Do any of you have hickory trees nearby? I was so excited when we moved here because there were several (at least a dozen or so) hickory trees on my property and I remembered Dad taking us into the woods when we were kids to search for sweet, yummy hickory nuts. I do not remember there being so many. We have been INUNDATED with hickory nuts and we're sweeping up bucketsfull DAILY from our walkways and driveway. I thought the squirrels would grab 'em up and run, but no. The squirrels DO wait until we run over them with the car (they make a noise like gun blasts when you do this) and then they run out and grab the broken nuts. Cracking the things open is a total pain as they have an outer shell and then a hard nut case and then finally the meat, which is sparse. I'd love to be able to use these things, but I think it would take DAYS of shelling before I'd collect enough to be useful. Any ideas?

 

Patience, grasshopper.

In Illinois, we had both hickories and black walnuts where I grew up, and my father (who inherited the urge from his father) used to take us out for collections. The black walnuts, with softer husks, would get soaked in water until those husks rotted (making for a truly icky brew); then the nut would get dried and cracked.

The hickories, as I recall, were simply left to dry, at which point the (harder) husks would crack open in sections and could be popped off. Then, when the nut inside dried, it was ready to be cracked.

We cracked both with a bench vise: put a nut in (end-wise works best), screw down the vice until it cracks (and holding it with a gloved hand helps to prevent its exploding all over the place), then put it in a pile and do the next one. Meantime, someone else works the pile, picking the meat out of the pieces.

Set a vise up in front of the TV and watch those mindless shows you talked about -- this nut-cracking business isn't exactly rocket science. After a couple of hours your brain will be dead, but you'll have a nice little pile of flavoring for muffins or something. HPH

 

I usually fall asleep in the middle of those mindless tv shows. I've found them to be a pleasant lullaby! I may try to salvage some and see what I can do with them. I'll have to figure out where to put them for the drying out process.

 

Today's trivia...in Argentina, asados (barbecues) are cooked over hickory wood.

 

Well I resorted to a google search and found a few blurbs. I believe what I have are shagbark trees and the nuts are supposed to be very good (but not a lot of meat in each one). There was a notation that you should save the outer shell and use them either in your little smoker box (which I have) or mix them in with your charcoal for a nice hickory flavor. I have noticed that the outer shell has a very pleasant smell. I may try to use some of them if we can get around to finding the time to collect them.

 

No hickory trees here. Never sampled a hickory nut either.

I'm tired this AM, didn't sleep well and my reading comprehension is the the toilet.

I could not believe that Val was running over squirrels, and didn't see how that helped with the hickory nut situation.

 

You are realllllly tired this morning. You should try some mindless tv to help you get to sleep. My sentence construction probably wasn't that good since my cappuccino was all runny. The squirrels wait until we crack the hickory nuts with the car before they eat the nuts!

 

I'm picturing them sitting there waiting like the squirrels in the Geico commercial.

 

You are realllllly tired this morning. You should try some mindless tv to help you get to sleep. My sentence construction probably wasn't that good since my cappuccino was all runny. The squirrels wait until we crack the hickory nuts with the car before they eat the nuts!
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I'm sure your sentence was fine. It's my brain that's not working. Hoping that diet Coke kicks in soon.

 

^^ your mind's picture is exactly what they do! They sit or lurk in the trees by the driveway and street and when they hear the explosions of the nuts' being run over they run out behind the car and grab 'em. It is hilarious!

Okay, I've now gone out and gathered a 2 gal bucket full of hickory nuts. I'll have to find a safe place to spread them out to dry, get the nuts out of the outer shell after that and then crack the nuts. I'm weary thinking of it all. I'd have gotten tons more, but my back started hurting. The lawn dude comes today and I guess he'll mow over them or blow them away.