pecans

[dsmith]

We have been asked to pick up pecans on the halves for an elderly lady. We HATE shelling pecans. So messy and your fingers hurt so bad after awhile. We got quite a few shelled yesterday. I found a cool trick. Our pecan crackers weren't in very good shape anymore. So I took a brick and a hammer and tapped them just enough to crack them good. It works great. Not a messy as a cracker. And faster then a cracker. These pecans are fairly easy to shell once they are cracked. The hammer works like a charm. But my fingers are still sore, and we have a ton more to go. Nice to have pecans in the freezer though. I am using my vacum sealer on them, so they will be good for years, so don't mind having so many.
OH, and my other brain storm. I am grinding up the shells and using them for mulch in the garden!!!!! Garden ought to be great this year. I have been putting coffee grounds, eggs shells, banan peels, etc in it all winter. Now a lot of pecan shells.

[lsull]

Compost is good but You will get more benefit next year from this years.

I had an uncle in N Calf that lived across the road from an almond orchard. He would send us a big bag of amonds every fall.
He said he could only get them after this big machine came in and shook the L out of them. (the trees).

[tentfire]

Oh, how I miss having a pecan tree! Oddly enough, we had a HUGE one when I lived in town. None here, but loads of hickory nuts. I really should get some of them picked up and cracked. I have a special cracker for them, but have yet to use it. I have to mount it on something or I can't hold it down.

Somewhere I have one of those old leverage pecan/nut crackers. I used it all the time when we had a pecan tree. I could crack a brown paper grocery sack (those big old kind) full in about an hour with it. Most of the time the shell just fell away from the nut and then you pulled the nut in half. If you have lots of pecans to crack on a regular basis, they are very worth the investment!

[tentfire]

855sheller.com/Item/Duke-Pecan-Cracker

PECAN CRACKER



www.peasandcornco.com/popup/kenkelhardshellnutcracker.htm

MY HICKORY NUT CRACKER

[dsmith]

Lots of pecans , yes. :oWent over there again yesterday to pick a few more and work on raking her yard. Her daughter showed up, and I showed her a box on her porch they I had picked up so far. She grunted. ;D She asked me to keep ALL of the rest. Said she is tired of messing with them and her mom doesn't need anymore. I thanked her. She said that raking the yard and picking them up is hard work (and it is), so we deserve them.
I brought home a bunch more yesterday, and we STILL aren't done. Went by last night as I forgot our rake ???Dennis took a long stick and started hitting the trees. You couldn't even tell I had picked any up, they were everywhere. She has 4 big trees. We are gonna go over tomorrow, then we are done whether we are or not.
There are some pretty pecans in these. But there are also a lot of bad ones. I wonder if the lack of rain made them bad? But ya still have to crack the bad ones to know if they are bad or good.

[mastercatter]

I miss shelling pecans. We used to sit around in the evening and shell them for my grandmother. Pecan pie is my favorite and she would bake a chocolate cake with chocolate icing then sprinkle ground pecans over the top of it. Even remember getting my tail busted for getting in her shelled pecans and eating them by the hand full....fond memories !!! Can still remember when she would ask me if I had been in her pecans, I would answer her with the truth by saying " No Mam ! It was the bad Bobby that did it!! ;D

[lsull]

We did not have pecans. I got in trouble for snitching brown sugar.

[dsmith]

That is funny Mc
Dennis keeps saying it is ashamed you can't use acorns for anything. Our yard is covered in them

[mastercatter]

Acorns can be eaten. Lots of people do not know that cattail heads can be eaten also.

[dsmith]

Never heard of eating acorns. But the pecans are done!!!!! Whoo hoo!!! We spent all weekend watching movies and shelling pecans. It really was nice, we enjoyed it, just the two of us and the dogs. ;D But so happy they are done. So are our fingers.

[mastercatter]

The acorn shell has to be cracked and the edible part is inside. It does have a bitter taste. Same with the pine nut from pine cones,they can be eaten...The cat tail pod (young) can be picked and pound into flour . The young tender stalk can be eaten..