If you're like me, you're full just thinking about Thanksgiving right now. But then again, you probably haven't been trolling tastespotting.com all day either. So many starchy pumpkin-y things in the world!Before we part to pursue our various Turkey Day preparations, let me share one piece of advice I learned the hard way last night. Sometimes convenience foods are bad and not worth it, i.e. Easy Mac, Lean Cuisine, frozen pizza. Sometimes convience foods are so very, very worth it. This is a short list since I like to take the long route and time is not a factor in my meal preparations whatsoever. The only thing I don't have the patience to try to figure out, as I mentioned before, is pastry, and I'll probably break down and try that out soon enough. And breadmaking as well, though I do make occasional forays there.
But as of last night, there's a new shortcut to the list. Whatever you do, do not buy a pound of whole pecans and attempt to shell them yourself out of a desire to make a truly "from scratch" praline cheesecake. You see, they make these little packets, and even bigger 2-cup bags, of shelled nuts. And you can buy them halved, or chopped, or slivered. Any which way but loose. I had ascribed to that form many Thanksgivings previous, but this time....oh, this time.... I figured I'd take the hard route. And my thumbs paid dearly. You see, despite my kindergarten memories of cracking pecans in the playground, pecans are not that easy to crack. Hence the expression. They aren't edamame, let's just say. And a nutcracker isn't something a person of my age and income bracket has just sitting around. So last night, much to my neighbor's pleasure I'm sure, I was forced to whack each and every pecan with a hammer two or three times until they cracked. I think one split well enough to get two halves out. The rest were little bits. And lots and lots of nut dust.
So, you're welcome. I did it so you don't have to. And I hope my nut cracking adventures have made your holiday season a little easier!
