NUT CRACKING MEMORIES

Of all the trees growing here at Cricket Meadow, there’s one I treasure in particular. It’s a stately black walnut that my dad planted from a seed when we first bought this property almost 30 years ago. Dad was a nut-lover and was especially fond of black walnuts, so he felt anyone with any sense would want such a tree in their yard. This towering beauty is located near the edge of the woods and I never look at it without thinking of him and my son, who was only 3 at the time, harvesting and cracking all those black walnuts on the home place that fall. Dad died just a couple of months later.

Every day for an hour or so, when the crisp autumn days were getting shorter, Haakon would head to the garage with Grandpa Oliver. There they would dig into the pail of nuts Dad had harvested from his trees. Black walnuts, picked when they are a mottled greenish-brown, are then dried for a couple of weeks before they can be cracked. Haakon’s job was banging the dried, dark brown nuts with a hammer until the outer hull broke open. The two would then pick out the heart of the nut and set it aside to be cured for a couple of weeks in a cool, dry place. Their badly stained fingers were a sign they had worked hard to provide nuts for the pantry and we “womenfolk” lavished praise on them both and the diligence of sticking to such a tedious chore. And Mom and I would later reward them with cakes and cookies brimming with the rich, earthy flavor of this glorious nut.

I haven’t been part of a black walnut harvest since. Dad is gone, the little boy with the hammer is grown up, I look at the tree Dad planted here and the nuts ready to be picked and, for some reason, it always seems too painful to carry on alone. Dad was the real nut-lover. We’ve turned a corner here and the memory is just too precious to crack into.

BLACK WALNUT COOKIES

1 cup butter

2 cups brown sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

3-1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups chopped black walnuts

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Combine flour, baking soda and salt. Gradually add to creamed mixture. Stir in half the walnuts. Finely chop remaining nuts. Shape dough into two 15 inch rolls. Roll in remaining chopped nuts, pressing gently. Wrap in waxed paper. Refrigerate for 2 hours. When ready to bake, unwrap dough. Cut into 1/4 inch slices. Dip in sugar. Bake at 350 degrees, on greased cookie sheets, for 8 to 10 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool.

BLACK WALNUT RAISIN COOKIES

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup shortening

2 cups sugar

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 cup buttermilk

Pinch salt

1-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon cloves

4 cups flour

1 cup raisins

1 cup finely chopped black walnuts

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter, shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in baking soda.  Add buttermilk. Stir in spices and flour. Combine well. Add raisins and nuts. Refrigerate dough for 1 to 2 hours.  Drop by spoonfuls onto greased baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes.

BLACK WALNUT ANGEL FOOD CAKE

1-1/2 cups egg whites (about 16 eggs)

1 tablespoon water

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon salt

1-1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar

2 cups sugar

1 cup sifted cake flour

1/2 cup cocoa

1 cup black walnuts, ground

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, beat egg whites, water, vanilla and salt until frothy. Add cream of tartar and beat until stiff, but not dry. Beat in 1 cup of sugar gradually, 2 tablespoons at a time. Sift flour, remaining 1 cup sugar and cocoa together 3 times. Fold dry ingredients into egg white mixture with a rubber spatula. Pour about 1/3 of the batter into an ungreased 10 inch tube pan. Sprinkle with half the nuts. Cover with 1/3 more batter; add remaining nuts. Then cover with last 1/3 batter. Bake on rack in lower part of oven. Bake for 45 minutes. Invert to cool. Frost with chocolate glaze or sprinkle with powdered sugar.

BLACK WALNUT RAISIN PIE

9 inch pie crust

1 cup finely chopped black walnuts

1 cup raisins

1 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup butter, melted

1/2 cup dark corn syrup

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a mixing bowl, stir together nuts and raisins. Spread in bottom of prepared pie crust. In the bowl, cream brown sugar and butter together. Beat in corn syrup, eggs and vanilla. Pour this mixture over nuts and raisins. Bake until filling is firm, 35 to 45 minutes. Cool on wire rack.