Jeanne-ology: Gooseberries for Geese

It’s Thursday and Jeanne surprised me with a blog post for the second week in a row. Not much surprises me these days, but this arrival in my inbox certainly did. Enjoy! Rebecca

Hello Thursday Readers!  I am trying to be more consistent with posting every week.  Thanks for your patience with me. (Rebecca editing to add: Her name is literally stapled to our front doors. Patience is one of the perks, I think.)

I want to talk about gooseberries!  I learned today that is our pie of the month and I was surprised because Rebecca and I hate gooseberries!  I will go on to say that I cannot tolerate the smell of a freshly baked gooseberry.  We make gooseberry pies every day and I am always surprised how many of our customers seek them out.  I have never tasted a gooseberry and doubt that I ever will.  (Rebecca editing to add: By full disclosure, I’ve never eaten a gooseberry either. Neither of us eat hot fruit, which is sort of ironic given our profession. That said, Jeanne eats no fruit of any kind, hot or cold. I’m still not sure how she doesn’t have scurvy.)

Since gooseberry is our pie of the month choice, I was wondering how did gooseberry get its name?  I assumed that geese like to eat them, so I did some research. (Rebecca editing to add: Actually, the geese thing never crossed my mind.)

Gooseberry gets it name from being served at the dinner table where the main entree is a baked goose.  They grow on flowering bushes.  They have nasty thorns which makes picking a painful undertaking, like picking berries off a barbed wire fence.  Ouch!  The gooseberry picker will suffer with bloody scratches even if long sleeves and gloves are used.  No wonder a goose would not try to pick a gooseberry from the bush! (Rebecca editing to add: I’m out at the baked goose part.)

Gooseberries are found mostly in the northern hemisphere and are grown almost as far north as the Arctic Circle.  This tart fruit is eaten ripe and is often made into jellies, preserves and pies.  At the pie shop, we tell customers that are curious about the gooseberry pie that basically it is a love/hate relationship.  There is no in between feelings of like or dislike. (Rebecca editing to add: They are also the alarmingly green in color. And they do grow all over Missouri, but in the off season, our gooseberries come from Poland.)

Gooseberries are more than a quirky fruit, they are full of health benefits.  They have high fiber and low calorie to help control blood sugar levels.  Along with organic acids that can reduce the risk of Alzheimer's and stroke!  I may need to force feed myself on gooseberries with those kind of health benefits.  My family has hinted that I may be getting Alzheimer's disease when I can’t remember something.  I just ignore them and wonder if they will be a little forgetful  when they are turning close to seventy.  (Rebecca editing to add: Someone on the National Gooseberry Council needs to contact Jeanne asap. I bet they need a spokesperson.)

So pucker up!  Gooseberry will be the star for the month March!