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Post by macmex on Jan 9, 2023 12:09:32 GMT -6
Time for a bit of an update. I continue collecting and processing acorns, though I've slowed on collecting. I have quite a few ready and just waiting to be shelled.
I've now come up with a great winter time routine for processing acorns. I shell them when my family and I are conversing at the table or watching a video. Over the holiday we did watch a couple of videos. I wouldn't think of watching an hour long video without shelling acorns, now! I've gotten quite good at it, only occasionally needing to use my pen knife to pick a meat out fo the shell.
I've grown pretty fond of the rather small white oak acorns we have around us. They're abundant and, if roasted in the oven, first, about 2/3 of them can be opened with ones fingers alone; no need for pliers to crack them.
Hot water leaching has proven itself to me. For one, we have a wood stove going most of the time, providing a constant heating surface at no extra cost in fuel. Additionally, this process makes stray shells and membranes separate and float to the top. Leached nuts are clean and easy to dry and grind.
Acorn flour has a unique, nutty flavor, which I enjoy. In my family I am renowned for focusing on such a project, trying it in many different applications. The family jokes that I've gone overboard once I make "coffee" with something like this. I haven't yet, but I will soon.
One evening last week we decided to make "cream of wheat" for supper. I took some wheat out to the grinder and did a rough grind. We've found this product to be superior (and far cheaper) to store bought cream of wheat. It just requires a few more minutes simmering. Anyway, while cooking it up, I couldn't resist the temptation to add about a cup of acorn flour to our cream of wheat. Not long afterwards Jerreth and I were sitting by the wood stove eating our cereal. I was glowing about my experiment and asked what she thought. She didn't look enthused. She agreed that it taste "alright," but expressed disappointment that I had served her up more ... acorns.
Okay, I may have to hold off trying to make acorn "coffee."
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Post by woodeye on Jan 9, 2023 14:05:50 GMT -6
macmex, Your acorn creations sound great, although I've never tried acorns other than fresh off the tree when I was a kid. I need to try them again, who knows, they might taste better now because it's been almost 60 years since I tested them. I agree with your prognosis however, it might be best to at least warn your significant other of the ingredients beforehand. Sometimes it's the little things that count the most, and by little things, I'm not necessarily talking about little acorns.
Anyway, I enjoyed your story...
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Post by macmex on Jan 25, 2023 14:03:32 GMT -6
Experiments with acorns continue in our home. I have noted, however, that most of the ones I find outdoors, still on the ground, have deteriorated in quality by January. I'm just working off of the pale of acorns I still have from November's harvest.
I did have to slow down on acorn consumption, as my wife was getting tired of acorn stuff. Still, she wants me to keep experimenting. This has too much potential for feeding a person to ignore.
Last night I mixed up my sourdough cornbread recipe, substituting half of the cornmeal with acorn flour. (The cornmeal was from Mesquakie Indian Corn.) This morning I put it in the oven, set a timer, and went out to do chores before going to work. I told Jerreth I'd text her when the timer went off, so she could take it out of the oven. Well, because of the slush and snow, chores took a bit longer. Additionally, I was texting back and forth with my boss, about work. I FORGOT about the cornbread, even though the alarm went off to remind me! I came back indoors to get my things and RUN to the car, trying not to be late. I only remembered at the very last minute that I needed to get the cornbread out of the oven. Fortunately it wasn't burned. Sadly, I did not have a chance to try it. I got Jerreth to take pictures for me. Later I will have to tell you my impressions in regards to taste and texture.
This is what it looked like, just out of the oven.
It sure smelled good!
Even if I hadn't used acorn flour, this "cornbread" would have been a bit on the heavy side because I used sourdough to make it rise.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Jan 25, 2023 19:08:56 GMT -6
Remembering to take that bread out at all was a great success! That speaks volumes to your coping skills. Just hearing that part made my day! That's definitely a praise item in my book!
George,
Have you ever used a leaf blower to find acorns?
I found out by accident this Autumn that when I blew the leaves away, the good acorns stayed in place and the hollow ones blew away.
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Post by woodeye on Jan 25, 2023 22:22:21 GMT -6
heavyhitterokra, I never would have thought about the good acorns staying put while the hollow ones blew away. That's good info!
After that all you would need is a 20 volt cordless Shop Vac to pick them up with...
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Post by macmex on Jan 26, 2023 6:53:08 GMT -6
Ron, you are right on both counts. I am doing better than I have at times. I did remember the bread before it burned. Last night, when I went to bed I was thankful that I knew that there wasn't anything left on in the kitchen. Since 2020 I've left sugar water on the stove twice, nearly causing a fire. For a year afterwards I had nightmares, waking up at night and imagining that the house was full of smoke. We've come a long way, in that respect.
Great tip on the leaf blower too: I will give it a try next fall. I noticed in December, while cutting firewood across the road, that there was an abundance of good acorns under the leaves, where I was working.
I had TWO pieces of my acorn/cornbread when I got home from work.
The bread was firm enough to slice down the middle without crumbling. I warmed it up and ate it with butter and honey. It was very good.
