Chestnuts

In the spirit of trying something new, we headed out to the Nella Chestnut Farm in Hood River to their annual Chestnut Roast.  A local winery brought red wine, with the idea that freshly roasted chestnuts could be placed in the glass to bring a delightful aroma to the wine. The roasting chestnuts smelled wonderful! Jasper and I skipped the wine but he loved the farm's extra-long swing.  We brought a bag of chestnuts home, and I made the recipe they  feature on their website for pan-roasted brussels sprouts with chestnuts, shallots and bacon. My boys unfortunately are not brussels sprouts fans and mostly just ate the bacon!  But I thought it was decidedly yummy.  I pureed the rest of my chestnuts and the puree was heavenly.  I'm saving it for a chestnut dessert.  I found chestnut recipes in my French, Italian, Turkish and Hungarian cookbooks, with a most thorough description of their preparation in Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan. The chestnuts themselves look like they could be spiny creatures from Dr. Seuss and it was fun to see them growing.  The farm is on the Hood River County Fruit Loop, which is certainly impressive even in the fall.  Orchards of every description stretched in all directions.  We followed signs to Hood River's Panorama Point Park, and discovered amazing views of stunning fall colors.  I expect on clear days the surrounding mountains would make it even more stunning.  

Chestnut trees.

Pear trees in Hood River.

A view from Panorama Point Park.