The Toy Fairy

My Review of Edu Science ProLab 1200X Microscope

2008-12-30T06:41:00.001-08:00

Seriously I'm sure that I'm not the only person who coveted the science/microscope sets in the Sears catalog while growing up. I'm pretty sure I never asked for one only because I knew my parents would never go for the shocking cost for just one present. My strategy had to be to ask my parents (or 'santa') for multiple presents that were not too expensive...I learned young that my parents went for quantity of presents over quality. Ask for one expensive present without specifying any cheaper ones and you would end up with a bunch of cheap things that your parents liked but you didn't.

Well perhaps all parents are doomed to some point to buy for their children what they would have wanted as a child but never received? I promised myself that when I had children I would buy them cool science kits....and I swear that my eldest pointed to a microscope kit in some catalog at least one time (or is this a false memory I invented to justify my gift choice?) So yesterday we opened her microscope and tried to use it. It seemed to work and I was even able to figure out how to blow the piece of dust off the inside lense that was causing a problem...but we couldn't get the slides to focus. I simple see the white circle - there does seems to be "cells" that we can focus in on but this doesn't seem to be part of the specimen itself...more hidden residue or glue or something on the slide. I have not idea if I am doing something wrong because shockingly enough there is no manual or help included! I guess I just remembered all the microscope kits I looked at as a child included helpful instructions or manuals. This one completely leaves you all on your own! There is no support, website, or troubleshooting. I swear that my child's barbie pool came with more detailed instructions and helpful information than this microscope did! Perhaps mattel should consider a Barbie microscope kit? (Although mattel has a history itself of putting less features on barbie technology products than on their boy's technology products...that pink paint must be real expensive!)

In Summary: My review on the product is below. Overall I think it's a real shame because the microscope itself seems to be fairly sturdy but what good is it if nobody can figure out how to use it? Most parents are not biology teachers or medical researchers. A product like this and at this cost needs a whole lot more support and nice thick, detailed instruction/lab manual included!

Originally submitted at Toys R Us

1200x Total Magnification; 4/10/40x Objective Lens Magnification; 3x Barlow Lens (Triples Objective Power); Laboratory Grade Glass Optical Lens; Die-Cast Body; Dual Power Operation; Includes AC Adaptor

Really only 400x - has no manual!

By from NY on 12/30/2008

Pros: Had all pieces, Durable, Light turns on

Cons: Had dirt speck in lense, 3x lenses doesn't connect, No support, Won't focus on slides, No Detailed Instructions, Poor case design, Poor Design, Very Expensive, No lab book

Describe Yourself: Working Parent, Parent Of Two Or More Children

We're not sure if this toy works yet or not because it comes with no lab manual or instructions on how to use the microscope!(Only has a simple diagram with the briefest info on the product.)It seems to be magnifiying but yet we can not bring into focus any of the included slides no matter how careful we are. Oh and don't be fooled by the 1200x claim - it really only goes up to 400x! It includes some other 3x lense but this other lens does not connect to the microscope at all - what are you supposed to do with the 3x lense? For $70 I expected a whole lot more than what I received! There is no website or support for this product at all.

The 2008 Sears Wishbook vs. the 1979 Sears Wishbook

2008-12-14T08:19:00.000-08:00

Has anyone taken a look on the Sears website at their 2008 wishbook? (You can view the whole thing online.) I ordered one but it hasn't come in the mail yet. Am I the only one that has noticed Sears has lost the catalog focus that made it so wonderful? They really don't seem to remember who their core customer base is that made them a successful company for so many decades.

What's my biggest Christmas gift-giving problem? From looking at the 2008 Sears Wishbook, Sears seems to think my biggest holiday gift problem is deciding what to put in my new home movie theatre/game room! I don't know about you but I don't happen to have a home movie theatre/game room. Now to be fair there are some in America who bought new homes and do have massive, empty spare rooms however by watching the latest news I'm sadly guessing that many of those families were only able to buy huge homes by getting in over their head mortgage-wise. Right now they are probably more concerned about trying to pay their mortgage and avoid foreclosure as opposed to buying pool tables and full size popcorn machines.

