I'm in Cary and I actually learned to process acorns this year, as well as how to spot the difference between the ones that come from red oaks versus those from white oaks. I made at least three weekend trips to visit the oaks in my neighborhood and came back with large enough hauls to share plenty with the squirrels (and ensure they planted some for the woods here as well!)... Not that I've been paying very close attention over the years but there seemed like there were a normal amount of acorns here this year.
That is really interesting! I wonder if it's like cicadas, very locally dependent? We have a metal roof and heard almost no acorns falling this year--which was really strange! How do you process them?
first i put them in water to let the floaters come to the top to give to the squirrels. then i crack them open with a hammer. this was the most satisfying part for me! i especially loved when I would open ones that still grubs in them, watching them crawl around the squirrel bowl! then they soak in room temp water. This takes the longest but it's how you get the tannins out. you keep changing the water until the acorns taste ok. I'm keeping mine refrigerated until i'm ready to do something with them because I don't have a dehydrator and the lowest temp on my oven (150*) will cook the starch (so i've heard). But they do smell so so so good when they are roasting in the oven!
We have had chicken once, and ground turkey in chile ( which I think we could have left out but was vetoed by Mr. Robinette) another night. Every other meal has been vegetarian. I made lentils for the first time in my life! I am enjoying this challenge. Thanks for the inspiration. I am walking more and using my weights I think because I feel better. My love to you all!
You are the best mom!! And please remind your readers to cut the elastic on disposable masks before trashing. They're an entanglement risk for wildlife!
Thank you, Beth! Very good point about elastics! Vida (which I just ordered from) will recycle used masks, so we'll report back on how that goes. We should probably do a whole post on preventing entanglement risks!
I love this so much! We are mostly vegan at home and I just made a delicious vegan shepherds pie. Check out feastingathome.com for awesome vegan vegetarian and meat recipes by the amazing Sylvia! Tell Harriet that I totally agree with her about squash!
This article on easy vegan cooking for the family was in Canada's national newspaper on the weekend: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/food-and-wine/recipes/article-to-get-out-of-a-meal-planning-funk-anna-pippus-has-a-food-theme-for/. It looks like Anna Pippus has a website too :)
Cool! Thank you, Barbara! It looks like her website is easyanimalfree.com. Looks great!
I'm in Cary and I actually learned to process acorns this year, as well as how to spot the difference between the ones that come from red oaks versus those from white oaks. I made at least three weekend trips to visit the oaks in my neighborhood and came back with large enough hauls to share plenty with the squirrels (and ensure they planted some for the woods here as well!)... Not that I've been paying very close attention over the years but there seemed like there were a normal amount of acorns here this year.
That is really interesting! I wonder if it's like cicadas, very locally dependent? We have a metal roof and heard almost no acorns falling this year--which was really strange! How do you process them?
first i put them in water to let the floaters come to the top to give to the squirrels. then i crack them open with a hammer. this was the most satisfying part for me! i especially loved when I would open ones that still grubs in them, watching them crawl around the squirrel bowl! then they soak in room temp water. This takes the longest but it's how you get the tannins out. you keep changing the water until the acorns taste ok. I'm keeping mine refrigerated until i'm ready to do something with them because I don't have a dehydrator and the lowest temp on my oven (150*) will cook the starch (so i've heard). But they do smell so so so good when they are roasting in the oven!
We have had chicken once, and ground turkey in chile ( which I think we could have left out but was vetoed by Mr. Robinette) another night. Every other meal has been vegetarian. I made lentils for the first time in my life! I am enjoying this challenge. Thanks for the inspiration. I am walking more and using my weights I think because I feel better. My love to you all!
That is awesome, Anne! I love lentils, and this is my favorite lentil soup: https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/four-corners-lentil-soup-56389518
I really appreciate that epicurious made the commitment not to publish any new recipes with meat.
You are the best mom!! And please remind your readers to cut the elastic on disposable masks before trashing. They're an entanglement risk for wildlife!
Thank you, Beth! Very good point about elastics! Vida (which I just ordered from) will recycle used masks, so we'll report back on how that goes. We should probably do a whole post on preventing entanglement risks!
I love this so much! We are mostly vegan at home and I just made a delicious vegan shepherds pie. Check out feastingathome.com for awesome vegan vegetarian and meat recipes by the amazing Sylvia! Tell Harriet that I totally agree with her about squash!
That website looks great! And so awesome that you are mostly vegan!