Here's a fabulous gift idea for someone who enjoys berry picking and making preserves..The Great Lakes Berry Book (by Bob Krumm) is a complete guide to finding and enjoying wild berries found in the Great Lakes region.
This book is a must for berry-pickers! It includes identifying photos to assist in finding a particular berry.
[NOTE: There's also a very useful section on what berries NOT to pick!]
My favorite berry in the book is, of course, the Thimbleberry, which is native to Madeline Island, the Michigan Upper Peninsula and a few areas in extreme northeastern Minnesota and bordering Ontario. If you haven't tried thimbleberries, you should! The fruit is slightly paler than a raspberry, with soft cells that are plump and large. The fruit is a bit more tart than raspberries, but they make great preserves.
Krumm includes 115 berry recipes, including Thimbleberry jam, Currant jelly (and Currant pie), Raspberry Kuchen, Wild Strawberry ice cream pie and Blackberries in Framboise. And there's a helpful calendar in the back of the book, to remind you when your favorite berries will be in season.
The berry picking in the Apostle Islands area is excellent. You'll enjoy this book for years and years!
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