Titled this and then thought I better go out and try one just to be sure my memory was correct. Yep. those currants are pretty nasty tasting things. Well, that is assuming that it is actually a currant bush and not some deadly poison bush that the wicked witch of the west put out there to trick me with.
When I was a kid growing up on Strong Street, the fence row on the way to the chicken house was lined with currant bushes. As I recall, they went from dead green to a kind of opague looking sort of amber berry. Just in case I am wrong, I am not going to eat any more of those currants and if I do not wake up dead in the morning I will be very happy.
But if you think the currants are nasty, you ought to try a Gooseberry. Now the mother in law was very proud of her gooseberry patch when she was alive. I think it has pretty well dried up and gone to weeds now, because not everyone was as fascinated with those gooseberries as she was. Oh, when Bret and Shellie were little tykes she let them pick gooseberries for her. Being kids they had to sample their wares. First one was kind of funny look, second one was a look of revulsion and the third one never happened. Why God puts some of this stuff on earth for us to eat is almost more than I can understand.
Blueberries, Strawberries, Raspberries, Blackberries and stuff like that are good. Eat one and you know immediately, but then try the gooseberry or the currant and just wonder why you did that. Now I could understand if I was stranded 800 miles from a food source that eating that nasty stuff for survival might be necessary, but I do not plan on being that far from good stuff.
And then there is the Kale to consider. Now if it is young, tender, organic Kale, I can eat it. Course I rate it right up there with Lamb's Quarters. When we were tender little kids mother used to round us up in the springtime of the year and walk the fields in search of Lamb's Quarters. We had to pick only the young tender ones and not the big ones. Of course when one is picking little plants about 3 inches tall, it takes a long time to pick a "mess". That is what is enough to make a meal. Instead of saying "meal" mother called it a "mess." We would take the stuff home, wash it good, and cook it with a little bacon grease. Today I eat Spinach, but if I could find a bunch of Lamb's Quarters I would eat that.
And on the subject of bacon grease, it seems that the bacon grease we always ended up with was from some old boar hog and it was strong enough to stand on it's own. If we weren't eating weeds and strong bacon grease, that mother of mine was seining for carp. Now I do have to say this for the carp, that is a trash fish and I am damn glad I do not have to eat that now. The only way that stuff was palatable was if she canned it and then in the dead of winter when there was absolutely nothing to eat, she would make patties and fry them in the rancid bacon grease.
Do not think for one minute that I do not appreciate all my mother did for me, because I sure do. It is just that I have honed my culinary skills and now budget my money so I can buy the finer cuts of meat and the tender vegetables. I drink homogenized milk because raw milk has tiny pieces of cream that used to get on my lips and I am a spoiled.
I think I will just stay out of the back yard and away from the currant bush and let the birds feast on the fruit. I may go make me a Bacon Lettuce and Tomato sandwich with the thin sliced maple flavored bacon, store bought tomatoes, and fresh crisp lettuce. Oh, and mayonnaise.
Be careful what you wish for: you just might get it.
When I was a kid growing up on Strong Street, the fence row on the way to the chicken house was lined with currant bushes. As I recall, they went from dead green to a kind of opague looking sort of amber berry. Just in case I am wrong, I am not going to eat any more of those currants and if I do not wake up dead in the morning I will be very happy.
But if you think the currants are nasty, you ought to try a Gooseberry. Now the mother in law was very proud of her gooseberry patch when she was alive. I think it has pretty well dried up and gone to weeds now, because not everyone was as fascinated with those gooseberries as she was. Oh, when Bret and Shellie were little tykes she let them pick gooseberries for her. Being kids they had to sample their wares. First one was kind of funny look, second one was a look of revulsion and the third one never happened. Why God puts some of this stuff on earth for us to eat is almost more than I can understand.
Blueberries, Strawberries, Raspberries, Blackberries and stuff like that are good. Eat one and you know immediately, but then try the gooseberry or the currant and just wonder why you did that. Now I could understand if I was stranded 800 miles from a food source that eating that nasty stuff for survival might be necessary, but I do not plan on being that far from good stuff.
And then there is the Kale to consider. Now if it is young, tender, organic Kale, I can eat it. Course I rate it right up there with Lamb's Quarters. When we were tender little kids mother used to round us up in the springtime of the year and walk the fields in search of Lamb's Quarters. We had to pick only the young tender ones and not the big ones. Of course when one is picking little plants about 3 inches tall, it takes a long time to pick a "mess". That is what is enough to make a meal. Instead of saying "meal" mother called it a "mess." We would take the stuff home, wash it good, and cook it with a little bacon grease. Today I eat Spinach, but if I could find a bunch of Lamb's Quarters I would eat that.
And on the subject of bacon grease, it seems that the bacon grease we always ended up with was from some old boar hog and it was strong enough to stand on it's own. If we weren't eating weeds and strong bacon grease, that mother of mine was seining for carp. Now I do have to say this for the carp, that is a trash fish and I am damn glad I do not have to eat that now. The only way that stuff was palatable was if she canned it and then in the dead of winter when there was absolutely nothing to eat, she would make patties and fry them in the rancid bacon grease.
Do not think for one minute that I do not appreciate all my mother did for me, because I sure do. It is just that I have honed my culinary skills and now budget my money so I can buy the finer cuts of meat and the tender vegetables. I drink homogenized milk because raw milk has tiny pieces of cream that used to get on my lips and I am a spoiled.
I think I will just stay out of the back yard and away from the currant bush and let the birds feast on the fruit. I may go make me a Bacon Lettuce and Tomato sandwich with the thin sliced maple flavored bacon, store bought tomatoes, and fresh crisp lettuce. Oh, and mayonnaise.
Be careful what you wish for: you just might get it.
