Thanks Y'all! Your replies have me grinning. Maybe I'm just gettin' old...don't remember the darn things getting between my teeth before.
Suzi

I remove the strings because I thought you all did!

I've never removed the strings from celery, maybe that's why I've never really liked it! I'll have to give it a shot and see if it helps... :)

i don't always remove all of the strings. but if i cut the celery and there's that straggly piece, i pull that part down. otherwise, it stays as is. but then again, i don't peel asparagus either, i just cut a small piece off the end.

maryanne

Suzi:
If you break the Celery in half, pull one half sideways, the strings will pull out.
Now, Grab the stings that are hanging on the other half and pull them out.
Seems like someone should have known that.
LOU

Like maryanne, I never peel asparagus and I eat celery with the strings still in them. I've never known anyone to peel either of them.

I do like celery, though, dipped in hummus. It's a nice crunchy alternative to chips and the strings give me something extra to chew, making me think I actually got some food value out of it, LOL.

Annie

You're supposed to de-string celery? *hangs head in shame*

Then again, I've never peeled asparagus or deseeded/peeled a tomatoe either.

Hey, we're all going green -- Just think of it as vegetarian/earth friendly dentail floss. :)

Eat 'em All!!!! Roughage is good for the body, and helps with weight-loss!!!

Peel asparagus???

The only time I ever remove the strings is if the celery is particularly "stringy". Most of the time I never notice strings. And like Renee, I never peel asparagus and only occasionally do I peel or deseed tomatoes.

My mom use to peel mushrooms. Go figure. Needless to say I don't do that either.

Ann

If one or two strings seem to stand out when I'm prepping the celery, I'll pull them off. Usually on the big outer ones. But I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who doesn't pay much attention to the strings!

As for asparagus, IMO if you get those big fat ones and don't want to waste the bottom few inches, you have to peel them a bit or they have a woody texture. But I hate big fat asparagus so for me it's a moot point.

Hi Everyone :
She is " asking " a suggested method to remove the strings.
Not, a personal choice on eating Celery.
She don't like the strings !!!
Lou

I don't find it a real chore to remove strings. I just use cut celery in half, use a knife and my thumb to grab several strings, pull down.

Lou, she asked for methods and suggestions, and my favorite threads are those that go completely off in another direction, LOL.

It would be very boring here if we just answered a question and went away. I've been here for a long, long time and we always comment, discuss, compare. It's what makes it fun.

Annie

Lately I find I just love celery and often eat the end pieces while I'm chopping it for a recipe. If the strings show themselves as being particularly tough and bitter, then I might peel, but usually I don't peel. How else are you going to get your roughage?

Peel a tomato, ummmm....that would be a no. Peel asparagus...ummmm....when have you ever seen asparagus in my kitchen...that would be a NEVER! LOL!

Annie:
What is it with you. She asked for suggestions and methods for removing the strings.

I go off on tangents myself but I try to answer the Question also.
I appreciate what you are saying and it's a lot of fun.
But!!! I try not to have fun at someone else's expense.
Maybe I do at times.

Guess I'm a little touchy on this subject, I've been getting some of this,
since I joined the CF. In fact the very first Thread.
And it was never ackowledged that I was right.

So !!!!! with the score being 2 to 19 right now, I guess you are right.
And I'm wrong , for trying to give an honest opinion.

Suzi:
Sorry, I didn't mean for this to happen. I have to learn to keep my mouth shut.
At least you have 2 answers.

LOU

I think I will just not read threads with this kind of title. I'm not looking for new things that I don't do that maybe I should. We all know that all the vitamins in celery are in the strings.

Ok Lou, just for you... :)

Oh yeah, and for Suzy...

Here's my method, learned from watching my mother all my life, God bless her:

Take a paring knife that is nice and dull from years of being scraped sideways on one of those dimpled glass cutting boards despite the fact that your son has on multiple occasions bought you good knives that you just refuse to respect (but I digress!) Hold the celery in your left hand, and with your right hand grip the knife, blade towards you, and cut the celery to length by squeezing the knife into your calloused thumb. The tough strings that your dull knife did not cut off, just pull and they'll peel off!

Suzi, I'm sorry I've been of no help. Maybe you could put the celery stalks in a glass of food color and water like we did when we were kids and dye them bright red, then at least the strings would be easier to find and pull out!

Lou, you seem kind of touchy lately, and I know I am. I've been working some long hours trying to fill in and replace an employee who quit, and I've had a few health issues, so maybe I'm just being unreasonable.

