Sorry MQ cant help you. We do have a plum tree here but our birds are well behaved and only take their alloted 10 percent!
May I add a heartfelt thankyou for hosting the majority at your place.
I can only suggest you try it as if the birds will get them anyway you dont have too much to lose.

The ones we could reach came off the tree last night. We now have about 6 buckets of cherry plums and no idea what to do next since this is the first year we've managed to get more than 5% of the fruit.

Cherry plum pie, I guess.

Cherry plum cobbler.

Stewed cherry plums.

None of which I have any idea on how to make because there are no cherry plum recipes in my cookbooks or on the internet, it seems...*sigh*

Update: Cherry plum recipe

1. Get a 75% full 4L ice cream container full of cherry plums.

2. Rinse them in the sink.

3. Drip water on the floor as you throw them into a big old pot.

4. Put some water in the pot. Take care not to put too much in or it's sloppy. Too late. You've put too much in, didn't you? And you did not realise it at the time. Silly billy.

5. Put it on the stove to simmer and wander into the next room.

6. Come racing back in when you hear it boiling over and making a mess. Grr at the cherry plums.

7. Let them simmer a bit more.

8. Amuse yourself by dragging out the skins which are bobbing on the surface.

9. Amuse yourself more by getting a steam burn despite using the long BBQ tongs.

10. Try to decide if it's soft enough by spooning out a sample and blowing on it until it seems cool.

11. Blow eardrums and burn mouth on deceptively boiling hot plum which only cooled on the outside.

12. Dance like you want rain to fall from the sky immediately.

13. Wash out mouth with cold water. Take census of tastebuds to see how many were not seared off.

14. Decide that the mixture is soft but tart.

15. Put in half a cup of sugar.

16. Put in another half cup of sugar.

17. Nibble on sugar whilst you're waiting to see if the mix is sweet enough.

18. Try again, giving plenty of time to cool.

19. Screw up face, put in another cup of sugar.

20. End up with a sloppy mess that tastes good but still has too many skins in it.

That sounds about what we do here with the plums.
Further instruction.
Read to end of message.
Turn off computer
Drive/walk/skateboard/etc to supermarket(depending on distance/inclination.)
Purchase large tub of VANILLA icecream
Combine many scoops of aforesaid icecream with ladels of CPs
Start scoffing with many appreciative noises.
ps stay within "sprinting" distance of the facilities tomorrow>

LOL ROFLMAO That was very funny. The mental picture I was getting was making it hard to stop laughing long enough to finish reading.

Cheers, Jules

Ah, brings back memories. In the 1950s we had a gently sloping roofed garage with a big old cherry plum tree growing over it, and at this time of the year we used to climb up onto the roof with buckets and fill them with CPs - there were always enough for both us AND the birds. Mum used to stew them and bottle half of them - the remainder we ate night after night for dessert with vanilla ice cream until they were finished!!! We lived in Brighton, and had a blood plum tree as well, but the CP was the mega producer.
Tony

All sounds good to me too, As I pick myself up off the floor. I remember many many years ago climbing my mother-in laws tree in Ivanhoe and trying to outwhit those pesky birds and if that wasn't bad enough she also had a blood plum and a purple skin yellow inside that one tasted floury or was it stringy I forget now and a Apricot tree.

We used to make pots of jam out of some of the plums and nice it was too, it was probably my first lesson I never tried it again as I burnt myself anyway I am a gardener not a cook, first hubby had to do the climbing the next year as I was a bit fat that Summer, I never got up there again having kids makes a difference, but those plum trees sure bring back lots of memories, we never had enough money for ice-cream in those days and the fridges only had tiny little ice boxes, two tray size only, no freezers then, but there was always plenty of custard to go on top, and any juice left over we made into iceblocks eaten in a cup O yes wonderful memories. You all enjoy your Cherry Plums now...Cheers..MM.

What nostalgia! My memories of 1960's in my great grandmothers garden in Alphington and an ENORMOUS cherry plum tree which we beat the fruit out of and collected in tins tied to long sticks. They were either bottled in the vacola or made into jam or jelly(good if you dont like the skins)or sauce. Any recipe for Plums will do. They also make great fruit leathers if you have a dryer. There was also a Kentish Cherry in the garden which was my favourite - a smallish bright red slightly tart fruit - Does anyone know of or have one of these - I would love to get seed. Robyn