Chestnuts were often considered peasant food because of the fact they were gathered from the ground in European countries by the poorest people.

1-2 pounds fresh large chestnuts

Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Use a sharp knife to make an X on one side of the nut, or make one long slit.

Place the chestnuts on a baking sheet in a single layer. Bake until the flesh is golden, about 25 minutes.

Use a clean towel and immediately peel the shells. Serve immediately, or refrigerate for 1 week.

Nuts are at their best at this time of year. Always a favorite, those who were lucky enough to have a nut tree often shared the harvest with friends and neighbors as fine gifts.

Today, nuts are more commonplace. Nutritionally they have many virtues. They are high in vitamins, iron and protein. They are also high in fat, with the exception of chestnuts. It is the healthy unsaturated kind, fortunately.

Since nuts contain oil, they will turn rancid over time. In their shells and refrigerated, nuts will keep for several months, and in a freezer they will last a year.

They have a crunchy, woody flavor, sweet and smoky. Before adding nuts to recipes you may want to toast them to enhance flavor. To toast, spread them on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake in a pre-heated overn of 350 degrees for about 5 minutes. Watch them carefully to prevent burning.

Legend states that George Washington could crack a walnut between his thumb and forefinger. The rest of us will probably use a nut cracker. In pioneer times several tools came to the rescue. A small wooden hammer, which often times also crushed the nut meat inside, or a pliers, which was a one nut at a time job.

Our family had a English walnut tree which was sweet and meaty. There is also an American Black Walnut which is very bitter. We had a lot of squirrels who also liked our walnut tree. It seemed it produced enough nuts for the both of us to enjoy. My father got a kick out of the squirrels planting the walnuts, and the next spring we would have small walnut trees sprouting up all over. He found them extremely hard to transplant, and was puzzled why, when he planted the nuts none ever grew into a tree the next spring.

The walnuts are inside a covering which had to be peeled away to reveal the walnut shells we are all familiar with. This cover contained a brown dye which left all the family with brown stained hands for many weeks. The dye was a favorite to color the yarns from the wool. It was a lovely reddish warm brown.

Creamy Zucchini Casserole

A tasty side dish sure to become a family favorite.

Ingredients:

6 Tablespoons butter

1 small onion

3 medium zucchini (about 10 ounces each) cut into 1/4 inch pieces

2 medium carrots, peeled and shredded

1 can cream of chicken soup

1/2 cup sour cream

1 bag herbed-seasoned stuffing mix, coarsly crushed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 13 by 9 glass baking dish. In a 12 inch skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add onion and cook until tender but not browned, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add zucchini, and carrots and cook until zucchini is tender, about 8 minutes.

Remove skillet from heat, stir in undiluted cream of chicken soup and sour cream until evenly mixed.

Sprinkle half of the stuffing mix in baking dish. Spoon zucchini mixture on top, then remaining stuffing mix. Bake 25 to 30 minutes until hot and bubbly. Makes 16 side dish portions.

Gram's Fresh Cranberry Relish

1 bag cranberries (3 cups)

1 medium Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and cut up

1 medium Gala apple, peeled, cored and cut up

1 small naval orange, peeled and cut up

2/3 cup sugar

Using a food processor with knife blade attached, pulse all ingredients until coarsely chopped. This quickly replaces the hand chopping which was required in Gram's day. If you like the bitter taste of orange zest, you can chop the orange peel right into the mixture. Spoon into a serving bowl, cover and refrigerate until well chilled. This will hold for 4 days. Makes about 4 cups.

Next-Christmas Treats
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