This post by suttonhoo (who's pretty much the master of infectious nostalgia) will probably have me ordering gooseberry jam from halfway across the country, and don't get me started on how insane that is. But I know already that it won't be entirely satisfying, because this gooseberry jam is is green, and the jam in my memory is red.
When I was a kid, we had numerous gooseberry bushes in the backyard, and my sister and I spent half the summer picking gooseberries, bearding them, and convincing mom to make gooseberry pie (at dad's behest, usually). Then at the end of the summer, we'd turn the last ripening gooseberries into gooseberry jam, which we'd eat all year long. But since the last gooseberries are sweeter and red, the jam would have those same characteristics, and of course that's what I remember.
I'm really looking forward to the spring -- moreso I think than any other year in my life, probably owing to the fact that we have a toddler now. She and I will put up some berry bushes in the yard, and maybe at the end of the summer we'll make jam.
ah shucks -- that's the nicest thing anyone's said about me in the longest time. ;) thanks, Paul.
that red gooseberry jam sounds divine. my crate of several varieties of Deer Mountain/ Tea-n-Crumpets jam arrived while I was away and the gooseberry was the first I cracked open when I got home. so good. but definitely tart. let me know what you think when you get yours.
and can't *wait* until you start cooking with your little one -- that's gonna make for some great posting.
we've actually done a tiny bit of cooking with her already, but she mostly just sits and watches. she has kitchen toys though and she sure knows how to use them!
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