Growing up in what is now called Hampton Heights we had a huge, mature pecan tree about 50 feet tall in the back yard, and it was about this time every year the whole family would gather for the big harvest. We never had to worry about squirrels getting the nuts because our dog Shems dog house was directly under the tree and he kept them all chased away. There would be hundreds of big ripe nuts all over the ground, but it was up to me and my older brother to climb up into the lower branches to shake the nuts off the reachable limbs. While we were up there my dad would tie a rock to a long rope and we would throw the rock over the upper branches so mom, dad and my sister could shake the nuts from the top branches. What was funny was all the hats we would have to wear to protect our heads from all those falling nuts, and all it took was one or two nuts bouncing off ole Shem for him to scurry into his house and take cover. One hard hat would have sufficed, but we made do with multiple stocking caps stacked under our baseball caps. Mom and dad looked like Mr. and Mrs. Indiana Jones wearing his old fedora hats from the 40s. Wed fill 3 or 4 big Community Cash paper grocery bags chock full of nuts. Then came the all the cracking and peeling marathons over the next few days. I remember mom getting upset because I would crack and peel one and then eat two. We had those metal nut crackers but you could always get the nuts out whole or in half more often if you gently cracked two of them in your hand. Thats a feel that I still have to this day, and every time I crack one it takes me straight back to those chilly pecan days in the back yard. We would have free pecans all the way through Christmas that made for some of the best old fashioned pecan pies you could imagine. What didnt get snarfed right out of the shell also made it to the oven with a lot of butter and salt for the best hot roasted pecans you ever put in your mouth. Well dang, Ive talked myself into a pecan fit. Gotta go get some now! :p
Posted on: Fri, 14 Nov 2014 02:16:43 +0000
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