofu to mimic eggs for your vegan friends or mixed in (or sprinkled on top) of an avocado (which is delish!). Kala Namak (despite its egginess) is quite versatile. Use it almost everywhere you salt today (including your bath water!).

This is one palate pleasing pleasantly performing salt!

Shop now for Himalayan Black Salt - Kala Namak - Coarse