Marrons Glacé - crystallized chestnut decadence

Chestnuts are one of those things that I always associate with street vendors selling their aromatic wares. Holding a newspaper cone of them...just the memory of them while I type brings back the scent of them, roasted over a small open fire. And the warmth they give the fingers as you peel them.

I love them.

Another favourite way to consume them - a decadent one - is candied. Glazed chestnuts* are one thing, but Marrons Glacé (crystallized chestnuts) is quite another. The former is done rather quickly and the later takes a few days of tender loving care. And a good recipe.

I adore them.

So does a visitor to my site, who having located this classic recipe through a search engine was kind enough to report back on his success and has allowed me to use a photo of his Marrons Glacé. A big thanks and a round of applause goes to you, Robert!

For many years my family has enjoyed Marrons Glacé - but only at Christmas and only in small quantities because they were so darned expensive. This recipe produces a wonderful result and we can now indulge to our hearts content, smug in the knowledge that they are home produced and at little cost."
Robert Ornbo

Home produced, with that magic ingredient love and time. Bravo Robert!


(Robert, if you read this please contact me. I have something for you!)

note: Although glazed chestnuts is the term often used to describe candied or crystallized chestnuts, the procedure is much different. Glazed chestnuts are often used for savoury dishes as an accompaniment, much like glazed carrots...a process that is not as involved as crystallized chestnuts and results in a different product.

January Update

Oh, have I been negligent of this blog! Shame on me. Well, it's surely not because I've been lazy...on the contrary. It's been a very busy past 6 months.

Since a few weeks now, I have been searching for a solution to help me send out my newsletter. In the past I sent out each email manually. Now there are so many subscribers (hurray!) that it took me several hours of precious time I really didn't have. And frankly, with that daunting task before me, I felt guilty about updating and being able to 'get around to manually sending alllll those emails'.

So a solution had to be found. I hope the system I found is as good as the reviews have said. So far I am impressed. Today I sent out my first newsletter through them. I hope it works...it took me days and hours to manually upload each address with all the information (what day signed up, first name, last name...etc) AND get used to their system.

If it works, I'll be freed up to concentrate on content. And this blog!

Have a look around the site, there are new articles, recipes, home page's What's in Season has been updated as well as a new recipe of the week. The syndicated service I subscribed to has been so unreliable...and still no answer to my emails.

And yes that is a recent photo of me on the home page...taken at my Christmas party.

Have a fabulous new year, everyone!