Every fall my family gathers chestnuts from a nearby tree. Then, we pop them in the freezer to enjoy throughout the year. If you’ve never roasted chestnuts before, you have to give it a try. It’s easy and fun to do – and takes just a few minutes in the microwave.
Quick somebody make some biscuits. I currently have four jars of crabapple butter in my fridge, and I’m dying to crack one open. The smell. The taste. The color. It’s fall in a jar.
But don’t take my word for it. Make some, and see for yourself. Here’s my recipe.
Last weekend while we were at the cabin, I picked crabapples. We inherited two crabapple trees with the property.
Ever spotted a chestnut tree in the spring only to forget where you saw it when fall finally rolls around? I sure have. And so I decided to create a foraging journal to help me keep track of my finds.
We picked five gallons of crabapples the other night. Now I’m busy turning them into tasty things. Like this crabapple sauce. Isn’t the color gorgeous? And the house smelled so good when I was making it. If you have a crabapple tree that you’ve been eyeing, you have to make this recipe at least once. It’s a lot of work – I’m not going to lie – but the end result is pretty spectacular.
Ready to give it a go? Here’s the recipe.
I’ve been watching the crabapple trees near our house closely, and it’s almost time to pick them! If you’ve never picked crabapples before, here’s a simple way to tell when they’re ripe and ready!
I’ve been foraging for years, but I’ve always stayed clear of mushrooms. They fascinate me, but they also scare me. There’s just too much room to make a mistake, and I don’t think a book can teach you everything you need to know. Mushrooming is definitely something that you need to learn first-hand from an expert. Or better still, a whole group of experts. And that’s just what I’m doing. My husband and I joined a mushroom club last week, and we went on our first foray over the weekend.
While we were out yardsaling this morning, we passed a house with a GIANT apple tree out front. The ground was absolutely littered with apples, so we decided to stop and ask if we could pick some. An elderly man answered the door, and told us we were welcome to as many as we wanted. He said someone else had just gathered some, so we might not find many, but that we could come back whenever we wanted. Score!
We rounded up a few pounds of good apples …
Blackberry picking – it’s no beauty pageant. If you want to have a good time doing it, you have to dress for the occasion, and that means leaving your house in a crazy get up. If your neighbor’s don’t raise an eyebrow when they see you heading out, you’re doing something wrong. It’s as simple as that.
Picking berries with two hands is a lot faster than picking with one. That’s just some of that real-world math that I’ve learned along the way. If you have a berry-picking mission in your future, take a minute to make yourself a hands-free berry picking bucket before you head out.
Blackberry season arrived a bit early this year. My husband and I have been out picking every day this week, and there are still tons of berries to pick.
I estimate that we’ve picked about five gallons so far.
So what are we doing with all of those berries?
It’s mulberry season here in the South! We added these tasty little berries to our foraging list last year, and my only regret is that we didn’t discover them sooner. They look like blackerries, but they taste a lot sweeter and they don’t have any thorns.
We went picking last night, so I thought I’d show you how it’s done.
Go gather some chestnuts. Then, use them to make chestnut butter. It’s a fun (and free) alternative to peanut butter, and it makes a great gift. Here’s how it’s made.
Roasting chestnuts in the microwave is great when you just want enough for a snack, but if you’re feeding a crowd or need a large quantity for a recipe, oven-roasting is the way to go. Here’s my process for roasting chestnuts in the oven.
Another family walk proves fruitful … while we were out exploring the other night, I happened to spot a group of crabapple trees that I had never noticed before. They’re on public land (so they’re fair game), and the fruit on a couple of the trees is close to ripe. Looks like I’ll be making crabapple jelly, crabapple bread and all other manner of crabapple goodness over the next few months.
I’ve spent a lot of time exploring my city by foot, but I still make new discoveries all the time. Today, it was a mulberry tree just outside of my neighborhood. I’ve probably walked past this tree hundreds of times without even noticing it, but today all of those ripe berries caught my attention, and boy, am I glad that they did.
Hi, I'm Erin
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