Nuts about nuts

For as long as I can remember nuts have been part of my life. The first incident in my life involving nuts, that I remember, happened on a New Year's Eve a long time ago. I must have been six or seven. And I ate so many nuts that night that I got sick! Pass forward through the years and the memory of my mother and I sitting at the kitchen table, with a pile of nuts in a basket, cracker handy nearby. We would sit there for what seemed like hours, carefully cracking each shell and extracting the deliciousness inside. I wouldn't call it a tradition. I never heard a "hey, let's have some nuts tonight!". It was more like a yearly ritual. When the seasons changed, and with it the selection of seasonal produce in the market, the huge baskets with nuts made an appearance. Brazil nuts, walnuts, hazelnuts and almonds... we each have our favorite, but as far as nuts are concerned, come one, come all was the cry of the day and soon a bag of them would appear home, and for me it was a sure sign that the Christmas was near. I can't help but wonder how the holidays would have been different had either one of us had nut allergies. Luckily, neither one of us has. So these days, when the leaves fall and the temperature starts to dip, I find myself bringing a bag of nuts home, which my daughter and I enjoy immensely, sitting at the kitchen table, with a cracker nearby.