Chestnuts and Butterscotch Krimpets

It has been a disappointing week. First of all, I had been craving Tastykake's Butterscotch Krimpets for several months. I hadn't bought those cakes in several years, but I decided it was worth splurging. I was so annoyed when I bit into a butterscotch krimpet and discovered that (1) the icing had less of a butterscotch flavor and (2) the cake part was a bit dry, with a kind of chemical-ish taste. I don't know if Tastykake switched to a different recipe or my tastebuds just changed.

The second disappointment involves chestnuts. I had read on someone's bucket list that they wanted to try chesnuts roasted on an open fire. I thought "Gee, I've always wondered what those taste like. I should put that on my list, too." So when I saw a package of chesnuts at the grocery store recently, I snatched them up. I totally ignored the voice of reason in my head going "It's almost March. These chesnuts are imported from Italy. How fresh can they be ?" Mainly because the voice of Martha Stewart in my head hissed back, "Kindly shut your mouth. This will lead to producing marvelous handmade ornaments and hand sewn Victorian Christmas caroler costumes. A full on proper Christmas!"

The directions of the clam shell package said (and I'm paraphrasing) "Score an 'x' on the soft side of each chestnut, using a sharp knife. Stick on a cookie sheet and roast in the oven for 15 minutes. Enjoy!" I cracked open one of the chesnuts before it went into the oven. The piece I pulled out looked like a fat walnut. The chesnut did not break apart when I tapped it on the counter and tried to squish it in my hand. So I only took a tentative, gentle bite, not wanting to lose any teeth. Yep, hard as a rock. I stuck the try in the oven anyway, expecting the chesnuts would soften up. Then I went to Google to see if chestnuts are supposed to be that hard. Whoops, they shouldn't be. But apparently you can boil them and they soften up.

So I yanked the tray out of the oven, cracked open all the shells and dropped the chestnuts into boiling water. After twenty minutes, I pulled a chestnut out of the pot for tasting. The flavor was a cross between walnuts, almond extract and cornmeal. Gross! That's off my bucket list now for sure.

Hopefully next week brings tastier food : P