I saw that Semi-Homemade show, she made cakes out of store bought
angel food cakes and decorated them for 3 different holidays. The
one she made for Kwaanza (sp), she decorated with ... ACORNS.
Hello, I never heard of people eating acorns. They looked as if
they were prepared as chestnuts might be, and peeled, of course.

The way she presented it, it was like, just put some acorns on it!
as if we could just drive to the acorn store and pick some up. I
don't think so. Then she put apple pie filling in the middle of the
cake, that didn't exactly turn me on, either, but that's another
story.

I don't want anyone running around looking up a source of acorns for
me, but do you all find acorns to be a common ingredient that I have
been missing?

nancy

Nancy Young wrote:
> I don't want anyone running around looking up a source of acorns for
> me, but do you all find acorns to be a common ingredient that I have
> been missing?
>
> nancy

Native Americans cooked with acorns all the time. They used ground acorns
like flour. Nope, there isn't an "acorn store" But squirrels apparently
know something we don't.

ACORN STEW
a.. 1 lb stewing beef

b.. 1/2 C finely ground acorn meal (tannin removed)

c.. Salt and pepper to taste

Place beef in heavy pan and add water to cover. Cover with lid and simmer
until very tender. Remove from liquid and cut meat into very fine pieces.
Return meat to the liquid. Stir in the acorn meal. Add salt and pepper as
desired. Heat until thickened and serve.

Several other ethnic food enthusiasts like to substitute acorn meal for corn
meal when making muffins -- usually using 1/2 corn meal and 1/2 acorn. Some
have substituted 1/2 of the flour in a biscuit recipe with 1/2 acorn meal.
Experiment carefully, remembering that a good portion of the work performed
by flour has to do with the gluten in the floor. Sorry, acorn has no gluten,
so you'll have to keep this in mind.

Here is a modern Acorn Bread recipe from the book "Cooking with Spirit, -
North American Indian Food and Fact",
By Darcy Williamson and Lisa Railsback
Copyright 1987 by Darcy Williamson.
Published by Maverick Publications,
Drawer 5007,
Bend, Oregon 97701.

Acorn Bread
a.. 6 Tbl. cornmeal

b.. 1/2 C cold water

c.. 1 C boiling water

d.. 1 tsp sale

e.. 1 Tbl butter

f.. 1 pkg active dry yeast

g.. 1/4 C lukewarm water

h.. 1 C mashed potatoes

i.. 2 C all-purpose flour

j.. 2 C finely ground leached acorn meal
Mix cornmeal with cold water, add boiling water and cook 2 minutes, stirring
constantly. Add sale and butter and cool to lukewarm. Soften yeast in
lukewarm water. Add remaining ingredients to corn mixture, along with yeast.
Knead to a stiff dough. Dough will be sticky. Cover and let rise in warm
place until doubled in bulk. Punch down, shape into two loaves, cover and
let rise until doubled in bulk. Bake at 375 degrees F for 45 minutes.

[ Top ]
Acorn Griddle Cakes
a.. 2/3 C finely ground leached acorn meal

b.. 1/3 C unbleached flour

c.. 1 tsp. baking powder

d.. 1/3 tsp. salt

e.. 1 Tbl honey

f.. 1 egg, beaten

g.. 3/4 C milk

h.. 3 Tbl melted butter

Combine dry ingredients. Mix together egg and milk, then beat into dry
ingredients, forming a smooth batter. Add butter. Drop batter onto hot,
greased griddle. Bake, turning each cake when it is browned on underside and
puffed and slightly set on top. Makes 12 to 15.

Venison-Acorn Stew
a.. 2 lbs venison, cut up

b.. 1 Cup finely ground acorn meal

Cover venison with water in port or basket; Add hot rocks to simmer until
meat almost falls apart. Remove meat from broth and chop into fine pieces.
Return to pot with liquid and stir in acorn meal.