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Post by rdback on Jan 26, 2023 14:58:38 GMT -6
That looks delicious to me George! We just finished off a pot of homemade chili last night, and that cornbread would have been a welcome addition.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Jan 30, 2023 22:32:54 GMT -6
Man, I wish George had been around back in my Boy Scout days, we'd have learned a lot!
Thanks, George, for working out the details and solving the mysteries of putting those acorns to work like that. All my life I've thought, "Too bad we can't find a use for these things." Now, thanks to all your hard work, we can!
That's a prime example of how a craft can be lost in the span of a single generation. Because no one knew to teach me how to process and use acorns, I was not able to teach my children. We'd have had a blast gathering those things twenty years ago, when my boys and I were still spending so much time together in the woods.
Acorn hoe cakes would have been a welcome treat, sitting around the campfire eating an old, tough, red squirrel.
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Post by macmex on Jan 31, 2023 7:00:15 GMT -6
You know, there's always going to be plenty of need for experimentation with things like this. You're right about how such technology gets lost in a single generation. I bet the old timers stopped doing it because it reminded them of hard times, when they had to, and because flour and cornmeal became so affordable.
I'm also impressed with both how useful and deceitful the internet sources can be. There's "gold" out there, when you dig for it, but it's mixed in with a lot of iron pyrite, so to speak. People pass on incomplete or flat out wrong information and it's difficult to sort through it.
I'm learning to follow some of my interests, even when they seem eccentric, just because it is good to learn; both for the knowledge and for the mental stimulation. I've gotten more enjoyment out of acorns and oaks, over the last several months "than a man ought to be allowed." This technology has great potential but if one is going to use it, well... they have to start using it before necessity strikes.
In the coming year I look forward to refining my ability to recognize different varieties of oak both by their leaves and by bark and acorns. I've started more acorns for sprouting and planting than I probably can accommodate. But surely, if this is the case, we'll find homes for the little trees.
Ron's experimentation with both okra breeding and paw paw culture have been a great inspiration to me. I remember, back in 2007 or so, purchasing paw paw seedlings from Oikos Tree Crops and planting them, only to have the wither and die in our hot Oklahoma summer. Sadly, I dropped that project, thinking they couldn't grow here. Now, through Ron's work, we know it can be done. I have a 4' paw paw in my front yard and planted out three more seedlings in December. I know how to do this.
This is also one of the beauties of on-line and local communities like Green Country Seed Savers. Everyone can focus on what catches their fancy and report back, helping others to advance in their knowledge and abilities.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Jan 31, 2023 18:20:24 GMT -6
Those pawpaws have really been a blessing. Who knew they were so easily maintained, once they get past that vulnerable stage between seed germination and two years of age?
It took about 4 years to get our first fruits, but once they were established, we've had pawpaws almost every year since. Last year's drought was kind of rough on them though. Most of the fruits dried up and mummified on the trees.
On the other side of the coin, I think the extra stress caused them to really get busy putting out runners. I'll bet I have a hundred little pawpaw saplings needing to be dug this Spring, or else mowed under before they take over the place.
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Post by macmex on Feb 10, 2023 11:45:19 GMT -6
Here's another interesting tip: If one adds just a little acorn flour to a sourdough sponge consisting primarily of white wheat flour, the bread (whatever sort you decide to make) will have a lavender tint to it.
For some reason it's really hard to catch it in a picture. But this latest batch of bread has definite purple coloration to it. When I add a little acorn (not a lot) to the sourdough culture itself, the liquid which forms on top of it has a definite purple hue to it.
This might be a fun thing for those cooking with small children.
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Post by chrysanthemum on Feb 11, 2023 8:44:38 GMT -6
I do see some of the lavender in that photo, macmex. How curious.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Feb 11, 2023 17:39:00 GMT -6
I wonder if that lavender color has anything to do with the pH level of the dough?
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Post by chrysanthemum on Feb 11, 2023 20:11:08 GMT -6
I was thinking something along those lines, too, about pH. I remember using red cabbage juice once to make a bluish sort of dye by making it more alkaline, I think. I would think the sourdough would be more acidic. It is a pretty color for bread, I have to say.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Feb 12, 2023 8:54:28 GMT -6
George,
the more I looked at that purple acorn bread, the more I thought to myself, "I've seen that color while cutting firewood before", then I remembered white oak's tendency to turn a lavender color along the sap edges as it's curing in the woodshed.
After that, I posted a question on a few wood cutter's forums and a few sawmill forums and saw that several people mentioned that working with unseasoned white oak turns their hands a purple color.
One person even posted this: One way to test white oak from red oak is to dilute a solution of sodium nitrate (saltpeter) and apply it to the end grain of the wood. If it's red oak, the color remains the same. If it's white oak, the wood turns various shades of purple.
Many people suspect the lavender color comes from tannins present in the sapwood of white oak. No one mentioned red oak doing this though.
I've noticed a flat growing, purple fungus, growing on decaying white oak trees in the woods before too. The fungus can be quite dark purple at times appearing almost black toward the outer edges where it's more oxidized and thicker. That would be something interesting to study to see if it has any good cloth-dying properties or other benefits.
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