Talk. About. A. Disaster.
Seriously. When we came up with the idea to make roasted chestnuts, we were so proud of ourselves. PERFECT! It’s Christmasy, it’s a dessert, it’s just fun all around. And I found this cool peppermint serving tray on Pinterest I wanted to make. A win win.
However, we did NOT know what we were getting ourselves into. I highly recommend NOT following this recipe. In fact, I may not even give you the actual recipe, just because I’m that adamant that you should not do it. But I do think you need to hear the story behind these horrid little suckers. But look at the pretty peppermint tray! It’s so pretty!
First of all, chestnuts feel weird. They are all pliable and bendy – not at all like a normal REAL nut. We cut an X on each of the chestnuts – that’s right. Each one. It took forever. And I still wasn’t sure if I was doing it right. I’m pretty sure I didn’t. It was all down hill from there.
The directions we found said to roast the nuts just like we’re doing – on the grill, stirring frequently. These bad boys burn quick. Anyway, we turned these things like crazy, but they still got dark. Very dark. The instructions on how to break this guys open were fairly unclear, except in timing. They said to handle while they were warm, but not warm enough to burn you. So we waited a while, staring at them, then dug in. This was not an easy task. The shells don’t just pop open. You have to peel and prod and bang and tear…and then you get a tiny sliver off. After you get the first layer off there’s this gross hair stuff – bleh.
So….I figured if we cover it in chocolate, maybe the hair would just go away?
That didn’t work. Not to mention the nuts were hard. And just kind of gross. Thank God there was chocolate.
BUT…look at my pretty peppermint dish! I guess this experiment wasn’t a complete fail, because I’m so making more of these trays – I think I might even try making different shaped ones and bowls. Screw the chestnuts. Give me the peppermints.
How and where do I find the peppermint tray?
Bill –
A. Ouch. So you REALLY don’t want the roasted chestnut recipe? Even after I raved about it and talked it up like it was the best thing in the world – whatever. 🙂
B. Here is the link to a blog that made this peppermint tray. I will say that I used a pie plate instead of a cookie sheet – I liked how it gave it the definitive circle shape. And I am going to try to lay it over a bowl to cool and see if I can make the peppermint serving tray. It’s crazy easy and awesome. Good luck to you with that project. And…stay away from the chestnuts!
http://www.mrshappyhomemaker.com/2011/12/peppermint-candy-trays-and-fluted-bowls-too/
This made me laugh out loud — but I do love the plate. I was wondering if that would work when I saw it on Pinterest 🙂