Nancy Young > wrote in news:3FE60F8D.DE8A0EA8
@mail.monmouth.com:

>
> I saw that Semi-Homemade show, she made cakes out of store bought
> angel food cakes and decorated them for 3 different holidays. The
> one she made for Kwaanza (sp), she decorated with ... ACORNS.
> Hello, I never heard of people eating acorns. They looked as if
> they were prepared as chestnuts might be, and peeled, of course.
>
> The way she presented it, it was like, just put some acorns on it!
> as if we could just drive to the acorn store and pick some up. I
> don't think so. Then she put apple pie filling in the middle of the
> cake, that didn't exactly turn me on, either, but that's another
> story.
>
> I don't want anyone running around looking up a source of acorns for
> me, but do you all find acorns to be a common ingredient that I have
> been missing?
>
> nancy

We had thousands of acorns from our trees when we lived in NE Ohio. One
year we tried roasting some in the oven. They are certainly edible, but
we didn't find them very appetizing. They seemed overly bitter.

Wayne

Nancy Young > writes:

>I saw that Semi-Homemade show, she made cakes out of store bought
>angel food cakes and decorated them for 3 different holidays. The
>one she made for Kwaanza (sp), she decorated with ... ACORNS.
>Hello, I never heard of people eating acorns. They looked as if
>they were prepared as chestnuts might be, and peeled, of course.
>
>The way she presented it, it was like, just put some acorns on it!
>as if we could just drive to the acorn store and pick some up. I
>don't think so. Then she put apple pie filling in the middle of the
>cake, that didn't exactly turn me on, either, but that's another
>story.
>
>I don't want anyone running around looking up a source of acorns for
>me, but do you all find acorns to be a common ingredient that I have
>been missing?

Acorns were once a major food source of Native Americans... you do realize that
long, long ago homo sapiens learned which things were fit to eat by observing
fauna.

He
http://food4.epicurious.com/HyperNew...400/23307.html

---
acorn
Acorns are the fruit of the oak tree. Some varieties are edible and, like
chestnuts, may be eaten raw, roasted or baked. They may also be ground and used
as a substitute for coffee.

© Copyright Barron's Educational Services, Inc. 1995
based on THE FOOD LOVER'S COMPANION, 2nd edition, by Sharon Tyler Herbst.


