Memories of Roasted Chestnuts

Once again I delve back into my memories to come up with a blog post. And, once again, my memories are of the food my family ate as I was growing up. My father loved a working fireplace and so we always had a supply of wood laid in for the winter and on most every evening we'd have a fire going. This all took great effort. First dad would need to find a source of felled trees that no one else wanted. Then he'd load up the station wagon with his heavy red chain saw and other deemed necessary equipment. He'd bought the chainsaw used and it was always balky and always seemed to be undergoing refurbishment. Anyways, lastly he'd round up us not-so-spirited kids, perhaps even more balky than the chainsaw, and off we'd go to an akimbo splayed pile of logs for a day of wood cutting and hauling. Seeing a chainsaw rip through a log is undeniably a curious sight, but, such a task comes with a patent risk too; one year the chainsaw did bite into dad's leg. All of this is just to note how much my father loves a working fireplace. I guess I'll always have a warm feeling for fireplaces which will go beyond the physical warmth they're able to radiate.

Sometime around Christmas we'd try roasting chestnuts by the warmth of these fires. We had a special roaster bought just for these occasions. After cutting a slit on each chestnut we'd place them into the roaster and shake them for an interminable amount of time over the fire. Often, the heat would get to us before it got to the chestnuts and we'd sidle about the hearth looking for some protection from the heat while the chestnuts were cooking. The results weren't always spectacular but occasionally we'd get an exceptionally sweet nut roasted to perfection.

I found some chestnuts for sale in Houston and decided to give them a try. Soak the chestnuts in warm water for 20 minutes. Cut an X on their flat side (it's better than the single slit we did when we were young). Be careful not to cut into the meat. Place the prepared nuts on a cookie sheet then place in a pre-heated 350 degree oven. Roast for about 17 minutes, the edges of the shells should be peeling back from their exposure to the heat. Turned out nice and tasty!

Here's an interesting chestnut blog:
http//www.travelerslunchbox.com/journal/2005/10/31/from-soup-to-nuts.html