Friday, January 7, 2011

Processing hickory nut milk

We had a large group of participants attend this workshop that we offered as part of our Fall Series. Casey talked about foraging for nuts and the many trips to the woods he would go to collect (making sure he was picking the right kind of Shagbark nuts not Pignut Hickory since they are very bitter). Since we like to put the "work" into our workshops we had everyone help us break up the basket of nuts we had. We naturally fell into a circle formation and everyone assumed a working role in pounding out the meat of each nut to later be boiled. It is a great collective project and the processing flies by when there are good people to share stories with. After bringing the nut meat to a boil over the hot fire coals, we enjoyed this creamy thick sweet nut flavored drink on this gorgeous fall day at Lancaster Farmacy! It is our favorite fall beverage since it is a delicious rich hot drink. We sweeten it with maple syrup. Hickory nuts contain great fiber, magnesium and thiamine. They a good source for carbohydrates, natural oils, unsaturated fats (the good kind) and protein.