---= BOYCOTT FRENCH--GERMAN (belgium) =---
---= Move UNITED NATIONS To Paris =---
Sheldon
````````````
"Life would be devoid of all meaning were it without tribulation."

jmcquown wrote:
>
> Nancy Young wrote:
> > I don't want anyone running around looking up a source of acorns for
> > me, but do you all find acorns to be a common ingredient that I have
> > been missing?

> Native Americans cooked with acorns all the time. They used ground acorns
> like flour. Nope, there isn't an "acorn store" But squirrels apparently
> know something we don't.

(laughing) Well, yeah, I'm sure they did, those Native Americans,
but that was then. Why offer up a recipe with no indication of how
one would prepare them or where you'd get them. I have acorns
sitting on my computer, I collect them, but I sure wouldn't think
'let me ... boil? them?' This is a semi-homemade show, where did
she get the acorns?

nancy

In article >, Wayne Boatwright > wrote:

> We had thousands of acorns from our trees when we lived in NE Ohio. One
> year we tried roasting some in the oven. They are certainly edible, but
> we didn't find them very appetizing. They seemed overly bitter.

They have a lot of tannin. Euell Gibbon's book "Stalking the Wild
Asparagus" has a discussion of how to prepare them in a variety
of ways so they *aren't* bitter. It's an odd book, but fun to browse
through. He was really dedicated to the wild food schtick.

Amazingly enough, it's still in print.

Mike Beede

Mike Beede wrote:

> In article >, Wayne Boatwright > wrote:
>
>
>>We had thousands of acorns from our trees when we lived in NE Ohio. One
>>year we tried roasting some in the oven. They are certainly edible, but
>>we didn't find them very appetizing. They seemed overly bitter.
>
>
> They have a lot of tannin. Euell Gibbon's book "Stalking the Wild
> Asparagus" has a discussion of how to prepare them in a variety
> of ways so they *aren't* bitter. It's an odd book, but fun to browse
> through. He was really dedicated to the wild food schtick.
>
> Amazingly enough, it's still in print.
>
> Mike Beede

I ate 'em once when I was younger and on survival training. You may be
able to live on 'em but blech!

--
Steve

Men are from Earth. Women are from Earth. Deal with it.

Nancy Young wrote:
>
> I saw that Semi-Homemade show, she made cakes out of store bought
> angel food cakes and decorated them for 3 different holidays. The
> one she made for Kwaanza (sp), she decorated with ... ACORNS.
> Hello, I never heard of people eating acorns. They looked as if
> they were prepared as chestnuts might be, and peeled, of course.
>
> The way she presented it, it was like, just put some acorns on it!
> as if we could just drive to the acorn store and pick some up. I
> don't think so. Then she put apple pie filling in the middle of the
> cake, that didn't exactly turn me on, either, but that's another
> story.
>
> I don't want anyone running around looking up a source of acorns for
> me, but do you all find acorns to be a common ingredient that I have
> been missing?
>
> nancy

Not as a general rule... I don't understand how she could possibly be
considering eating whole, fresh acorns, unless of course they had been
prepared/leached first.

For one thing, they are bitter as he** (I remember trying them as a kid)
and they are full of tannic acid so are mildly toxic as well. Although
squirrels seem to eat them ok. :-)

From what little I've read on native american lore, acorns have to be
soaked and leached to clear the tannins from them before being used.
They then dried them and made acorn flour for baking with them.

This site looked good:

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/p.../squirrel.html

K.
--
>^,,^< Cats-haven Hobby Farm >^,,^< >^,,^<

"There are millions of intelligent species in the universe, and they are
all owned by cats" -- Asimov

Custom handcrafts, Sterling silver beaded jewelry
http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...s&userid=Katra

Katra wrote:
>
> Nancy Young wrote:
> >
> > I saw that Semi-Homemade show, she made cakes out of store bought
> > angel food cakes and decorated them for 3 different holidays. The
> > one she made for Kwaanza (sp), she decorated with ... ACORNS.
> > Hello, I never heard of people eating acorns. They looked as if
> > they were prepared as chestnuts might be, and peeled, of course.
> >
> > The way she presented it, it was like, just put some acorns on it!
> > as if we could just drive to the acorn store and pick some up. I
> > don't think so. Then she put apple pie filling in the middle of the
> > cake, that didn't exactly turn me on, either, but that's another
> > story.

> For one thing, they are bitter as he** (I remember trying them as a kid)
> and they are full of tannic acid so are mildly toxic as well. Although
> squirrels seem to eat them ok. :-)
>
> From what little I've read on native american lore, acorns have to be
> soaked and leached to clear the tannins from them before being used.
