Lorna, how interesting. What do they taste like? Anything you can compare them to?

Let us know how the harvesting goes and how many you get.

Hey, your counter top looks a lot like mine.

Oh, Lorna!
You are so lucky!
I love Pinons.
When I was a girl, my oldest brother and mother took us younger sibs up into the high Sierras to harvest Pinons in the Fall. A fun time was had by all walking around in the clouds and snow, picking pinons. Mother put them in her Thanksgiving Stuffing (dressing), and when toasted, we ate them like peanuts and they went into our Christmas cocoa fudge every year. Yummy!
I use them (when I can get them nowadays) in family Mexican dishes and Christmas Fudge, too.
They are expensive to buy here, when you can get them.
Lucky, lucky you to have your own tree(s)!!!

Annie

Glenda, pine nuts are rich. They are rather soft, unless toasted, because they have a high oil content. When you buy them in a store, they are pure white because the shells have already been removed. They are a traditional ingredient in pesto. One time I put pine nuts in a batch of brownies and served them to some local people. They went nuts--loved it that I had put pine nuts in brownies! (pun intended) You might know them by the Spanish word, which is pinon (should be a tilde over the n).

Annie, do you want to try growing a pinon in Oklahoma?! Shall I send you some seeds? Yes, indeed, pine nuts are expensive as of late. People around here gather them wild and sell them from their truckbeds at roadside, usually roasted and salted.

I wanted to make my pesto lasagne at the beginning of my first summer in NM. I went to the grocery store to buy pine nuts, but they didn't have any. They told me pine nuts were out of season. I was flummoxed, because I was used to being able to buy them all year round in California. I had to order some from the Internet!

Lorna

Lorna,

Heck yeah!
I would love to try to grow them! My mom will just freak out! Wonder how many years it will take for them to get big enough to produce cones and seeds? My Japanese pines started producing cones when they were about 10 years old.
Thanks!!!

I forgot that in the USA they are an ingredient in basil Pesto. I haven't been able to get them here in so long, so I have been using toasted walnuts or pecans. I can't afford to buy the old world Italian pine nuts to make my pesto.

gldno1,
Piñon nuts taste something like a piney pecan, if you can imagine. It sounds weird, but tastes yummy when roasted.
Similar, rubbery texture until roasted. When you remove the brown skins, they look something like little white blanched almonds.

~Annie

Oohh - how cool is that!!?? You can grow pine nuts - are they like the ones I buy for pesto?? So expensive - I am envious!!

Nancy.

Okay, Annie, you're on! I would guess about ten years is right. I'm not sure how old these trees are. One was runty, when I arrived here, but it has recovered and is growing well now. Though it hasn't put out any cones. I would guess these trees are between ten to fifteen years old.

Give me a "jingle" via private Email with your address, Annie. I'll mail you some seeds.

Yea, Nancy, I was DELIGHTED when I found this little treasure trove. Too bad I didn't find it sooner, some of the nuts have already sprung from their cones.

Lorna

What a wonderful discovery! It seems odd that pine nuts ripen later in the season, when basil is best in the early summer. I guess the pine nuts in the stores are from last year, but I was thinking they don't keep well. I don't use them often in my pesto, and so, according to a recipe, my pesto is really pisto. :o) If I could grow pine nuts, I'd make pesto with them, if they didn't get eaten first.

Sue, who isn't sure if what she just wrote makes any sense

Lorna, Thanks so much for sharing your pictures and information about these nuts. I like to read books about the early American Indians and the pine nuts are often mentioned in them. Living in the Midwest, I've never seen them at all. Loved seeing what they look like. Enjoy!

MeMo

Sue, I store pine nuts in the refrigerator so the oil won't go rancid. Also other types of nuts, and the excess flour which won't fit into my cannister, goes in there, too. Whole wheat flour can go rancid pretty fast. White flour keeps longer. Wish I had bought a larger refrigerator! I'm forever moving stuff around to find what I want because the frig is jam packed most of the time.

I've been making pesto lately. My basil got a late start this year. I made pesto pizza today. I freeze some pesto for use during winter.

