Instructions

1. Sit down with a Boulevardier or Maple Bacon Bourbon Manhattan and pit the cherries. The OXO cherry pitter feels good in your hand and works very well.
2. Place the water and sugar in a medium sized saucepan. Bring to a light boil, stirring constantly, until sugar dissolves.
3. Add the lemon juice and vanilla extract. Remove from the heat.
4. As you dissolve the sugar, you can bring a water bath canner full of water to the boil. If you have don't have one, just use a very deep wide stock pot with one of those old fashioned metal steamers laid out in the bottom. This will keep the jars off the bottom of the pot so they don't break. Fill the pot with water and bring to a rolling boil.
5. Using very clean hands, place the pit-free cherries in the jars, leaving ¾” of head space at the top of the jars.. Pour the simple syrup over the cherries (still leaving that 3/4 inch of space at the top and spoon 1 to 2 Oz of bourbon over the entire mixture, depending how boozy you like your fruit. This should leave you with 1/2" of head space.
6. Wipe the rim of the jars with a clean, dry towel and secure rims and lids. Air needs to escape from the jars when you boil the jars so tighten the lids just enough so there’s no give when you try to tighten further but not so hard that you have to fight to get them open.
7. Place in the boiling water to ensure seal and sanitization for 15 minutes.
8. Carefully remove from the water with a jar lifter (or a pair of tongs with rubber bands wrapped around the ends to prevent slippage) and set on a clean towel. Allow to set for up to 12 hours. You may hear a "ping" noise coming from the jars - this is an excellent sign.
9. Once completely cool, unscrew the rings and check to make sure the lids have in fact sealed and refrigerate any that don't. While you should use unsealed cherries within a couple weeks, the sealed ones will last you up to a year. Store sealed jars in a cool, dark place.
10. Eat. Drink. Or both.