My mother and aunt passed this recipe on to me from their Polish mother. She immigrated to America and made this from cherries picked from their farm's cherry tree. My grandmother never wrote anything down and never taught much Polish to her children ("learn English - you're in America!")

So they pronounced it "vishnik". From what I've researched, I think this is actually Wisniak, sweeter than Wisniowka. (I've never tried the commercial version to compare.)
Here's my recipe:
Approximately 1/2 lb (230g) fresh sweet cherries (Bing cherries were the only ones I had available.)
1 cup (230g) granulated sugar
Approximately 2 cups (500ml) good vodka
Cut a ring around the cherries down to the stone, so the vodka can permeate the fruit.
Place cherries in a 1 quart (1 liter) jar.
Pour sugar over cherries. (Do not stir or shake).
Slowly pour the vodka over the cherries until the jar is full (leave slight gap at top). (Make sure cherries are covered, but do not stir or shake.)
Tightly close the jar and place in a pantry or closet for 3 months. (Room temperature - don't refrigerate.)
After 3 months, strain the liqueur - ready to drink!
Notes: My aunt said her mother always removed the stones from the cherry to prevent "wood poisoning". I've found other liqueur recipes that did not call for removing the stones, so I didn't. (Never suffered any ill effects). (I remember as a kid, we'd sneak a cherry or two after the liqueur was strained.)
They would make this when the cherries were ready to pick, and it would be ready in time for Thanksgiving (November). You can make it year-round these days with the availability of cherries - just let it sit for 3 months.
Now, can anyone provide the correct spelling for "pita" or "pieta"? I'm not sure if it's Polish or Serbian (my grandfather immigrated from Serbia). Thin pastry, filled with dry curd cheese mixture (eggs and a little sugar mixed in), sometimes cabbage, sometimes fruit, rolled and baked. My aunt recently taught me to make it to carry on the tradition, as she is in her 80's.