We have a beautiful Montmorency sour cherry tree that produced loads of fruit this year. I started picking cherries two weeks and made cherries jubilee. But the cherries were not quite ripe, so I waited for them to get better. Two days ago, I picked enough for a cherry pie. Yesterday I went out to finish picking the tree and there was not a single cherry left on the tree; the birds beat me to the ripe cherries! I waited a day too long and lost out on the cherries to the birds!

Chalk up another point to animals outwitting humans. My dog has a fetish for French pate, and no matter how careful I am at parties, the dog always figures out how to slurp up the pate when no one is looking. My cat has announced her retirement from mousing and now just lounges in front of the cat TV window (the view of the birds descending on the cherry tree).

Luckily, the chickens have not tried to one-up the humans — yet. Yesterday, our 20 chickens produced 20 fresh eggs. Today, I’m making deviled eggs and only one cherry pie. Happy Fourth of July!

Caramelized Onion Deviled Eggs

• 1 large onion, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• salt and pepper to taste
• 20 eggs, hard boiled
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/2 cup olive oil

Heat the oil and saute the onion until caramelized, about 45 minutes. Add the balsamic and let the liquid boil away. Season very well with salt and pepper. Cut the hard-boiled eggs in half and separate the yolk. Place the raw yolk and lemon juice in a food processor. Turn on the processor and slowly add the oil to make mayonnaise. Add the onions and hard-cooked yolk and process until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Fill a pastry bag (fitted with a star tip) with the yolk mixture. Fill the egg white shells.