Makes 2 dozen plus a baby dozen (in one of those baby trays). Bakes for 15 minutes.
I say front yard because that’s where I picked the hickory nuts! This was our first winter in Wisconsin and I didn’t outsmart the squirrels this year, but next year I’ll be ready. Hickory nuts covered our front yard, but I didn’t actually get out to pick them until about October. Hmmm. By October, there weren’t many left. The squirrels, chipmunks and mice cleaned out 75% of the yard. #$%^!
I picked all that were left. About 25% of those nuts contained weevils! Eeek! Most of them climbed out onto the baking pan as soon as I brought them in to dry out. Then the cracking and cleaning began. Between the baby, dinner, errands, and life—-the only time I had to sit and crack was late in the evenings when the baby slept, the husband’s feet soaked, lunch sat prepared in the fridge and dinner was well put away. Needless to say, this didn’t happen often.
Then my hands began to give me trouble. So, he cracked and I cleaned. Many times I had to wait on him to crack more as I’d already finished my lot. So I started in October and FINISHED in March! It only took me 5 months! But I gained two full containers (though small) of FREE HICKORY NUTS! What fun– FREE food I found in our yard! YAY!
This is how I made them!
Jennifer
G.I. Crockpot 