The gooseberry pie lesson

This is a picture of the gooseberry pie I enjoyed this week at my mom's house. Here is the recipe:

• Locate thick woods with wild gooseberry bushes.
• Spend at least an entire hour picking each pea-sized gooseberry individually from the thorny bushes - one pint quart* is required per pie. Humidity and voracious mosquitos are a given.
• Spend at least another hour stemming each gooseberry.
• Prepare the filling, make the crust, and bake.
• Watch the whole pie being eaten in less than 10 minutes.

I had always taken the these pies my mom made for granted until I went gooseberry picking myself once. Unlike the hybrid gooseberries that are the size of a shooter marble, the wild ones are very, very small and it takes a lot of them to make a single pie.

I guess the lesson here is to never underestimate the effort others may go through on your behalf - or a mother's love for her family!

* Common knowledge according to my brother... Sorry.

Comments

[Paul C]

The pie looks like it's worth all the TLC. Reminds me of our annual elderberry pie treat which we enjoy every early August. The dark purple berries are the size of small peas and take as long to pick. We make sure to leave some for the red-winged blackbirds.

[Tim Lauer]

Wonderful story and it looks like a wonderful pie...

[Doug Johnson]

Hi Paul and Tim,

Hoping all families have a traditional food that bind them (but not in a digestive sense).

Thanks for the comments,

Doug