My biggest holiday gift dilemma and also shared by almost all Americans is: Buying presents on a budget for old ladies who own everything and various relatives that won't appreciate what you get them anyway! The old Sears wishbooks were chock full of reasonable gift giving solutions for the impossible to buy for....but the new wishbooks seem to only focus on buying things for your own immediate 'nuclear' and rich family. I mean its fun to look at those big ticket items but priorities are priorities....all of us have to buy something for a grumpy Aunt Edna or some other relative that we have absolutely nothing in common with but have to see once a year! Please Sears...give me a gift idea for the relative who always buys me a notepad & pen writing set each year?

Honestly although I know I'll never, ever get anything from my relatives that I could use or enjoy this holiday season...I do get this perverse joy in trying to rise above that knowledge and buy them something they might actually like or find useful. Am I the only poor soul with this affliction to try to do nicer unto others than they would do unto you? I know I don't always succeed but I do keep other people's interests in mind and I do try. It's nice when you get the gift spot on and see that look of surprise and non-fake appreciation...but most of my relatives don't even bother to try. They say I'm so hard to buy for (do you ever hear that?) but what I've really learned is to translate that into: "I know you don't like the things that I like and I think it's just horrible of you to not have the same taste as me. I really don't value our relationship enough to find out what you really like or to go out of my way to shop at one of the stores that carry things you like so I'll just give you this generic body lotion set that I found at Walmart instead." Now I'm sorry if that sounds unappreciative but seriously I do appreciate gifts that might be way off mark but I know the person put even some tiny bit of thought into it and at least tried. I suppose this holiday season I should be grateful that I do have at least a few relatives and friends in my life who care enough to at least try....so at least I have that going for me!

Take a look at the new and an old wishbooks and let me know what you think! Do you have people in your lives that you wish you could order out of the 1979 catalog for their Christmas gift this year?:

Link to the 2008 Sears Wishbook Catalog

Link to the 1979 Sears Wishbook Catalog on Flickr

Holiday Barbies 2008

2008-11-09T17:10:00.000-08:00

Admit it even the most mature, serious woman can't help but glance over at the Barbie display if she happens to find herself in that aisle...sure she was looking for toothpaste and it's in the same aisle it was in last week but hey, the holiday Barbies are out!

The first and most well known holiday barbie is the one that used to be called the Christmas Barbie. Why did they change the name? To make it easier for parents to give for Hannukkah or Diwali? Admit it she's still the Christmas Collector Barbie! Although I have to say that this year's Christmas Barbie is less than inspiring. Oh it's pretty. It has an 80s Bob Mackie sorta look to it...great if you like that but somehow it doesn't seem original enough or worth of an official 2008 collector Barbie in my humble opinion.

Holiday Kelly. These dolls are targeted as stocking stuffers. Actually they do well for that. They are small enough for most stockings. The outfits look like holiday dresses and they come with cute cups of hot cocoa. I also thought these were cute two years ago and also sometime year before that too. (Think last year the Kelly dolls wore Christmas-related costumes like Toy soldier and Reindeer.) These are still great for little girls stocking stuffers but adult collectors of the Kelly dolls will likely be disappointed that these dolls don't seem to be much different than the ones a few years ago.

Stocking Barbie comes in a old fashioned looking plastic(?) stocking. I'm suspecting that this one with the modern-yet-old-fashioned look to it is meant to have it appeal to grandparents, aunts, and those looking for a Toys for Tots doll to donate to the charity. Too bad this photo doesn't show the stocking but if you go to one of the local stores (Target in my case) then you'll be sure to see it right now. It has all the hallmarks of a great value and something that a little girl would be excited about when she opens it on Christmas morning (unless she doesn't like Barbie dolls...most girls do but can't force it on the few who don't.)

