Acorns again

[Abby Bloxsom <goneriding@snet.net>]

I got lots of replies but limited definitive info, so I went looking.  I 
found the following at

http://www.edibleplants.com/month/oak.htm

<snip>
Warning

Unprocessed acorns usually have toxic quantities of tannin and may 
shutdown the digestive track. Proper leaching removes the tannin making 
them a major wild food item.
<snip>
A Method of Cold Water Leaching
Shell the acorns in your favorite way. Some suggestions step on them 
with hard shoes until you hear a pop sound. Drive over them. Use a nut 
cracker (dried acorns are more brittle). Crack with a hammer or rock. 
Soak them in water until they split open (about 2 weeks to a month).
<end quote>
*****
The directions that followed described shelling and grinding the nuts, 
then soaking the flour with several water changes.  (I would only 
suppose that the snow/thaw/snow/thaw cycle we've "enjoyed" this winter 
has leached the acorns enough to make them tasty.)

There are recipes for Acorn Brownies and White Man's Wiwish (acorn mush).

Apparently the horses know something we don't!  (and so what else is new?)

Cheers
-Abby

-- 
* * *
Abby Bloxsom
ARICP Certified Instructor
Level III Recreational and Distance Riding
Colebrook, CT USA
goneriding@snet.net