"Rick & Cyndi" > wrote in
news:qOOWc.146$yP4.79@trnddc08:

>
> "Wayne" & limey,
>
> <snip>
>
>>>
>>> Well, I hate to give away my distinguished years, but I was eating
>>> bread pudding as a small child long before the war. I think it was
>>> just an economical way to use up stale bread. Although the stuff
>>> fills me with nostalgia, I can't say it was my favourite - I'd
>>> rather have a good gooseberry pie, myself. <G>
>>>
>>> Dora
>>
>> You just had to bring that up, didn't you, Dora?!? I absolutely
>> *love* gooseberry pie, and I haven't been able to find fresh
>> gooseberries in years. The canned gooseberries are not much short of
>> disgusting.
>>
>> Off in a huff, now, to make a bread and butter pudding.
>>
>> --
>> Wayne in Phoenix
> ===========
>
> Ohhhhhhhh... wish'd I'd known that when I was still in Illinois.
> Maybe I could have shipped you some overnight (my guess is they might
> not travel well beyond that, due to heat, etc.).
>
> Here's a place near where I used to live (in the 80s) where they used
> to get them fresh (I think both the green and the pink varieties):
>
> Eckert's Country Store & Farms
> 951 S. Greenmount Rd.
> Belleville, IL 62220
> Phone: (618) 233-0513
> Fax: (618) 235-8769
> Toll-Free: (800) 745-0513
> www.eckerts.com
>
> For a taste of real country, come to Eckert Farms in Belleville,
> Millstadt and Grafton. Ride the wagons to pick your own fruit in
> season. Country Store includes bakery, restaurant, gift area, butcher
> shop, custard shop, kids corral and petting farm. Plus seasonal
> festivals, company picnics and venue rental.
>
>
> Maybe they can get you some!
>
> Cyndi

Oh, Cyndi, thank you! I am going to call them about the gooseberries!
If I could get them (at almost any price), I would be in gooseberry pie
heaven.

Interesting that you should post the comments about Eckert Farms. My
parents and I lived in St. Louis from 1947-1956. My dad used to drive to
Belleville and Millstadt and come home with bushels of peaches and huge
baskets of strawberries from Eckert Farms for freezing and canning, but I
don't know which farm he actually went to.

There was a walk-in freezer in our basement that was stocked with
everything imaginable, mostly home-prepared. He made periodic trips to
Millstadt Creamery (does that still exist?) and brought home 5-gallon
drums of several flavors of ice cream. It seemed like the best ice cream
I had ever eaten, especially their chocolate chip which had huge flakes
of chocolate in it.

Thanks for the memories as well as a possible gooseberry source!

--
Wayne in Phoenix

unmunge as w-e-b

*If there's a nit to pick, some nitwit will pick it.
*A mind is a terrible thing to lose.