> They then dried them and made acorn flour for baking with them.

Exactly my point. (laugh) Cracked me up. Just sprinkle some acorns
on the cake. HUH???? With no indication of where you would get the
acorns, how you would prepare them. Just sprinkle some acorns.

Anyway, if I was inclined to recreate her cake, I would use chestnuts.

And no apple pie filling.

nancy

Nancy Young wrote:
>
> Katra wrote:
> >
> > Nancy Young wrote:
> > >
> > > I saw that Semi-Homemade show, she made cakes out of store bought
> > > angel food cakes and decorated them for 3 different holidays. The
> > > one she made for Kwaanza (sp), she decorated with ... ACORNS.
> > > Hello, I never heard of people eating acorns. They looked as if
> > > they were prepared as chestnuts might be, and peeled, of course.
> > >
> > > The way she presented it, it was like, just put some acorns on it!
> > > as if we could just drive to the acorn store and pick some up. I
> > > don't think so. Then she put apple pie filling in the middle of the
> > > cake, that didn't exactly turn me on, either, but that's another
> > > story.
>
> > For one thing, they are bitter as he** (I remember trying them as a kid)
> > and they are full of tannic acid so are mildly toxic as well. Although
> > squirrels seem to eat them ok. :-)
> >
> > From what little I've read on native american lore, acorns have to be
> > soaked and leached to clear the tannins from them before being used.
> > They then dried them and made acorn flour for baking with them.
>
> Exactly my point. (laugh) Cracked me up. Just sprinkle some acorns
> on the cake. HUH???? With no indication of where you would get the
> acorns, how you would prepare them. Just sprinkle some acorns.
>
> Anyway, if I was inclined to recreate her cake, I would use chestnuts.

That would be good, but Macadamia might be better... <grins>

>
> And no apple pie filling.
>
> nancy

What kind of cake was it, flavor-wise?

K.

--
>^,,^< Cats-haven Hobby Farm >^,,^< >^,,^<

"There are millions of intelligent species in the universe, and they are
all owned by cats" -- Asimov

Custom handcrafts, Sterling silver beaded jewelry
http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...s&userid=Katra

Katra > wrote in
:

>
>
> Nancy Young wrote:
>>
>> Katra wrote:
>> >
>> > Nancy Young wrote:
>> > >
>> > > I saw that Semi-Homemade show, she made cakes out of store bought
>> > > angel food cakes and decorated them for 3 different holidays.
>> > > The one she made for Kwaanza (sp), she decorated with ... ACORNS.
>> > > Hello, I never heard of people eating acorns. They looked as if
>> > > they were prepared as chestnuts might be, and peeled, of course.
>> > >
>> > > The way she presented it, it was like, just put some acorns on
>> > > it! as if we could just drive to the acorn store and pick some
>> > > up. I don't think so. Then she put apple pie filling in the
>> > > middle of the cake, that didn't exactly turn me on, either, but
>> > > that's another story.
>>
>> > For one thing, they are bitter as he** (I remember trying them as a
>> > kid) and they are full of tannic acid so are mildly toxic as well.
>> > Although squirrels seem to eat them ok. :-)
>> >
>> > From what little I've read on native american lore, acorns have to
>> > be soaked and leached to clear the tannins from them before being
>> > used. They then dried them and made acorn flour for baking with
>> > them.
>>
>> Exactly my point. (laugh) Cracked me up. Just sprinkle some acorns
>> on the cake. HUH???? With no indication of where you would get the
>> acorns, how you would prepare them. Just sprinkle some acorns.
>>
>> Anyway, if I was inclined to recreate her cake, I would use
>> chestnuts.

Yep, I would also use chestnuts. Both the texture and flavor would be
great!

>
> That would be good, but Macadamia might be better... <grins>
>
>>
>> And no apple pie filling.

I'm for skipping that, too. Canned apple pie filling isn't really very
good. The apples are usually too hard, and I think they taste watery.


>> nancy
>
> What kind of cake was it, flavor-wise?
>
> K.
>

Wayne Boatwright > wrote in message > ...
> Nancy Young > wrote in news:3FE60F8D.DE8A0EA8
> @mail.monmouth.com:
>
> >
> > I saw that Semi-Homemade show, she made cakes out of store bought
> > angel food cakes and decorated them for 3 different holidays. The
> > one she made for Kwaanza (sp), she decorated with ... ACORNS.
> > Hello, I never heard of people eating acorns. They looked as if
> > they were prepared as chestnuts might be, and peeled, of course.
> >
> > The way she presented it, it was like, just put some acorns on it!
> > as if we could just drive to the acorn store and pick some up. I
> > don't think so. Then she put apple pie filling in the middle of the
> > cake, that didn't exactly turn me on, either, but that's another
> > story.
> >
> > I don't want anyone running around looking up a source of acorns for
> > me, but do you all find acorns to be a common ingredient that I have
> > been missing?
> >
> > nancy
>