The best for last! Although I suspect that this might not be the first Christmas PJ Barbie doll...I don't hold that against Mattel. This doll's price is around $10 and very cute! It might not have the flashy bargain appeal of the stocking Barbie doll but this doll would be a great present for a little girl to open on Christmas Eve! (If you happen to follow the tradition of allowing one Christmas eve present.) She has a cute stuffed animal toy (Reindeer) and a little box with something as a gift for the child (not sure what the gift is as to me in the photo it looks more like an unpleasant item of medical equipment....but no matter.) This doll has the added benefit of being modest enough to give to the child of a relative or friend who might object to the other more skimpy Barbie dolls. If they do object then just tell them that it was between that or a Bratz doll...and you could take it back to exchange for the Bratz doll if they would like! That'll cause them to gasp in horror! That's right aunties and uncles...Barbies no longer generate as much moral outrage or concern now that Bratz have arrived on the toy store scene! It's like... Lonnie Anderson vs Paris Hilton.

Atari 2600 Memories

2008-09-18T06:57:00.001-07:00

ATARI 2600 NIGHT DRIVER:
I was talking to someone about this game the other day. We had this one when I was a kid and I remember playing it probably more than the other games because the rules were simple. I'd say this game was stressful and affected me years later. Because I crashed and burned so often in the night driving, it made me very nervous of driving in general....probably adding to my nervousness with my driver's ed. "If I can't avoid crashing with a video game...what type of driver am I going to be in real life?!"

RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK:
This game was probably the most complex game we had for the Atari 2600. It was hard! This was back before the time of the internet so not easy for a kid to find the hints for it. I liked the strategy of the game and the way it allowed wandering around in different rooms to try to find what you needed to move up to the next level. I did get beyond the first level and on the one hand I don't seem to remember ever winning the game but actually I think I must have watched someone solve it at one point. When I think of playing this game my impressions from my youth are:
1. Frustrating.
2. A hint at the future for video games beyond the war & sports video games that were the most common games at the time.

Too busy this week but I think I'll find an online version of this game this weekend and give it a try. I haven't tried any of the games yet and there might be other sites that offer these games also but here is a link from Console Classix to play some of the Atari 2600 games online.

Craftzine Blog and Modern Crochet

2008-09-13T09:03:00.000-07:00

I've recently made some modest attempts at crochet (some scarves, ponchos, and even a crochet cat) however as I am still very much a beginner it is fun to search the internet to see what I might be able to aspire to some day. The blog at Craft magazine is one source of much inspiration. They also have a flickr pool that readers can upload pictures of their crafts to. I love Craft magazine because it's targeted at a younger, more creative generation as compared to most craft magazines today. (Don't most of those magazines seem to be full of baby sweaters, table clothes, and strange holiday decorations?) Just from a search of crochet on Craft's flickr pool you can tell it's different:

Some of the most adorable and unexpected crochet I've found on the web includes food:

TV Dinner anyone?:

The cutest toast ever and more!:

Remember the Sears Wishbook Dollhouse?

2008-09-13T08:16:00.000-07:00

If you were a child during the late 70's to mid 80's, you probably remember this dollhouse from the Sears catalog. Men might even remember it as they were probably fighting their sisters for the ownership of the yearly Sears Wishbook due to this item. (Pictures thanks to the wonderful Flickr community)

It's funny to look at the furniture sets and see how dated they are now. The height of modern living back then is such a time capsule of the past now. But boy would I still love to own one of those old dollhouses - dated or not! The Sears dollhouse was actually produced today by Lundby, a Swedish company (although I don't ever remember that name being mentioned in the catalogs?)
The 2008 version of that traditional Lundby dollhouse:

and even cuter than that is the almost impossible to buy in the USA, Lundby 2008 Garden House/Cottage:

Lundby dollhouses are great with realistic details...but am I the only one to wonder why they still haven't been able in 2008 to make the dollhouse families look any cuter or more realistic? Like so many other dollhouse people I see from other companies, there is an odd, uncomfortable, not very realistic look about the dolls. Seems like all the engineering talent is spent on the houses and furniture... with little thought left over for the doll families and their clothes.

The Best Gluten Free Foods so Far

2008-09-13T07:46:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time since I've posted (I have this habit of forgetting my blog passwords so that doesn't help.) Hopefully it's time to make up for my long blogging break.

I run into people at the supermarket all the time who are looking at gluten-free foods and not sure what brands to get. Here is my personal take after 5 years on some of the best gluten-free food products I and my family have tried:

Best GF Bagels: Against the Grain Plain Bagels - Great taste, more flaky than a "normal" bagel. Reminds me almost of a cross between a bagel and a croissant but the best of both.

