Hazelnuts Revisited

Food tastes better when cooked or baked from scratch, yourself. Even better when some effort and sweat have been expended gathering ingredients. Whether foods are grown from seeds in backyard gardens, foraged from the wilderness, squeezed from a goat or cow, or cracked in a family circle around the kitchen table, patience is necessary and satisfaction guaranteed.

Uncertain economic times turn my mind to solutions. How to feed my family real food while staying within an affordable budget. How to get the most out of what is available to us. Local berries, nuts, CSA boxes of produce, local grass-fed beef, local dairy products, and stores that stock their shelves with fresh ingredients grown kindly are a few wonderful solutions.

It's not hard to eat close-to-the-earth foods. But one must be dedicated - and patient.

My latest dessert creation began with an idea and recipe from a friend. The rest was up to us. To make this maple-hazelnut pie we gleaned nuts from a local farm, dried, cracked, and roasted them, then chopped them with a sharp knife. I could have purchased nuts from a bulk food bin, but I wouldn't know where they'd been grown, they'd be stale, and well, I would have to pay for them. A little effort and family time spent harvesting and processing filberts produced more than a bowl of nuts. It produced bonding, joy, laughter, exercise - and satisfaction.

While I was putting the ingredients together according to the instructions I thought of my Canadian friend, WC, who shared this recipe on her blog. It looked so good I had to give it a whirl. To spend time in the kitchen thinking about her and all the wonderful foods she prepares and shares, the art expressed in every dish and photo, well, it made me feel pretty good. Sharing with someone I've never met but who has a common interest in healthy edibles prepared with joy gave me a very pleasant afternoon.

My pie just came out of the oven. We'll let it cool and sit overnight, to be sampled tomorrow. For now it is a solid reminder sitting on the counter offering its sweet, nutty aroma not only to our household but the neighborhood as well, an enjoyable reminder to me that preparing food can be art, it can be responsible, it can be affordable, it can be proudly shared across nations - and it can be fun.

It's just a pie, sure. But it means friendship to me. It means time spent with Tom and the girls on a pleasant Sunday afternoon. It means pampering my family with whole tasty treats. It means there is an aspect of life - eating - that is too often unappreciated, hurried, even toxic when it can be so... so much more.

While I can't cook treasures for every meal I can present them often. It's a choice and it makes a difference to family and friends - and to me.

(Bowlful of hot, roasted filberts, exploding with flavor!)