Purple stained fingertips from pomegranates bring back fond childhood memories for me. Growing up our next door neighbor Mrs. Pettis and I would play cards. She taught me to play Kings Corner and in the fall she always had pomegranates for me from her brothers trees. I would did into the pomegranate and dig out each juicy tart morsel with my fingers.   Typically I would go home and my mother would find my fingers and my shirt stained with the deep purple stain of the pomegranate. But…it doesn’t have to be that way.

Now what to do about the purple stains on your fingers from getting the arils out of the pomegranate? We found a simple method to clean the pomegranates in water that is quick & easy. This method keeps your fingers clean and squishes less of the arils.

Simply cut off the blossom end of the pomegranate to expose the seeds. Then score the pomegranate from top to the bottom where you have cut the end off, in 5 or 6 sections. Try to cut through the skin but not cut into the seeds. Take this and submerge it in a bowl of water for about 5 minutes. This will loosen up the skin and membrane.

After 5 minutes, break the pomegranate into sections where you have scored it. Do this under the water in the bowl. Then use your fingers to pop the seeds out of the pithy membrane. If you stay under the water, your fingers won’t stain. Also the seeds will drop to the bottom and the pith will float to the top. When you are done, skim out the pith from the top with a slotted spoon and strain the seeds from the water.