Sunday, December 30, 2012

Crackin' Nuts

One of the pleasures of the winter holidays, Reggie's believes, is cracking open nuts and consuming them.  It is a most satisfying activity, Dear Reader, and one that brings to mind pleasant memories of many cozy winter afternoons spent with family and friends.  Accompanied by a cup of hot tea or a cocktail (Reggie's preferred companion beverage), nuts are a most tasty and satisfying comestible.


I've written before that I am fond of clementines, too.  Nuts and clementines, which are both at their peak this time of year, go together wonderfully, I think.  A bowl of the little citrus is usually to be found within reaching distance of a bowl of nuts at Darlington House during the holidays.  In fact, a clementine was sitting in the bowl of nuts I'm featuring in this post only a few minutes before these photographs were taken.  I ate it.


This Christmas we filled an antique Bennington bowl with an assortment of nuts, and we have another, smaller, Bennington bowl nearby for the spent shells.  In other years we've filled a large silver bowl with nuts, but this year it seemed more appropriate—given our overall woodsy Christmas theme—to use a more quotidian Bennington bowl.

I'm not too picky about where I buy my nuts.  I bought the ones I'm showing here in a bag at a supermarket.  They're delicious.

Once I've filled the smaller bowl with the spent shells I enjoy tossing them on the fire, where they make a pleasing snapping and cracking sound as they burst into flames.


Our nutcracker and pick set, fashioned of horn and steel, were made in Germany in the first half of the twentieth century.  I inherited them from my Darling grandparents.  Their handles are carved to show the likenesses of a hound, a hare, and a boar.  I have a collection of nutcrackers, but these are my favorite—for both sentimental and aesthetic reasons.


I think the nutcracker and pick look particularly good sitting among the nuts.  Tan-and-brown horn handles, tan-and-brown nuts, and tan-and-brown bowls.  They all go together perfectly.


There is little more satisfying than hearing the crack! of a nut when it opens to reveal its treasure.


And what a delicious treasure it is, indeed!  So sweet, so tasty, and so nutty!

If you haven't done it yet this season, Dear Reader, I urge you to buy yourself a bag of nuts, dig into it, and crack open and eat some of the little darlings.  I'll be doing exactly that over the next several days myself.  Won't you join me, please?

Photographs by Boy Fenwick

26 comments:

  1. I find cracking your own nuts is a built-in insurance against eating too fast or too many. My late father-in-law loved to pick hickory nuts from the ground in the late fall. You can tell a hickory tree by its shaggy bark. I haven't had one since he died.

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  2. Reminds me of my childhood, in Teaneck, New Jersey; my mom and dad.

    Thank You for reminding me.

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  3. I am in accord with you and a bowl of choice brimming with nuts of which I always seem to pick out the almonds first. Mother likes the Brazil nuts and where have all the hazel nuts gone? They seem to disappear so quickly. I will take your advice about the clementines and purchase a bag tomorrow.
    Happy New Year to one of the most enjoyable and civilized blogs I follow
    Best
    Julie

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  4. Walnuts with port after Christmas dinner....and those cracking tools are tremendous!

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  5. Hello Reggie, Cracking nuts is one of my favorite rituals, starting each year at Thanksgiving. I always favored the stores that sold in-the-shell nuts loose, so I could be assured of a generous supply of pecans, my favorites.

    Sometimes we got a quantity of hazelnuts, and after we shelled them out my mother would make (still occasionally does, for that matter) straight-line cookies, which were a specialty of my great-grandmother. I have never seen a recipe that was more work, but the results were highly appreciated.
    --Road to Parnassus

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  6. Dear Reggie,

    I must agree with you regarding nuts and clementines at Christmas. Similar to stroking a cat, opening up the nuts to reveal their contents does, I sincerely believe, lower the blood pressure, and what a delight when one manages to extract both halves of a walnut intact!

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  7. Whenever people laugh about all the old gadgets I have I always say they have always been useful at one time or another. Like a nut pick (or a silver lobster pick... it works!!!) and nutcracker. There is something satisfying about harvesting nutmeats... what a lovely set you have.

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  8. Have such fond memories of doing this at my grandparents home, as does my husband. I loved cracking the walnuts and feeding them to my grandfather, and he would reward me with a sip of his sherry. Would love to see your Bennington in a post. Three generations of Bennington collectors here. A very Happy and Healthy New Year to you. So glad I found your blog.

