Picnic Weekend Part 2: Salted Brazil Nuts

Because one day of hiking just wasn't enough for us, Thatkid and I met up with his friends for another day full of fun the very next day.  Horsewhisper has been frequenting Daley Ranch with her family recently and felt like it would be a good venue for the little guys to stretch their legs.

None of them were actually all that into the hike, but they did love spending time with each other.  They're all very into super heroes right now, so they spent a lot of time "flying" down the trail.

We headed all the way up to Ranch where we had picnic lunches, went on a snake hunt, and played with sticks.  This is one of my favorite pictures of the kids.  Juriskid did NOT want his picture taken, Little HW isn't paying attention, and Little Pirate and Thatkid obviously have no idea where the camera is, but know they're supposed to smile.

The grownups talked about how much these guys have changed since the beginning.  The first meeting was when the kids were 5 months old (before Thatbaby was even born!) And they just sat around staring at each other like babies.  Now they're running, playing, and interacting with each other.

Thatkid and I were definitely tired out from our hike and busy morning, but it's always nice to go for a walk with friends.  And since everyone there was a mom, we were prepared for everything.  No worries about forgetting sunscreen.  And snacks galore for the kids.  The Horsewhispers won the competition for best snacks.  They had pretzels AND trail mix with M&Ms.  We spoke about the biggest problem I have with trailmix - Thatkid eats all the m&ms and leaves the rest.  Which is why we tend to stick with just nuts as snacks.  But nuts are a great snack on their own.  Sure chocolate is nice, but it's not necessary.  Especially when the nuts are roasted and salted, and sliced thin to make snacking easy.

Salted Brazil Nuts

1 cup Brazil nuts

1 Tbsp butter

salt

1. Preheat oven to 350.  Cover the nuts with cold water in a saucepan and bring to a boil.  Lower the heat and simmer for 3 minutes.  Drain and cool.
2. Slice the nuts lengthwise and spread on a baking pan.  
3. Dot with butter, sprinkle with salt, and bake for 15 minutes.

Chestnuts Roasting on An Open Fire: Roast Chestnuts

TMIL loves to make snotty snide comments about gifts my husband and son receive.  I'm specifically referring to anything warm - like the beanie and sweatshirt Thatkid got for his birthday.  Or the flannel lined pants I got Thatboy for Christmas.  "Well they'll never wear THAT" she snorts.  Pretty bold comment from a woman who can count on one hand the number of times she's been to San Diego, none of which has been during the winter.


So I am going to paint you a picture of the difference between the weather in San Francisco this winter, versus what we've got where I am.

The morning we left for San Francisco, it was 36 degrees out when I was walking Thatdog.  We got in very late Saturday night.  Sunday morning I realized I had left my winter coat at home!  Only to find out, I wasn't going to need it at all.  A cardigan was sufficient for the entire week we were there.  Thatkid wore shorts.

We spent one day we were there at Golden Gate Park.  Visiting the ducks at the lake.

The Conservatory of Flowers.

And running through gardens filled with blooms.

In contrast, it has been snowing in parts of San Diego.  We've found our temperatures regularly in the 40s, dipping into the low 30s at night.  It's cold here!  It makes me miss having a fireplace.  Although I have been taking advantage of the new throw blanket Thatboy got me for Chanukah. 

And even though I can't roast my chestnuts over an open fire, the cold weather makes these sweet nuts the perfect wintery treat.  Roasted chestnuts are a tad more labor intensive than say, a bag of almonds, but they are well worth the effort. 

Roast Chestnuts

The instructions and ingredients couldn't be simpler.  

Preheat oven to 450.  Take the chestnuts and use a knife to score an x into the flat side.

Place the chestnuts on a baking pan and bake for 15 minutes.  

Peel while warm and enjoy!