Brazils for sure! Trouble is, the better i like the nut (cashews run a close second), the more fat there is in them.

I must be good, i must be good, i must be good..... :(

I'm allergic to nuts but I have found out over the years (by accident) that there are some I can eat. My favourite is hazelnuts. I can't have walnuts, almonds or peanuts. Cashews are good too. I really want to find out if I can eat pistachios, macadamias and brazils, from all the good things I've heard about them. And pecans too. The doctors said when I was a kid that based on the severity of my peanut allergy, they couldn't even test me for other nuts and I should just avoid them all. So I have to do my own testing!

Oh yes, Marcia, I forgot about Cashews, I donÂt dare bring into the house, IÂd have a whole can eaten in no time. At least with cracking nuts, they take longer to eat. DonÂt be afraid of the fat in nuts, itÂs a good healthy fat! Get that low fat concept out of your head. LOL

Gil, thatÂs too bad that youÂre allergic to some nuts.
Try the Mauna Loa Macadamias, they are so good! I buy them at Wal-Mart in the 227 gm bags, somewhat expensive but hmmm, delicious!

Sharon

Oooh let's not forget Chestnuts! Of course they're best if you have an "open fire" to roast them in... must get that fireplace going. But they're good in the oven too.

My favorite has got to be pecans. My great Aunt & Uncle 'wintered' someplace in the U.S. near the Mexico border & when they came to spend summers with us they would bring big bags of whole pecans that they had picked up off the ground. (I don't think the old folks could get away with any of that these days!) Sometimes they bring a bag of pecan halves that my uncle had shelled himself (he was pretty old & shaky), those ones were the best, absolutely perfect pecan halves. Mother never let us anywhere near them! lol

We also used to get mixed nuts in the shell from my aunt in Ontario every Christmas. We really looked forward to getting that package in the mail. With 6 kids they didn't last long so mom & dad would often hide the package if it arrived 'too early'(the Mandarin oranges never lasted too long either). Seems to me that the hazelnuts & pecans were the first to go, along with the Brazil nuts, followed by the almonds & lastly the walnuts.

Great memories! Hmmm... what was it with relatives sending us poor prairie folk nuts??? :)

Do chestnuts require some special preparation before roasting? I wasn't over the moon with the ones I tried but they were roasted in the oven, not on an open fire, and maybe weren't the freshest...

Ooooh, pine nuts are good too.

CG, Great memories all right, I remember there would always be a few walnuts and a mandarin orange in our Christmas stockings, of course being a kid, I was more interested in the little trinkets instead.

But back in my mom's days, she said that mandarin oranges was a generous and fortunate treat to receive.

Sharon

I still put a mandarin and a handful of unshelled nuts into all of our stockings every year. I also grew up listening to parents telling us how fortunate they were to get an orange at Christmas during the Depression. Funny how on Christmas Eve, I always think about that as I'm putting the oranges and nuts in.

I love almonds. Everyone else in my family eats all of the others and leaves the almonds. So, I usually sit down after Christmas and crack the bowlful of almonds that are sitting there. DH loves cashews and gets a can in his stocking every year.

But, my latest is Smoky BBQ Spitz sunflower seeds. Do they count as a nut? I never touched sunflower seeds until this summer and now I can't quit eating them.

Shauna

GC, chestnuts have to be fresh or they're terrible. The shells should feel springy and firm, not hard and brittle. If they're old, they can go moldy in the shells, or just dried out. The flesh should be soft and steamy after roasting, almost a bread-like consistency and sweet. They are often dried out in the stores around here by Christmas. If they explode when roasted, that's a good sign that they are still moist inside.

I still feel like it's a treat to have Mandarin oranges. My family used to get one box only per year (they were expensive!). But that's nothing compared to my Dad growing up in England during war rationing... he goes crazy over sugar in general, but specifically "candied peel". He's the only person I know who actually loves fruitcake. Weird!

My favorite are the brazil nuts and then the almonds.
Another thing that I do at christmas is put pistachio nuts in a bowl with lots of prewapped chocolates. It is kind of nice having the sweet and then salt to eat.

Shelley

NUTS!

Actually, I'm pretty fanatic about any mix of shell nuts. but if I can mix my own- hazelnuts, brazil nuts, and almonds- in that order! I really miss my almond trees in Vegas!

Funny on the fruit. I put fruit in the kids stockings every year- they have to eat that before the candy! Same at easter- egg and fruit first!

My dad grew up during the depression in California. He wouldn't eat an apricot (years of 'cot-cutting) or any burger that wasn't charcoal! But sugar- when I was a kid he used to send us to the store for a BOX of candy bars!