Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire

When I was younger, my family had a bit of a tradition of sitting around the fireplace during the winter while cracking and eating either mixed nuts or pecans that we had bought in bulk. We’d lay out newspaper on the carpet, then crack the nuts over the paper while enjoying the fire. When we were done, we could just crumple up the newspaper with all the shells inside and throw it out.

Well, a couple of weeks ago, Brett and I decided we should use up the last of the firewood we had bought while it was still winter. We then ended up going to the grocery store right after making that decision. While we were there, we found that they had bulk nuts for sale. Sadly, no actual chestnuts were included. Regardless, we bought a small bag, along with some red wine, and grabbed one of the free Foster City papers on the way out the door. We snapped a couple of photos of ourselves enjoying the wine and nuts over the newspaper in front of the fire. It was a rather nostalgic occasion for me, and enjoyable of its own accord as well.