Eating Acorns… Are They Nuts?

Acorns are not nuts, but to be honest, they definitely resemble them. The acorn is the fruit of the oak. Popular tree nuts are pistachio, Brazil, almond, walnut, cashew, hazelnut, and pistachio. Peanuts, sesame seeds and sunflower seeds are not nuts, they are legumes.

A tanoak tree is a hybrid cross between a chestnut and an oak tree. But then we have the question, is a chestnut a nut? The chestnut is a member of the oak and beech family. If you are allergic to chestnuts, you may consider this before eating tanoak acorns, but I’ve been teaching the art of eating acorns for over thirty years and I’ve yet to have anyone tell me they had an allergic reaction to acorns of any variety. If you haven’t tried leaching and eating acorns, I urge you to do so. Even in very small amounts, the acorn can add texture and flavor to many dishes.

Suellen Ocean is the author of Acorns and Eat’em, a how-to vegetarian cookbook and field guide for eating acorns: http://www.amazon.com/Acorns-Eatem-How–Vegetarian-Cookbook/dp/1491288973

Who Cares About Romance? A Book a Day? Who Does That?

I may not seem shy about my writing but I am. Especially my romance stories. But the publisher in me is telling me to hit the road and promote it. “You just published a new story. Go out and tell the world! Get on the radio, do an interview, irritate your friends and family, stick flyers on cars, spam your email list!”

I can’t do any of that. I just can’t. I’ve had my share of radio interviews, I can talk about eating acorns until the cows come home but Civil War Era romance, who wants to hear about that? Well, apparently, some people do. They love reading romance. My friend told me that when her daughter was a teenager, she “gobbled those things up. Some women finish a book a day.” Wow. That’s some heavy reading.

Suellen Ocean is the author of the Civil War Era Historic Romance, Black Pansy:

http://www.amazon.com/Black-Pansy-Suellen-Ocean/dp/1484900278

Trailer Trash? Not Even…

For years I’ve been hearing the expression, “trailer trash.” It’s absolutely, positively unfair to the millions of good, honest, hard-working people who make a home out of a mobile home. One family I know of, runs a thriving business and sent their son to Stanford. His success at college had a lot to do with the money they saved by living in a mobile home. Buying a standard home has become expensive and out of reach for many families. Especially young families. Living in a mobile home can be a financially wise choice. My husband and I lived in a converted school bus for two-and-a-half years while we built a little house. We wouldn’t have been able to do it without the money we saved living in that bus. It was a fun time.

Mobile homes range from deluxe to modest and people in every state live in them. It is a pity, if their children are made to feel ashamed, because someone coined the phrase, “trailer trash.” Most people probably laugh it off. Their homes are nice and they know it. It does not make someone “trashy” just because they live in a mobile home. The next time you hear someone use that expression, remind them it’s misleading and offensive. We should all be so lucky.

Suellen Ocean is the author of Acorns and Eat’em, a how-to vegetarian cookbook and field guide for eating acorns: http://www.amazon.com/Acorns-Eatem-How–Vegetarian-Cookbook/dp/1491288973 and The Acorn Mouse, an illustrated children’s story designed to teach the art of gathering and eating acorns:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Acorn-Mouse-Childs-Eating/dp/1484140672

How to Make Roux… How to Make Acorn Roux

My father taught me how to make gravy. Growing up in New Orleans, he worked as a chef around a lot of French cooking. He had plenty of praise for “browning flour.” He called browned flour “roux.” Browning flour takes a little skill because it burns easily. The best skillet to use is cast iron, along with a metal spatula to scrape the flour so it doesn’t burn. A quarter cup of flour is all you need. More finesse is needed to add liquid to the flour but hang in there. You can get the lumps out. Add the liquid slowly and make sure it’s not hot. Cold is best. It will become a paste and with more liquid, it will become the desired gravy consistency. The liquid you add should be flavorful. Soup stock is preferable, the tastier the better. You can either make your own or purchase it. To turn it into acorn gravy, you only need to add a quarter cup of acorns that has gone through the leaching process I explain in my book.

Suellen Ocean is the author of Acorns and Eat’em, a how-to vegetarian cookbook and field guide for eating acorns:

http://www.amazon.com/Acorns-Eatem-How–Vegetarian-Cookbook/dp/1491288973

What is a Deciduous Tree?

What is a deciduous tree? It is a tree that loses its leaves in the fall. In the autumn, it loses all its leaves and becomes a wintry looking thing, one of the skeletons of winter along the landscape. It isn’t the frost that kills the leaves, it is a natural process that the tree goes through while it makes chemical conversions through the winter, to return in the spring with a blast of bright green shoots that turn into the fresh greenery of the new season. The oak is a perfect example of a deciduous tree. However, the California Live Oak is an exception, keeping most of its leaves all winter long, leaving nesting and hiding places for birds and squirrels.

Suellen Ocean is the author of Acorns and Eat’em, a how-to vegetarian cookbook and field guide for eating acorns. Find it here:

http://www.amazon.com/Acorns-Eatem-How–Vegetarian-Cookbook/dp/1491288973