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  9. Mm what a delight. I would also recommend kumquats as a side. So pretty and no peeling involved! We always saved the walnut shells which split correctly to make gilded walnut ornaments for the tree or without ribbons to heap in a bowl or put on a wreath. Port is also lovely with nut. Enjoy and thank you for your well written and delightful posts

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  10. What lovely tools! During the holidays, my family used to roast and peel chestnuts - such a pain. I would have much preferred a cracker!

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  11. Reggie
    Thanks for the memory of my childhood with wonderful grandparents. Visions of the two sitting by the fire cracking nuts.
    Brazil nuts and walnuts plus pecans. Living in Georgia both sets of grandparents had pecan orchards. I own one of the orchards with fewer trees. Looking forward to your blog in 2013 that I have read from day one.
    Happy New Year to you and Boy.
    Becky in South Georgia

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  12. Make a note to self while at next tag sale, look for nut cracker set. A week or so ago we chatted with a fellow shopper and he was looking for a nut cracker but could not find one at this TJMX I hardly think he would find one that would be handed down from generation to generation!! -- I do suppose a knife shop would carry a good quality set... Or I could take a chance at the Flea market Reggie do Flea markets dot your where abouts? Happy new year.

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  13. Dear Reggie,

    I am joining you, but with my traditional pizelles, made every year by a dear friend and presented in a tin canister. (But I don't have any beautiful tools for consuming them!)

    I wish you and Boy a very Happy New Year!

    Mark

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  14. Even your nutcracker set is stylish! Tres chic, Reggie and Boy!! We always get a box of nuts from a vendor, which Tom spent the night enjoying them while watching the television. And left behind bits and pieces under the sofa cushions. Happy New Year ~ Loi

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  15. Reggie, oh yes a family tradition! I adore your artful Nutcracker set!

    Wishing you and Boy all the best in the Year ahead!

    xoxo
    Karena
    Art by Karena

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  16. This brings back such fond memories of my childhood Christmases. My mother always included a tangerine and some walnuts among the other goodies in our stockings, and you're right, they taste wonderful together for some reason. There was also a big wooden bowl of unshelled nuts along with nut crackers and picks the whole holiday season. For some reason I have gotten away from this tradition. I think next year i'll have to bring it back!
    Bonnie

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  17. I'm reading your blog post with a big antique bowl of clementines on the old trunk that serves as my 'coffee table'. No cracking nuts unfortunately, as an adult son and grand daughter with nut allergies means I rarely have them in the house. HOWEVER, my New Year' Eve treat for myself (along with a new book and a roaring fire) is a small double cream brie, covered with toasted pecan halves and glazed with melted hot pepper jelly. Heaven! Happy New Year to you and your loved ones.

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  18. I too have purchased a bag of nuts at the supermarket only to have it sit here looking pretty in a silver bowl!You inspire REGGIE,I shall start a cracking!!!!!!!HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU AND BOY!

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  19. Was given a bag of unshelled pecans this past fall from a friend who has trees in his yard. What a treat! Difficult to find a nut cracker where I live...finally found one at a flea market. Not nearly as nice as yours. It was so satisfying to actually eat nuts that one had to crack. Just like when I was young!
    Happy New Year!

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  20. We purchased a bag of mixed whole nuts around Christmas and have spent the holiday week eating them (albeit with a very prosaic all metal nutcracker and pick).

    Your images of the Bennington bowls and antique nutcracker set are lovely.

    Happy New Year!

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  21. Brazil nuts were my mother's favorites and I always make sure I have some in my winter nut bowl in her honor.

    Thank you for a lovely post and Happy New Year.

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  22. When I find the nutcrakcer I'll think about it ..though you have got me thinking about my mother eating something called smokehouse almonds whilst downing her nightly scotchs.

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  23. Reggie, Thank you for jogging my memory. I'd forgotten about those childhood winter evenings, cracking and eating nuts, peeling and eating oranges, and--this one kills me--peeling and salting apples before eating them! Somehow none of these traditions lingered into my teen years, so your blog brought back very special memories of those halcyon days before adolescence.

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  24. this is lovely blog. its reminders me my mum and grandmum :) while I was child they were sitting on the table and try to get ready some cakes from this kind of nuts. was great years to be in my mums arms..thank you for your nice blog.. I always remember family even in my busines as to be family yacht holidays in turkey..

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  25. Wow, good post. I've become fairly fixated on pistachios, great reminder that there are all kinds of nuts in the world. We certainly have plenty around here... N.G.

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  26. Love this post! My grandparents always had bowls of nuts on every surface, and I can vividly remember my granddaddy shelling them so quickly, even after he was elderly. I set them out, too, and even my small children love them. I have a little collection of nutcrackers, in cast iron and brass, all sorts of animals.

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