Chestnut season is in full swing. Ah, is there anything like it? I don’t think so — in fact, I’d take it over Christmas. This one-of-a-kind season gets us all working together, relishing the wonder of another harvest after months of labor. The norm around here is most of us trotting to the grove once the children are home and have had their after-school snack.
The goal is to get out there before the deer come out for their feast — shelling and eating the nuts. They will literally take the nuts out of those prickly clusters with hundreds of needles, peel the individual nuts, and chomp them down. It has been said that chestnuts are the deer’s favorite food. They have the potential to eat many a pound, so we try to go out and harvest every day (besides Sundays). And you know, I don’t mind if they get their share — after all, they give us plenty of grub as we bag deer year after year.
This year Julia is the one taking charge of caring for the nuts after they are picked and taking orders from folks who are looking for an old-fashioned nutty treat. If you’d like to talk to her, give her a ring at 618-804-0996 and she’ll be happy to answer questions or assist you in any way possible. By the way, when you talk with her be sure to mention that you heard about it through this column and she’ll give you a discounted price!
Even our newest addition to the farm has been enjoying chestnut season. Rewinding a couple of years — when I sold the last of our adult English Cream Golden Retrievers, it made me sad; not because I felt it was a bad decision, but because it just didn’t seem right to not have dogs. Raising children had priority, and that was that.
This summer we got an adorable pup who has added a great dimension to our lives. I have children to help care for her and teach her new tricks, though she has also shown her share of ornery streaks, as any growing puppy will do.
Then came the matter of a good name — you know how we tend to chew on things until it clicks just right. Here’s a little backdrop on the new pup: her grandma used to be on our farm. In fact, she was our favorite female and did an amazing job caring for her puppies. I have fond memories of going out and helping with her newborns. But here’s the thing — she had the most peculiar name: Come Together. Yes, that was it. Don’t ask me why; it’s just what she was named when she came to us as a young dog. And so Come Together she was.
We really wanted to name the pup after her grandma, who had been such a blessing to us, but how could it be done without being stuck with a name that would always have an awkward slant? And so we twiddled and twisted ideas. Nothing clicked until we came across a Hawaiian name — Kanoa, meaning “free one, or one who brings people together.” We all liked it, so Kanoa she is!
The first day she saw me heading to the chestnut grove with the stand-on lawn mower, she trailed behind. I mowed up and down those long rows in preparation for harvest, with Kanoa trailing along. At one point she apparently got tired, because she ran up behind me and hopped onto the platform where I was standing. I smiled. “At least she’s making herself at home,” I mused, as I bent down to tuck up her tail so I wouldn’t drive over it when I put it in reverse.
Though dogs don’t care that much for nuts, she gets a kick out of chewing on them every now and then.
Now I know most of you won’t have fresh nuts just yet to turn into flour, but I will give you a recipe for these amazing chocolate chip cookies made with real chestnut flour. Naturally, we are partial to these cookies and enjoy the extra nutty flavor and the thought of the extra nutrients they in each bite. And yes, any regular baking flour may be used instead, they just won’t have the slight extra tint they’ll have with the chestnut flour. We are hoping to be able to offer freshly milled flour for sale by next year — we’ll see! But for now, feel free to give us — a ring to place your order for fresh nuts from the farm!
Good night and sleep tight!
Chestnut Chip Cookies
1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1⁄2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1⁄2 cups chestnut flour (or any flour of your choice)
1 1⁄2 [scant] cups cake flour
1⁄2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 cups chocolate chips
Blend butter and sugars well. Then add eggs and beat well. Add vanilla and dry ingredients. Do not over mix. Bake at 350 degrees until done, approximately 10-12 minutes.
Gloria Yoder is an Amish house-wife in rural Illinois. She is the third writer of The Amish Cook column since its inception in 1991. Yoder can be reached by writing: The Amish Cook, P.O. Box 157, Middletown, Ohio 45042.
