Friday, January 22, 2010

Walnut Sugar

Yes, I am post-happy today. And I love the macro-photos.

Walnuts are messy business. I had a backpack stuffed full of hulls that I dragged home with me weighing in at 30lbs. I ripped the hulls off the best I could and then put the rest of them into a sink of warm water. this is a bit difficult to describe but I sort of rubbed the walnuts together, rolling them over and knocking the rest of the loose junk off of them. This took enough of the hull off that they could be split open, etc.

I threw them on some cookie sheets and put them in the oven for about 45 mins at 225deg. See that glossy bit on the walnut shell in the picture? I'd say about 1/5th of the shells had spots like this. Curiosity got the better of me (it always does) and I tasted it. It was sugar! Anyone have an idea what's taking place in this nut? Any traditional or historical references to gathering sugar like this? It would take a ton of nuts to get any appreciable amount this way, but might there be a better method out there?

2 comments:

  1. Here are a couple of sites I came across to grow your own sugar cane at home:
    http://homefixated.com/2009/06/10/how-to-grow-your-own-sugarcane/
    http://home.howstuffworks.com/easy-science-projects-for-kids1.htm
    Also, we're all waiting at the edge of our seats to hear more about beekeeping from Todd but all we get is Beekeeping... nothing..nothing..nothing!

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  2. Mark--please don't try to taste any mysterious goo in New York. You will only regret it.

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