Cheesecloth; berries and grapes; door-to-door.

When I was growing up, my mother would make a special Easter cheese called 'cirek' (tseer-ek and roll your 'r'), of milk and eggs by simmering milk and stirring into it beaten eggs. When it was cooked, she would pour it into a large piece of cheesecloth laid over a large bowl, and she would then tie up the cheesecloth tightly around the thickened liquid, and would hang it up over the bowl to drain. It would drain and solidify for about two hours. Then it would be refrigerated until Easter dinner time. The cheese would be unwrapped and sliced, to serve.

The recipe is as follows: Bring ONE QUART OF MILK to a boil in a saucepan. Gradually stir in FIFTEEN EGGS, slightly beaten. Cook over low heat until mixture starts to thicken and form curds, about seven minutes. Add seasonings of SALT and WHITE PEPPER, and one teaspoon of SUGAR, stirring constantly to avoid scorching. Pour the mixture into a large piece of cheesecloth laid over a large bowl. Gather up the cheesecloth to tie it tightly with a string, to enclose the thickened liquid. Hang it up to drain over the bowl for about two hours or until the cheese is set. Refrigerate until serving time.
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Another use for cheesecloth is to drain the juices out of cooked berries and grapes. There were many wild grapes that grew on the little farm we had, and so many wild blackberries and raspberries. We made preserves, jams, and jellies with the berries and/or the grapes. Canning the berries and grapes also consumed much of our time in the summer and autumn. I can still see the cheesecloth used for this purpose in stained condition, in my mind's eye. Those jars of canned berries, grapes, and other fruits were truly such a pleasure in the winter time.

I was in my pre-adolescent years when I helped Mom to sell blackberries door-to-door in one of the local larger towns. I never liked being a sales person, but Mom reveled in selling the berries. Times were poor then, and it was a necessity.

We would pick blackberries and get many in no time at all, because there were many bushes in the wooded land that would be absolutely loaded with berries. I didn't like to encounter any spiders or their webs, and I was so afraid of snakes. There was one massive bush of blackberries that were almost an inch and a half in length, plump, deep deep black, shiny, and so very delicious. I do believe that it was a certain variety of blackberry. Now, those blackberries would be the ones to pick if you were in a hurry to fill your quart basket!

We usually used buckets to put the berries in, but now and then we would use a quart basket. There were also black raspberries that we had there, called black caps. My, oh, my, were they ever good! There is nothing quite like a black cap. There were some red raspberries that we had planted in the field next to our dirt driveway leading up to the barn.

There were also gooseberries up on the side hill in the open pasture, that were quite delicious. I would really like to see a few gooseberries bushes now; I wonder where I could find them. Mom and Dad also planted a couple of currant bushes, too.

I'll see you at the Corner Post...