Best GF Sandwich Bread: Kinnikinnick Italian White Tapioca Rice Bread - Like all gluten free breads, it needs to be toasted for best flavor. However once toasted this is by far the best white gluten free bread I've ever had (which says a lot as I've tried even fresh bakery GF bread!)

Best GF Rolls: Chebe Cheese Bread Mix - Some stores have the frozen, ready to bake ones which are good but the best taste is probably from the mix. It's simple to make and the resulting light, fluffy, cheesy rolls are a hit even with the non-GF family members & friends!

Best GF Donuts: Celiac Specialties Cinnamon Sugar Donuts - These donuts taste like real donuts. This company got the recipe just right - cake like batter but not too heavy. No aftertaste. Yum!

Best GF Pasta: Tinkyada Rice Spaghetti Noodles & Schar Spaghetti Noodles - Oddly for as hard as it is to find good gluten free bread, it's absolutely easy to find great pasta! I really haven't tried a bad GF pasta that I can remember but Tinkyada and Schar are probably the best brands that taste just like "normal" pasta.

Well I'm sure I'll have to add to this list later.

My First Roast Goose

2007-12-30T07:19:00.000-08:00

While watching A Dickens's Christmas Carol and the Muppet's Christmas Carol this year, I found myself wondering about foods of Christmas past. I might have mentioned this previously but would Roast Goose make Christmas seem more...well more like Christmas? So I decided to have Goose for Christmas dinner this year.

I personally don't have a scullery maid with a cute Cockney accent to send to the butchers for a goose and didn't remember seeing any at the local supermarket. So I decided to order off the Internet. It didn't take me long to find Schiltz Goose Farms in South Dakota. I browsed the website to ensure it was a company that I felt comfortable doing business with and to try to find out if hopefully they raised their geese as humanely as possible. They do have several geese products marked as free range available. In the end because along with not having a scullery maid I also don't have a jolly, old cook in the kitchen, I decided to go with the Pre-roasted Goose. Not being sure what size to order, I figured the smallest size would be fine since I wasn't brave enough to invite over company this year for a goose dinner.

Upon putting in my order for the 6 1/2 pound pre-roasted goose, I noticed that I had waited too close to Christmas and unless I paid extra shipping (more than the cost of the bird) it would not arrive by Christmas. So feeling a little pinched by the cost of presents this year, I decided not to pay the extra shipping. Christmas dinner would just have to wait until the weekend for us. (Besides aren't there 12 days of Christmas anyway?) The company promptly contacted me by email to ensure that I knew the goose would not arrive until after Christmas. I emailed them back and told them that wasn't a problem.

The Goose arrived as expected on Friday. The goose was wrapped in plastic and felt heavier than 6 1/2 pounds. (Found out the next day that probably due to the ice packs wrapped in.) The bird barely fit in our little freezer but luckily it did. Next began the search for a roasting pan. I was expecting to find one for around $10 and did at Target however it didn't have a rack included in it. There was a roaster on sale for $17 with a little rack in it however since this is an experiment and I'm not sure if I will ever roast something again if this goose doesn't turn out...I felt the $17 could wait. We ended up finding a disposable roasting pan for a few dollars at the local supermarket.

Saturday evening we set the oven temperature to 380 degrees (instructions said 375 degrees but I don't think our oven heats up quite as well as new ones.) We unwrapped the goose out of several layers of plastic and ice packs. At that point it looked more like a 6 1/2 pound bird although still larger than I might have originally imagined it when I ordered it. Here is a picture of it frozen:

We put a little water in the bottom of the pan and stuck it in the oven for 75 minutes. Checking every so often to ensure there was still some water in the pan. I've read about goose roasting being a messy business but this pre-roasted goose was very simple. It took the goose about 85 or 90 minutes in our oven until the timer popped up. The 6 1/2 lb goose made enough for 2 hungry adults and 2 children (who were suspicious of the goose so ate only a little.) It seems like easily enough meat for a family of 4 or 5 (as long as the kids are not teenage boys with big appetites!) We also had mashed potatoes with it. The goose meat was dark and moist but not greasy. The color of all the goose meat looked darker than dark turkey meat. It almost looked more like pork than poultry. We saved the legs for later with some leftovers so not sure yet what the legs taste like. The breast meat was my favorite. Where turkey breast meat is so dry that you need a cup of water or gravy to choke down a few bites of deserty dryness, the goose breast was very moist & flavorful! Overall goose tasted like duck to me but with less fat deposits & more meat. The goose skin turned out crispy and was delicious - a combination of crispy, yet slightly chewy, and only a little bit fatty. The skin was thicker than chicken skin.