The CF has been my break from reality, just reading and chatting and having fun but right now just might be an excellent time for me to take a break from it. However, it appears that I'm being overly sensitive because the thought of new "rules" to follow is bothersome, I just want to do what I've always done. Carp, does that mean that I'm getting old and stuck in my ways?

Just as well, I should be sleeping instead of checking here at 1 a.m. when I can't sleep. I think I'll go find that book of unfinished crossword puzzles and then I'll be pretty sure that I'm not pi$$ing anyone off.

Discussion regarding the strings in celery may now resume without my additional input.

Annie

Oh Annie, don't go away, I'm just like you and Ann- peel celery or asparagus? Never heard of it before! So I'm of little help in answering the question as posted. But keep on posting, most don't care if it's off topic or tangentially related! ;-)

Lou- come here, you need a hug! Let me give you a big one so that you'll feel better! >>> There now, don't you feel better? I thought so!
E

Peel mushrooms? *mind boggles*

Just thinking out loud...seems like if you break the celery (as I do sometimes when I'm being lazy) rather than cut it, the strings are more apparent...then maybe you could catch the ends in a old-fashioned veggie peeler and peel them away?

I have this urge to go examine the celery now and try it.

Okay - I "de-string" ,y celery the same way James described his mom doing it..... it taked about a second or two and really does improve the flavor and texture IMHO. I dont get peeling mushrooms though... and I just "snap" asparagus.

Alexa

I'm not sure if Lou needs a hug or his but kicked. Come on Lou be a man!!!

Hi again everyone:
I'm not answering any more on this Post.Go back and read my Threads.
I don't think I've said any thing wrong, except to answer
Suzi's Question.
And asked that you did the same ! Then go off and have fun.

If you Google " Celery Strings " this Post will come up.
Can you imagine,
what others think , when they read all the Threads.

Annie:
I realize all your problems and you have my sympathy.
If you want I'll give you a summary of all the problems I've had in the past 13 years.
Maybe it will mke you feel a little better.

As far as needing my butt kicked, I'll send you my address.
That it I quit! There 's not supposed to be any bickering, on the forum.

I found this article from an Encyclopedia.
Lou

Crunchy celery makes a low-calorie snack or meal companion.(Food)(Lean & lovin' it)
Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, IL); 6/4/2003; 688 words;

Byline: Don Mauer Celery: Some call it rabbit food, others consider it a weight- loss diet necessity.

Some folks actually hate celery, citing all those strings.

As a kid, I considered celery a great platform for peanut butter. The wider and ... Celery deceptively rich in phytonutrients.(EN on Foods)
Environmental Nutrition; 12/1/2006; Hermann, Mindy; 596 words; The Folklore. Celery has been around a while; it was first ...

Because it is mainly water and cellulose, celery provides few traditional nutrients. A ... Despite low levels of vitamins and minerals, celery is rich in phytonutrients, such as phthalides ...

Is Lou making trouble again?

Lou, just come to California and we'll all kick your butt then hug you in person - you know you want to!

Annie, we didn't kick your butt when you came out here, so you need to come back for that can of whoop-butt too.

Okay? Now chill everyone.

Celery strings don't bother me too much but I did floss my teeth by gnawing the mango off the pit the other day. That stuff was impossible to get out!

Well Lou, there were several methods of removing celery strings in the responses. She didn't ask about the nutritive value of celery either. :^)

When I was first using a board (not gardenweb) I was a bit irritated when the first few replies were funny "answers" that didn't answer my question but after a bit I realized that they helped keep my question near the top of a fast moving board long enough for someone else to see it and post a useful answer. As long as they don't drive a post over the 150 response maximum, off topic replies do help to keep a post near the top where someone who has the answer may notice the post. I've seen where a post scrolled off without getting much of an answer and then coming back up to the top did catch the eye of someone with the answer or even took off with a bunch of people finally seeing it. So I think off topic isn't a bad thing.

From Cloud_swift - who never before this post realized that anyone removed celery strings, thinks the core is the best part of the cauliflower and cabbage, also likes the core of the pineapple because it is chewy but cuts it off for others, and struggles with whether to peel the broccoli stems - I guess some of us are part beaver and need things to chew; others aren't.

fenworth, I didn't quite understand your description. You said cut the celery to length but it sounds link you mean something more like cutting along its length?

Don't spank me 'cause this is off topic--Gina, how about using a mango splitter? Works like a charm.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sorry-For Mangos Not Celery

Cathy that's a good idea - we eat mangoes a lot throughout the season. Now, where's that celery string removal gadget?

