North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Stephen Sadler" <Docshiva@Docshiva.org>]

Pick them off.  Anybody out there know a quick method?  It's one of those
time-consuming food chores people don't have the time or inclination to do
anymore, like shucking peas.  Now you don't find shelling peas at all at
most groceries; even high-end restaurants use frozen.  Such tasks as
pea-shelling and gooseberry-stemming I think of as ones best done with the
aid of a porch, grandmother, and younger siblings.  You sit, talk, watch the
day, and stem the gooseberries (peel the potatoes, slip the skins off the
favas).  In the absence of grandmothers, or willing children, I'm afraid
when I do these tasks alone I listen to the radio or watch tv to help pass
the time.  When I had a restaurant, I handed such tasks off, but not always
- that's another place where painstaking prep is part of the culture.

~ STephen

-----Original Message-----
From: nafex-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:nafex-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Jim Fruth
Sent: Wednesday, May 30, 2007 5:12 AM
To: NAFEX
Subject: [NAFEX] Gooseberry question

    When picked, my gooseberries retain a slight bit of their stem and their

dried blossom.  When you make gooseberry jam, do you leave the stem and 
blossom or do you painstakingly pick off each dried blossom and stem end 
from each berry?

Jim Fruth
Brambleberry Farm
Pequot Lakes, MN  56472
For jams, jellies & syrups:
www.bberryfarm.com
(218)568-8483 [Store]
(218)831-7018 [My Cell]