Interesting Cars:
Walnuts are protected by a semi hard green shell about ½ inch thick. When they fall from the tree the shell slowly softens and turns black. Cleaning the nuts with your bare hands can stain them GOOD!
I remember talking to a farmer who said he had the solution to shelling the walnut. On a real dry day when the ruts in his road were hard he would dump the walnuts in the rut and run over them several times with his truck or tractor. Then using a garden rake separate the hard nuts from broken covers. Why nature felt the toughest nut I know needed that much protection, I have no idea.
Then the fun part cracking and picking them. Just a few minutes ago I cracked 6 nuts that I had ran over on our paved road to deshell them. I used the vise and a small screw driver. It just wasn’t as much fun as it was when the whole family did the deed. Someone would crack them on the hearth with a hammer and we would talk and joke as we picked those rascals (I think the bobby-pin was the best picker). About the same fun as when the family picked black berries.
My favorite sweet treat in Valdese, NC was a Chocolate Nut Sunday at the ‘Rat Hole’.. It was made with black walnuts in syrup, vanilla ice cream with chocolate poured over it. It was served in a 16 oz waxed Dixie cup, not a dish. MMMMM good.
We moved and on occasion I made the mistake of ordering a walnut Sunday. The nuts down here were always English Walnuts. I like the English walnut, but not as well as the Black.
If I can’t find a better way to crack and pick the black walnuts, I won’t try it again. I cannot imagine picking enough black walnuts to make a walnut pie or cake. LOL Any ideas?
Nite Shipslog
PS: I am sure the squirrels had just as soon not share. Happy Halloween
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6 comments:
My friend, Major Jack Morris of the Norfolk Police Department once one of our fishing excursions to the Bay and Bridge gave me a sack full of Black Walnuts, Hardest thing I ever tried to open, up here I like the Beech Nut, we have Bitternuts which are almost identical to the Black walnut, they are green and sticky, they turn your hands black trying to open them !! Waiting for a nasty southern storm to come in about 16oo hours ! We battened down the Hatches !!!LoL !!!
take care, love from the North, Gary an Anna Mae
Happy Halloween to you and Sherry, Jack! I don't think I ever have had a black walnut unless that is the kind in the stores here. I do like walnuts. So much work to get to those ones though! Yum on that dessert! Sounds heavenly and full of calories :)
Don't get tricked today!
betty
I try not to touch those walnuts while they are in the protective shell...it is nasty. Our local H.S. band is collecting walnuts from everyone's yards and selling them to make money for new uniforms. Such a good idea. The paper said they already had made 1400 dollars. Stay warm there, it's cold and windy here. Blessings, xoxo, Susie
So THAT's the culprit that turned my fingers that ghastly shade of green! (One lady at the YMCA remarked it looked like I'd been picking at dog poo.) Methinks, like chicken wings, the 'crop' hardly warrants the labor. After 'Ma' posted about the health benefits of walnuts, I did go pick some -- at Wal-Mart! :)
After picking the black walnuts on our property, Dad would lay them the same way you described and we collected the walnuts to crack. No easy way and it was a lot of work, but the meat is delicious.
Good memories. Thanks, Jack!
You are right there is no comparing the taste of a black walnut to an english one. The sqirells used to hid them in the flouwer beds and every year, little trees would be popping up instead of flowers. I don't know of any easy way to shell them, but yes,, they do make for a lot of hard work and a mess too. But if you really like them it is worth it all. They were a favorite of my mom and she always had some on hand.
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