Walnut Rain

admin October 17, 2019October 17, 2019

Where we had our first frost nearly a month ago, the frosty mornings not made their way further down in elevation into the Willamette Valley where my brother has some amazing walnut trees, until recently. The cold splits the outer shell that holds the forming nut as it grows. With the protective coating opening, the nuts begin to drop to the ground.

I got the word on Saturday that they were falling, and by Sunday afternoon I was picking frantically and filling every available bucket that I could find.

I ended up purloining my mushroom picking buckets for this task. I knew the buckets would only be needed for a few hours because once home I would spread the nuts out to dry so the buckets would again be available for forays into the forest.

I keep my picnic table on the covered patio through the fall and winter months, so this becomes my drying table. Screens are set down so airflow around the nuts does not need to be forced. The morning sun is not to severe this time of year where I would worry about the nuts steaming in their shells and by mid-day. By mid-day the patio is in the shade for the rest of the day.

Some of you may remember my stories about how my Mom had used nylon stockings (other people I know rely on those mesh onion bags) to dry nuts. Growing up on the family farm, there would always be a leg of filberts or walnuts laying at the fan encased in the vent of the oil burning stove in the main room of the house. As a kid it seemed like there were those stuffed stockings always blocking the minimal heat being pumped out of the stove and those legs would be moved each time somebody was cold or if the girls of the family needed to get their hair dry quickly (laying on the floor in front of the fan as the warm air dries freshly washed hair is pure bliss).

My attempt of filling pantyhose to dry nuts did not go so well. First of all, pantyhose hold many, many more nuts than single leg hosiery. I found this out when I stuffed pantyhose full to the brim. I had to man-handle the heavy lower torso to get it up onto the picnic drying table, and had to keep turning it so all the nuts dried evenly. And to top it all off, visitors to the farm would get a glimpse of torso out the window and wonder who the corpse was. There was a lot of explaining to do.

Please continue to follow my stories on my new site SchmidlinAngusFarms.com. You can even click this link to get there. If you hit the follow button and fill out the info prompted, you will get the daily story sent right to you. Thank you

After drying the walnuts, I store them in airtight baggies in the freezer. To make a special treat I like to glaze them with a drizzle of honey, a sprinkle of nutritional yeast and then experiment with a variety of spices like ginger, lemon crystals, pepper, rosemary, smoked paprika. I spread the nuts in a single layer on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and roast in the oven at about 325 degrees 8-10 minutes until the honey becomes glazed over the nuts. Keep a close watch on them as they roast so they don’t burn and stir if needed.

Click this picture if you want more information about nutritional yeast. I get credit if you shop at the affiliate through this link but you do not have to purchase any item I promote and I may make a small commission if you shop any product by using my link. Thank you