Next came the kitty leftover test. I gave little pieces of the leftovers to our cats. Two enjoyed it and two turned their noises up to it. One cat who wouldn't touch it won't eat any human food except for fig newtons. The two cats who enjoyed it...REALLY enjoyed it. They both licked their mouths like crazy after each bite and stayed to eat every scrap I gave them (normally if I give them chicken, they would eat just one or two little pieces and then walk off.) The eldest cat after her first bite looked surprised and then started purring like a mac truck rumbling by!

So overall Roast Goose was a success. I would definitely consider ordering it again next year although I think I'd make a side sauce/gravy just to add an interesting extra flavor to the dinner. The pre-roasted goose turned out so well, I'm not sure if I would be brave enough to try to order a raw one next year and perform the whole roasting process myself...guess I have a whole year to think about it.

Merry Christmas!

Boxing Day 2007

2007-12-27T07:12:00.000-08:00

Traditionally Boxing Day is a Canadian/English holiday that was based on putting food or small presents in the leftover Christmas boxes and giving them to servants and/or the poor as gifts. Most Americans have never heard of Boxing Day but I'd imagine that it will become a term more familiar to Americans in the upcoming years if for no other reason than for its usefulness to be exploited by marketers as an excuse for a sale. In honor of its origins I ensured that I'd made my donation to a children's charity that I support first and then decided to brave the crazy crowds to check out a few of the Boxing Day sales yesterday afternoon. I still have some friends & family who I'll be getting together with after Christmas and still don't know what to buy them so Boxing Day was a chance to hopefully take care of my final Christmas shopping. Here is my attempt to describe my Boxing Day shopping experiences.

Barnes & Noble:

This was my first stop. I know from past experience that Barnes & Noble has a pretty good selection of good holiday gifts for 50% off the day after Christmas. They didn't let me down. I picked up a nice calendar for 1/2 off, a Playmobil Christmas playset, 2 Cute Teddy Bears in snowflake sweaters, and a nice puzzle. I probably would have bought more but thought I'd better hurry up so I wouldn't miss what was on sale at Target. The store was busy but not annoyingly so and checking out was surprisingly quick. Both the Teddy Bears and Playmobil Santa Sled were great deals at about $8 each!

Party City:

Party City is a card/party store that claims to be discount (but it's not.) Most of their holidays stuff was on sale for 50% off but you had to look closely to see what was actually a deal: Christmas Candy = Not a Deal but Christmas Decorations = Deal. I picked up some snowflake hanging decorations that will be nice and festive for next year (at least they will be festive until the cats probably pull them from the ceiling and chew on them.) Also picked up a sale package of Hanukkah party Crackers. I'm very excited about the Cracker find! I've been reading posts on English blogs about these things and seeing them on some television shows so can't wait to pop open one for the first time and evaluate the "crackiness" of the pop! But do I open one now or hold off until 2008? (I know... I'll open one in order to blog about it! Wow...blogging can justify practically anything you want to do!)

Target:

In the past Target has seemed to be very lucrative as far as Boxing Day sales go...however this year it was a total bust in my opinion. Out of all the stores I went to, it was the only one completely crowded. Also many items I expected to find on sale (pajamas, gloves, scarfs, sweaters, special holiday gift packs, holiday themed toys) were not on sale! The only major sale area was the Christmas aisles. Since I didn't need an artificial tree, stockings, or ornaments...it was really a waste of time. I considered picking up some Christmas candy on sale but when I took a look at the crowds jostling around me and the likely long checkout wait for candy that my waist didn't need anyway...well I finally left the candy there and walked out.

