"spamtrap1888" > wrote in message
...
I added two more relevant groups and edited the subject for clarity.

On Jun 18, 11:56 am, spamtrap1888 > wrote:
> Having picked a quart and a half of sour cherries, I was panicking
> when I could not find my little made-in-Hong-Kong cherry pitter, the
> kind that slips over two fingers and is operated with the thumb.
>
> I thought, well this must be easy to find, only to discover that no
> grocery or hardware or kitchen supply store (e.g. Surly Table) within
> miles carries this any more.
>
> And this is the canonical cherry pitter according to wikipedia:
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherry_pitter
>
> All I can find are great hulking things made out of pot metal,
> suitable for pitting olives, egg carton things that can pit four at a
> time, etc. None are suitable for relatively tiny sour cherries.
>
> What to do?

Years ago my wife and I went to a pick-your-own farm and when we were done,
I asked the person who was weighing our pick how to pit the cherries. She
took a large wire paper clip, unfolded it, tucked it into her hand, and used
the smaller end to scoop out the pit. It took us less time to pit the
cherries than it did to pick them.