Chestnuts

I thought that it would be a great idea to cook up so chestnuts for the meal. So I tossed some into a glass pie plate and into the oven they went. About 45 minutes later I smelled something. It wasn’t a burning but it was off. So I looked into the oven and saw that one of the nuts had exploded. So I figured it was time to pull them out.

Grim and the older two monsters were in the kitchen with me and we were laughing about the one that exploded in the oven when one decided to explode on the stove top. First let me say no one was hurt. But Grim and I were the worst hit. Since I didn’t think to take pictures let me give you a mental image. We were covered in what looked like very fine mashed potatoes. Our hair, our clothes and our kids all had to be cleaned up!

I guess that is why they say to score them before you put them in the oven. Oh well, that’s what I get for try to take an easy route! Better Luck Next Time... LOL!

Yart

Just a few Nuts

The table is 3x5 and as you can see it goes from one end to the other and almost to both sides. This is 25 pounds of Chestnuts that we went picking a couple of weeks ago.

The place that we went to had a buy back program. They would buy back any that you didn’t want for .50 cents a pound. We sold back 45 pounds. I would have picked until all of mine were free but the family grew tired and bored.

I already cooked up a pile of them… They are so good! I do still have a ton in the freezer to enjoy all winter long. You can go here to see how to roast them up.

Yart

A day at a Farm!

 stock photo

Well, not your ordinary farm but a Chestnut tree farm. We were some of the last folks to be allowed to pick. The season came on early and in turn ended early. Grim and the monsters had a blast hitting Green Spikey balls of death out of the trees using a hockey stick! There were only a few minor injuries. Mouthy got a splinter, Grim took a spike under the nail and we were each hit in a soft spot with at least one spikey ball. I know it sounds dangerous, but the gang had a ton of fun. We even put our name on the list to be one of the first notified when the season starts next year. Oh, even though we were there at the end. We still got 15 pounds in just about an hour. The owner said that if the season would have been better we would have gotten double or triple the amount in the same time. So since we have never even eaten chestnuts before I need to find and share some information with all of you!

Here is a great site on the how to cook chestnuts plus a couple of recipes. Cooks.com - Guide - Chestnuts

And here is page after page of recipes. Recipes at Epicuious

While I was typing this post the phone rang. It was from my long lost uncle. I haven't spoken with him in about a year and a half. Since he travels quite a bit, he canceled his home phone and never got around to getting a cell phone. I love hearing from him. He is like a big brother to me. He is only a few years older and he was always the one that was there even when he was gone off on his own adventures. I'm happy to hear that he is alive and doing well. Now I have numbers where I can leave messages for him and he knows that I love him and not mad because of our time apart.

Love you Crusty!!!

Gotta Run,

Yart

Where did the day go

This week has been busy, as the first week of school usually is. We have had band practice, bowling, and homecoming dress shopping. Toss in therapy, canning, beer making, vehical repairs and you can see why Sundays are suppose to be lazy, jammy day. So what do we do, you ask? We decide to go on a road trip.

We head out for an hour and a half drive from the highways to back roads to dirt roads. We are the hunt for chestnuts. We get out to the farm and speak to the owner. Unfortunately we are a couple of weeks early. To bad it looks like it would fun to pick chestnuts. So we will be going back out there in a couple of weeks. The monsters were a little dissappointed. The owner of the farm told us an apple orchard just down the road. So we went there and got the monsters some donuts and cider. I got a jar of sorgum. Not sure what it is but I thought I can use it some time. We then went to find a shoe store to find Band monster shoes for homecoming. See she has a size 13 foot. Trying to find her shoes is crazy. We will find something.

As far as canning is going I got 50 pounds of carrots done, peach pie filling and some apple made into apple pie filling. I was also able to get apples dehydrated. The monsters loved them. I think that I will powder them so that I can add it into things. Grim made a scotch ale that will be ready by Christmas. Tomorrow we will be making something that is called Skull Splitter.

Gotta Run,

Yart