> We had thousands of acorns from our trees when we lived in NE Ohio. One
> year we tried roasting some in the oven. They are certainly edible, but
> we didn't find them very appetizing. They seemed overly bitter.
>
> Wayne

This will really date me but wild food expert Euell Gibbons ("Ever eat
a pine tree? Many parts are edible.") has detailed instructions in his
book "Stalking the Wild Asparagus" on how to treat acorns to remove
the bitterness (tannin). If I remember correctly, he boiled them in a
succession of fresh waters and then he dried them in the oven before
grinding them into meal. I think he also "candied" them like
chestnuts.

Lynn from Fargo

> > From what little I've read on native american lore, acorns have to be
> > soaked and leached to clear the tannins from them before being used.
> > They then dried them and made acorn flour for baking with them.
>
> Exactly my point. (laugh) Cracked me up. Just sprinkle some acorns
> on the cake. HUH???? With no indication of where you would get the
> acorns, how you would prepare them. Just sprinkle some acorns.
>

The acorns my kids used to drag home were full of white worms. I
suppose some blanching would take care of them ...? LOL.

N.

Nancy Dooley wrote:
>
> > > From what little I've read on native american lore, acorns have to be
> > > soaked and leached to clear the tannins from them before being used.
> > > They then dried them and made acorn flour for baking with them.
> >
> > Exactly my point. (laugh) Cracked me up. Just sprinkle some acorns
> > on the cake. HUH???? With no indication of where you would get the
> > acorns, how you would prepare them. Just sprinkle some acorns.
> >
>
> The acorns my kids used to drag home were full of white worms. I
> suppose some blanching would take care of them ...? LOL.
>
> N.


EWWWW!!!!! ;-D

K

--
>^,,^< Cats-haven Hobby Farm >^,,^< >^,,^<

"There are millions of intelligent species in the universe, and they are
all owned by cats" -- Asimov

Custom handcrafts, Sterling silver beaded jewelry
http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...s&userid=Katra

Wayne Boatwright wrote:

> We had thousands of acorns from our trees when we lived in NE Ohio. One
> year we tried roasting some in the oven. They are certainly edible, but
> we didn't find them very appetizing. They seemed overly bitter.
>
> Wayne

Boil, two or 3 times, tossing the water between each heating. allow
to dry, then grind into meal or flour.

Maybe roasting at this stage would be more appetizing.

maxine in ri who will not starve if she can beat the sqirrels to the acorns.

"maxine in ri" > wrote in message
...
> Wayne Boatwright wrote:
>
> > We had thousands of acorns from our trees when we lived in NE Ohio. One
> > year we tried roasting some in the oven. They are certainly edible, but
> > we didn't find them very appetizing. They seemed overly bitter.
> >
> > Wayne
>
> Boil, two or 3 times, tossing the water between each heating. allow
> to dry, then grind into meal or flour.
>
> Maybe roasting at this stage would be more appetizing.
>
> maxine in ri who will not starve if she can beat the sqirrels to the
acorns.

I have it on good authority that squirrels taste better than acorns!


--
Peter Aitken

Remove the crap from my email address before using.

Peter Aitken wrote:
>
> "maxine in ri" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Wayne Boatwright wrote:
> >
> > > We had thousands of acorns from our trees when we lived in NE Ohio. One
> > > year we tried roasting some in the oven. They are certainly edible, but
> > > we didn't find them very appetizing. They seemed overly bitter.
> > >
> > > Wayne
> >
> > Boil, two or 3 times, tossing the water between each heating. allow
> > to dry, then grind into meal or flour.
> >
> > Maybe roasting at this stage would be more appetizing.
> >
> > maxine in ri who will not starve if she can beat the sqirrels to the
> acorns.
>
> I have it on good authority that squirrels taste better than acorns!
>
> --
> Peter Aitken
>

Damn! That was funny..... ;-D

And too true!

K. (who eats any squirrels that harasses her pigeons.....)

--
>^,,^< Cats-haven Hobby Farm >^,,^< >^,,^<

"There are millions of intelligent species in the universe, and they are
all owned by cats" -- Asimov

Custom handcrafts, Sterling silver beaded jewelry
http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...s&userid=Katra

In article >,
Nancy Young > wrote:
>
>I don't want anyone running around looking up a source of acorns for
>me, but do you all find acorns to be a common ingredient that I have
>been missing?

Hmph. If you *do* decide you want some acorns, you can have
all you want out of my front yard. The only catch is that
you have to pick them up yourself.

There's probably a few hundred pounds at least. They're a
pest.

--
Mark Shaw contact info at homepage --> http://www.panix.com/~mshaw
================================================== ======================
"How can any culture that has more lawyers
than butchers call itself a civilization?" - Alton Brown