Oh come on Cathy, I'll just use celery string so it won't hurt too bad!

I've never removed the strings or peeled asparagus or mushrooms. I will say after a couple of Bloody Mary's you won't care about the strings....I think it kills the bitter taste too, yeah, I'm sure of it!

David

What would other people think of this post?

Um...maybe that we seem like a group that, for the most part, has been posting together for years and sometimes go off on a tangent -- but usually display a reasonable amount of patience and humor about it.

Then again I'm not sure I give a celery string about what other people think about how we post.

But leaves? What do you do with the leaves? I had a cook from Africa who thought they were the best part of the celery, but I've always thrown them away.

Bean, the leaves are the best part of the celery! Chop them up and put them in a salad, soup, potato salad, tuna salad, spaghetti sauce, or decorate a platter using them as a garnish. And what about a leafy rib of celery to stir a Bloody Mary?

Send yours to me before you throw them away!

I dislike the strings so much, I avoid celery. Why even tolerate something so icky? I can eat it, but what will it do for me that I can't find somewhere else? It can be a good vehicle for peanut butter, but that' not something I care for either. But if I am making a tray for a party, I just crack the end off and pull as many strings as possible.

Luigi, let them go off on tangents; it's fun for them! Suzi can ignore the stuff she doesn't like, take what she wants or even join in the "ribbing". Sorry, I just couldn't resist (((grins, where is Annie's grin?)))

Another who doesn't peel, at least not on purpose. If I happen to have a few that didn't get cut through I peel them off. I have been known to peel mushrooms but only when they have gotten a little tired looking. Asparagus is a snap!

As far as wandering threads, that's one of the things I love about this place and, with this bunch, it's not likely to change anytime soon. Also like the fact we don't get out of shape when people ask for recipes etc without searching first. Been on some other forums that can get pretty anal. I love the fact, for the most part, we are more relaxed here....unless its grits, cornbread or biscuits!

I consider celery an edible spoon. Good for getting dip, hummus, peanut butter or whatever into my mouth, then eating the celery. NO dishes!

Deep breath everyone...........

Again..........

One more..........

OK, onward and upward (or downward I guess if you're peeling celery stings)

Deanna

Annie I love that [food coloring] experiment! And I love threads that go off course into sillididdity...

Teresa, Really? That much flavor in them? I'm not much on bloody marys (something about drinking alone creeps me out. LOL!) but I'll toss some in next time I make potato salad. Guess it's a case of mother and grandmother always throwing them away, so I do, too. My African friend used them in a fiery hot soup, if I recall correctly.

The whiter celery has more tender strings.
And, Lou, some of us have been trading recipes and quips for 7 or 8 years with each other.
We welcome newcomers, but don't go messing with some of us who have been friends for lots and lots of years, and sharing a cyber kitchen, and don't try telling anyone that your recipe or method is better than any other, because that will open a can of worms, as you have discovered.
We all like certain things and dislike others....ask Sharon about eggs!
Linda C

I wondered how a thread about stringing celery was lasting so long.

I learned to de-string celery from Natalie Dupree on PBS years ago. Before seeing that program, I didn't know you were "supposed" to de-string celery, but since watching it, I do it every time I use celery, simply because it's so easy, and I want to take the ends off anyway. It's the method that Rob333 said, to break the end off and pull, and the strings come out. Do it to the other end, and more strings come out. But what I've wondered is, isn't celery all strings, so if you completely de-string it, do you have anything left but a pile of strings?

Sally

Tee hee, Sally....that's why I never started de-stringing to begin with - where does it end?

Oooo, Sally! You may have just discovered a new vegan "pasta"!

Celery is only good chopped into small slices and "hidden" in recipes. LOL
I've nevah worried about strings with his method.. lol

Sally : I wondered myself how this thread could last this long.
I said I wasn't but I lied !I had to come back in and comment !

Those of you who have seen my Posts , know that I go off on tangents, more that anyone.
It is all done in fun and I don't think the Threads in this Post were read correctly.

I was trying to get the Question answered and then go and have your fun.

For those of you that don't know me yet, I wouldn't be too hasty. I can come back strong.

Cloud swift:
There weren't several, when you posted , there are 45 Threads now.
I put in the Encyclopedia thing about nutrition,
because someone mentioned the Vitamins in the Strings.

Sally:
You have been destringing Celery for a long time and you wondered if Celery is all strings ???
Try an experiment! Destring a piece of Celery and eat a little.
Now try eating the strings ! Which tastes better ???

