Chestnuts roasting on an open fire. Jack Frost nipping at your nose. Sounds familiar? They are the lyrics to the famous "The Christmas Song" sung by Nat King Cole.
Vendors roasting chestnuts at street corners around the holidays is a common scene in Europe. In the U.S., not so much, as the American chestnut trees were wiped out by the fungal disease called chestnut blight a century ago. Once called "the Redwood of the East," the gigantic American chestnut tree was an amazing food source for wildlife and people. Some trees survived. Our first encounter with fresh chestnuts was in Maryland, and recently in Tennessee.
Last month, our gracious neighbors delighted us with 50 pounds of chestnuts. The husband had to compete with the deer to get to these delicious nuts :-) Thank you Derwood and Georgia!
50 lbs of chestnuts |
The majestic chestnut tree on a lovely fall day |
We boiled the chestnuts, and cook them with rice and oatmeal.
Chestnut in oatmeal |
Ahh! Glazed chestnuts. Somehow, we could never get this right. We followed the recipe in How to make Marrons Glacés (Candied Chestnuts), made it twice and still could not get the chestnuts to be soft enough. The hot and dry summer could have something to do with it. Chestnut connoisseur relatives who got the bulk of the chestnuts concurred.
Marrons Glacés (Candied Chestnuts) |
Do you like chestnuts? What are your experiences with them?
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