Stein Mart:

Have you ever been to a Stein Mart? I hadn't until yesterday. It's this odd chain that I've been told sells designer, department store stuff at low prices...isn't that how TJMax or Burlington Coat Factory started out? I know I don't like those places so I've been in no rush to check out Stein Mart. However I know several friends who rave about the place. Upon first walking in the store did seem much cleaner and nicer than other discount stores I've been to. It did look just like a small department store. Although I didn't see any clothes that I personally would be caught dead wearing, I'd certainly classify the clothes as very designer looking. I didn't end up buying anything because my overall impression was that I'm about 10 to 20 years too young to be shopping there yet and haven't had enough highlights & plastic surgery to fit in as a shopper at this store. I don't mean to put the store down because I can certainly see why some of my friends love it. However for me I felt like I had somehow entered an old Twilight Zone episode...and was relieved to find that the doors did indeed open back up as I left and no undead sales clerks blocked me from leaving the store! Really if you've never been in one and there is one in your area...you've just got to go in, browse, and let me know if some unnamed....something about the store also strikes you as odd!

The Hallmark Store:

The Fancy Hallmark ornaments were 40% off. Those things make the best gifts for people you don't know, care about, or are simply really hard to buy for! Quite a few ornaments were sold out already but a decent selection remained. I'm a sucker for ornaments that look like retro toys (and Hallmark knows this!) so I picked this one up as a gift....but I think I might keep it for myself:

Too my great disappointment Hallmark didn't have any of their Hoops & YoYo talking items on sale. They said the collection arrived before the holidays so it was still considered "new".

Well that's the end of my Boxing Day adventures. I'm trying to hold myself back from the temptation of going out to see what's left at Barnes & Noble the day after Boxing Day! Did you score any amazing deals during the Boxing Day/post-holiday sales?

Looking Back at the Sears Wish Book Catalog 1979 (Part 1)

2007-12-26T07:54:00.000-08:00

This Christmas I received a Vermont Country Store Catalog in the mail for the first time. Taking a look at their old-fashioned catalog advertising format left me nostalgic for the many catalogs that used to arrive in the mail right before the holidays back when I was a child. The undisputed master of the catalogs in my opinion was the Sears Wishbook. I went to the Sears online website to see if I could recreate that Sears Wishbook feeling. I found the website to be organized very oddly and that most of the staples of their past Wish Books were not available on their website:

** Where were the Gourmet Processed Cheese Gift Packs or the many cans of nuts? (Especially the cheese in a frying pan gift! How could you ever go wrong with that classic?!?)
** Where were the tartan granny nightgowns trimmed in lace in sizes for men, women, boys, and girls? (Okay technically the men and boys items were called night shirts....but still!)
** Where were the pages of useless but festive decorative gifts for under $10 to give to Drunk Aunt Sally or Stuck-up Third Cousin Jenny?

How I miss the good old days of silencing people who complained about how hard you were to buy for by handing them the Sears Catalog with little pieces of paper for the pages that contain items you would enjoy receiving. Of course I never did receive such exotic gifts as Petit Fours, Cans of Nuts, a new Dollhouse, the Barbie Dream House, a Holly Hobbie nightgown, Chemistry Set, or the holy grail of gifts: a food cheese/sausage/cracker/chocolate sampler gift pack of my very own! Obviously our family was on a budget like most families so when I look at the prices on some of the items I can see why my parents did not buy them for me...they did the best they could by buying some of the less expensive items further down on my wishlist and of course more than once I received gifts that my parents must have wanted as a children but held absolutely no interest for me such as:

* A Laverne and Shirley Mystery Date Game.
* An ugly blue vinyl toy chest/hope chest.
* Slipper socks (although this gift came from Grandma of course.)
* A Clown doll.
* A Victorian looking candle holder.
* A Barrel full of Monkeys (I know some people love these things and don't want to offend those people but to me they were always a Barrel full of Boring.)