LindaC
You are a winner! Do you have Cinderella's Mirror on your wall !!!!!

You used this Post, where everyone is throwing Stones, to
throw some of your's.
You welcome newcomers ??? Like you welcomed me !!!

One of my very first Posts, remember ? The Platted Bread and the Bagels.
I do! Vividly and if you need a reminder, I'll Post it here.

Talk about trying to tell someone, that your recipe or method is better. You won a Gold Star.

Can you give me an example of me doing this? I usually say "there are many ways to do this"

And what have I discovered ???

The best thing was, one of the biggest Bagel makers in NY, rolled Bagels the way I decribed.
Others knew this but it was never acknowledged. Some don't like to make waves.

I have talked nice to you, in the past year, even with all the problems I had,
Even stuck up for you and a couple others, in a Post 2 months ago!
That wasn't appreciated, either. Talk about turning the other cheek!!!

And I was sent a notice for bickering.

Guess it's my Religious upbringing. Can't help doing things like that.

You have a way with words, to turn things around to make me look guilty.
I guess many of the members, who haven't Bean there,don't know what this is all about?
I won't tell you and I doubt If anyone else will.

All I know is, I've spent a lot of hours, putting in over 100 Recipes, Photo's and
showed things I've cooked. I've gotten many nice comments but only a handfull,
of Members have ever tried them and gave a favorable response ???????

Linda C :
Please! don't come back and tell me how long you've been on this Planet.
And How long you have been Baking Bread , etc.etc.
In fact,if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything, to me. I'll recriprocate.

I'll keep trying !

My Grandfather told me when I graduated High School and Started working.
Keep doing your job the best you can and don't let the guys who are making a lot of noise,
to make themselves look better, at your expense,distract you.
If your boss is a smart man he will know the truth.

You know it worked , all these years !!!!!

Linda C : Don't believe all them things I said, Only kidding ? I still love you !
Lou

PS: Don't worry yourselves about Annie, she will be OK.
We are friends.

Is this politics or celery?

I agree...deep breath...my goodness :)

I destring using the same method as Fenworth except that being a lefty, I hold the celery in my right hand. The method still works.

Yes, Lou, I've wondered that because it seems like no matter how much I de-string celery, there's always one or two little string ends sticking up begging to be pulled. I was really kidding, though.

Beanthere_dunthat, you may have an idea there. At least there wouldn't be a problem keeping it al dente, lol.

Sally

Natesgramma:
No, It isn't Politics, because it is the truth and I hate to keep defending myself.

I do the same as Fenworth, too, Cut thru but the back but not the strings, then pull.
But if I'm going to cut it into small pieces, I just break it and pull the strings.

If tender Celery is going onto soup, etc. I don't remove the Strings.

Sally :
But! did you try the taste test? Are the Strings bitter?

LOU

So, I was getting celery ready to put into soup and did a little experiment. Breaking off the two ends and pulling to free the strings still attached gets rid of most of the tougher strings. It is pretty easy and while that may not get every bit of string the celery was tender and milder flavored by doing that so I think it gets rid of enough. If I break off another piece, the next layer of celery comes off as strings - celery is probably mostly strings but the outside ones are the tougher (older?) ones.

I tasted the strings and they tasted like celery but slightly bitter. I tasted the de-stringed celery and it was tender, a bit bland and sweet. I can understand why some might prefer it that way - especially those who are more sensitive to bitter - but I prefer the chewier more flavorful celery with all its components.

Actually, Lou, the short term memory thing got to me. When this thread left page 1 I forgot about it. I haven't used celery in a few days, since I last posted, so I haven't done the taste test. I'll try and remember next time I use it, although it looks like Cloud Swift has done the test for me, lol.

Sally

Cloud swift:
I've been up, walking the floor and peeped in to the CF.

I couldn't believe the Celery Post was up again.

As far as I know the strings are only on the outside.
When destringed the darker is sweeter, you are right.

I think I mentioned that if it isn't dark green, I cut it to size and add to soup, etc.

For a Chicken Salad etc. I destring it. The Salad will be less bitter.

Same as for spreading Cream Cheese on a piece of Celery, I destring it.

The lighter color, I eat either way. It seems that Celery is hard to digest.
With the strings, it is harder, to digest.
This is the way I eat Celery but not everyone has the same tastes.

And I'm glad I have a little humility left in me, to wonder what others might think.

I hope after all this, we have all learned a bit more about Celery .

LOU

use a Mandelen cut slices, it leaves the strings
stop and pull off the strings, keep cutting, keep pulling

I've had to remove strings due to braces.