Mexican grocery stores sell something called asafran. It is saffron, and very inexpensive! I make my Spanish rice with rice, onions, a healthy pinch of saffron and toasted pumpkin seeds. I stir fry the rice and onions for a few minutes, then add the water and steam it. I add the saffron five minutes before cooking is complete, and top with toasted pumpkin seeds (pepitas) for serving.
Lorna

You've got mail!

Pine nuts - are my favorite! I add them to salads, "nut-and-berries" mix that I do myself, eat them as they are. Mostly raw - they taste great, and very good for you, too!
How lucky you are Lorna!
~Natalie

Lorna, that Mexican dish sounds good. I wonder why the grocery stores don't have pine nuts in the refrigerated section.

Sue, who has lost the battle to keep her basils from blooming, has some pistou in the freezer for the winter

Lucky you, I guess we don't have those around here, I've never seen them. Thank you for posting this, an unusual treat to see pinenuts growing.

My sister gave me a tiny little bottle of saffron she got when she went to Spain (I think). It is still sitting in my cabinet as I can't find a recipe of something that sounds good to use it in. Any suggestions. Does it lose its flavor or anything?

Here is a link that might be useful: my new blog

Have you tried doing a search on saffron recipes, Flutterby? Paella is a dish which calls for saffron. Spanish saffron is very costly! Good that you are keeping it in a dark place, that will help it to stay in good shape. I don't know how long saffron can be kept. I would guess at least a couple of years, if not longer.

Lorna

I don't think I've ever eaten pine nuts. We tend to eat the local nuts, like pecans and black walnuts. Any nut is a treat as far as I'm concerned.

My younger son told me once that he had respiratory distress after eating pesto. He rushed to a drugstore and got antihistamine and never ate pesto again. I always wondered whether it was the nuts or the herbs he was allergic to.

Nell

Nell,
Many people are allergic to nuts and products made with or from nuts or their by-products, such as oils, nut butters, &etc.
He should get that tested. It can be fatal for some people.

Annie

Thanks, Annie, but it's too late for testing. He was hit by an out-of-control truck and killed shortly after he told me about the pesto episode.

Oh, dear Nell,
I lost my youngest son in a fatal car wreck. He was only 14 yrs old. It had just started to rain. The thin layer of water on oily road surface caused the car he was a passenger in to hydroplane when the driver tried to stop at the stop sign at the bottom of the hill. The car hydro-planed 200 ft down the hill and slid through the stop sign, out into heavy traffic. He was a passenger in the front. He was ejected out the rear window when the car flipped and then rolled three times. The driver of their car and the driver of the car it hit died too. It was Halloween night. They were going to the Fairgrounds for some Halloween fun that is held there each year for children and families. My other older children road in a different car behind them. Nine people died within a few weeks of that night at that same intersection. Many, many people died there before the state highway dept. finally fixed that grade and intersection.
Yesterday was my baby boy's birthday. He would have been 27.
I know this does nothing to ease your sorrow, but you have my most sincere heartfelt sympathy just the same.

Sorry Lorna. Didn't mean to high jack your 'nutty' topic. :)

Annie

Annie and Nell,
I'm sorry for your losses of your sons.

My 26 year old daughter was in a car with a friend who had someone cut in front of her a couple weeks ago, and she was not wearing her seat belt. Her body was thrown into the dash board. Of course, she did not tell us about it until yesterday. She has severe eczema, and figured out by looking on the internet Saturday, that it was infected, and since her leg was swelling and looking bad, she was concerned it may be infected, too, so she went to the emergency room yesterday morning. To make a long story shorter, she ended up needing me to take her to her PA this afternoon, who sent her to a surgeon, who agreed to meet us at his office at 6:15 this evening, and lanced the infected area on her leg. We then needed to go get the soap he said for her to use and her antibiotic, and were late getting home. Hearing your experiences makes me thankful for the day, if that makes any sense.

Sue

I am sorry for the tragic loss of your youngest sons, Nell and Annie. I imagine a parent never gets over such a loss.
Sue, I hope your daughter's infections heal up well. Vit. A and D are very good for controlling eczema.
Lorna