Looking through the Sear's 1979 Wishbook brings up some interesting item on practically every page however the page I spent the most time looking at and would pray for years in a row that by some miracle I should receive this expensive gift (because having this toy would of course make my life complete and ensure happiness for the rest of the days of my life!) was:

At what is equivalent to $206 today I can understand why I never received it...my parents like many parents back in 1979 would never dream of spending $206 on a toy for one of their children. Although times and cultures have changed... which is apparent when you hear stories of parents from all income levels spending that or even more than that to buy their child a video game system or new iPod for this Christmas.

Here is the link to the flickr account of the person who so kindly uploaded this whole interesting 1979 Sears Wish Book catalog.

A question for the Comments: "What page was your favorite to look at when you were younger and what items where they?" or "What catalog page do you wish existed today so that you could order something from it?"

Roasting Chestnuts

2007-12-26T06:41:00.000-08:00

Apparently I've watch "A Christmas Carol" too many times already this year and am dying to try a real Dicken's Christmas Feast. I've never had Goose, Fruit Punch, Plum Pudding, or Roasted Chestnuts. Are they as amazing and necessary to a happy family Christmas as the Christmas Carols make them look? Well in my attempt to try out these exotic holiday foods, I've started with Roasted Chestnuts since they are the easiest (and happened to spot some at the supermarket the other day.) At the supermarket I went carefully through the chestnuts to pick out about a dozen good looking ones (dark, smooth, and no holes or openings in the shells.) Sizewise I'd say they were about 1 1/2 to 2 inches. When I got home I threw the bag on top of the fridge and forgot about them. Then come the eve of Christmas Day, we're sitting by a crackling fire and I realize, "Hey, we've got chestnuts we can roast on the fire!" So I search for instructions on how to roast them and take down the bag of chestnuts. First thing I realize is that we don't have any container to put them in that we could put in the fire. We have some wire cage to grill fish in but didn't look like it would work for the chestnuts. So went with plan B and roasted them in the oven. Turned the oven on to preheat at 375 degrees. Used my paring knife to make little X's on the top of the nut. (Realized just before putting them in the oven that I didn't break the nut skin with my knife so had to go over them again to ensure the shells actually all had a hole or opening in them.) Put them in the oven for 20 minutes on a stoneware tray. Checked it at 20 minutes and it looked like only one chestnut had actually "popped" open the X slit. So put it in for 5 minutes more. The house started to smell like burning popcorn so removed them from the oven right before the 5 minutes were up. Let them cool down a bit then began to open them. First off I realized that I should have made bigger X's on my chestnuts - the little tiny X's mad it hard to get the shell off. I opened a chestnut and inside was this wrinkly, unappealing-looking white thing. Also had to carefully remove some of the skin from inside the folds of the nut. We all tried a bite. Although it didn't look burnt I thought it had a light taste of burnt popcorn. The texture was very much like a potato and someone else also thought it tasted like a potato. The aftertaste of the chestnut was not starchy like a potato though... sort of surprisingly rich and a little buttery or fatty. We tried to eat a few more but I found that on some of the chestnuts I must not have roasted them long enough because the inside skin stuck to the nut. The inside skin of the nut is dark and a little feathery.

I think Chestnuts must be something you either grow up with or are an aquired taste. Maybe I'd like them more in a recipe. I didn't hate them though... I think it's a food that I'd have to eat a few more times to decide if I like it. However from now on whenever reading about (or even now writing about) roasted chestnuts, I'll always experience a phantom whiff of burnt popcorn.

Ps. After my chestnut roasting experience, I did some research on chestnuts and found out some interesting things. For example in Europe (Italy and France) there were huge populations that were sustained most of the year on just chestnuts before and during the middle ages. They made them into soups & also ground the chestnuts into flour to make breads and other foods out of chestnut since wheat was not as common for poor people to have access to back then. Also one website claimed that it was a food much used by Alexander the Great's army. Apparently chestnuts are less common today due to some harsh winters in Europe a few hundreds of years ago, the opinion that allowing the poor to subsist off of chestnuts made them lazy and feel like they did not need to work hard for their food, and also more recent diseases that wiped out most chestnut trees in America. I did find a company that will actually sell you blight-resistant chinese chestnut trees saplings if you want to plant a pair in your backyard or on your farm so you can harvest your own edible chestnuts in 5-7 years.