Shut up and eat

Someone thought I needed nuts, five pounds of nuts. Nuts still sitting in the shell: walnuts, brazil nuts, almonds, hazelnuts and pecans. What the hell am I going to do with all these nuts? Get crackin’ comes immediately to mind.

I once owned a nut cracker – not the festive wooden soldier type but one of those metal contraptions that looked like a small pair of tongs or chop sticks attached at one end. Don’t know where it is. Ah, but I do have a tool box – hammer, pliers, drill – ok maybe the drill isn’t the tool for this job. So shelling nuts I must go…

I consider the gift bag of nuts one of my annual Christmas boobie prizes. We all get them – the gift that leaves you scratching your head wondering, If the thought is really what counts what were you thinking?
At least this one is edible. But I am still left with the question, what to do with five pounds of mixed nuts. I could put a few in a bowl to set out for guests. Invite the neighborhood squirrels over for a feast. Make almond paste, candied pecans, toasted walnuts, glazed hazelnuts – it’s those darn Brazil nuts that throw me for a loop. Have you ever met anyone that loves a Brazil nut? Have you any recipes that call specifically for them? Send them to me.

The Brazil nut project begins.