Chestnuts Roasting for Reals!

So does everyone know that you can really Roast Chestnuts on an Open Fire!?!?!  Yeah I didn't, but it's not just a song!  I told my Dad what we were going to do and he said, well, isn't that just a song!?

David was a pro since they do this all the time in Italy.  He said on cold days they have those round trash can like metal cans outside, start a fire inside and on top they roast the chestnuts!  So he'd walk around and see them and I think even join in and eat some :)

Well, since it was quite snowy here, we didn't venture outside but we decided to have our first attempt with our great friend Shayla, and she had a fireplace that works (ours doesn't ) so she fed us dinner (yum!) and then we started the chestnuts.

1) First you can either slice a hole in the chestnuts so they can expand, or leave them as is and they will "pop" open during cooking.  We decided to slice most of them because who knew how far they'd fly and we were indoors...
2) Then David said we should have a grate type tray to put over the fire, but we didn't have so we just cut holes in foil and put on top of a baking sheet.

3) Turn on fire and place them over the fire.  Well, incase anyone tries this, baking sheets over fire aren't the best!  Especially if the fire is so close and hot like this one!  

4) If you then have smoke and gas smell and the fire alarm going off - FAN the fire alarm like David is, and run around opening all the doors and windows like Shayla did.  And she also turned off the fire while pulling out the CRISPY baking sheet (oops!)

5) Oh, and if you're me (which I totally did this) then go grab your big coat and find blankets to pile on (D did that) while your friends run around freezing you out!  I didn't want to have to wander outside w/out my coat so I was just preparing like they were right?  Yeah I know where my priorities are...
Besides not helping, I also ran around continually singing "Chestnuts burning on an open fire" and making up a better song to go along with our freezing fire-y night :)

6) Don't give up, but try again w/out the baking sheet and put all the fireproof logs back on the fire and put the chestnuts on top of that!  Don't worry that some of the chestnuts were already burnt because of the baking sheet incident....

7) Wait about 20 min or until popping sounds and then take them off the fire.  For us since we had lots of burning, we didn't have to wait that long.  But while waiting we enjoyed some yummy cranberry orange cider that Shayla just gave the recipe to me, yum!  (No, I still hadn't moved from this spot)

8) After the chestnuts are out, you can crack/pry them open with your hands when they cool off.  Find the soft inside and enjoy!  D & Shayla enjoyed them, me not so much, but it was the "experience" for me.  Everyone should try it, maybe outside next time since we were that cold anyway and almost died or had the gas/fire alarm ringing at least 4x that night.  Thanks Shayla for holding the experiment in your home!  Next time, we'll be pros :)

So, now you know that it's not just a song!!!