A DIAMOND Walnut advertisement in a hundred-year-old magazine said:
Be sure to have [walnuts] throughout all the holidays – a standing invitation to partake of the distinctive hospitality of your home. They are fireside companions that the entire family will enjoy.
Ladies Home Journal (December, 1925)
Some traditions don’t change (at least not much). I have a bowl of nuts — I went with mixed nuts instead of walnuts — ready for my family to crack and eat as we sit around the fire.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Merry Christmas!
We used to have pecans on the table, always ready to be cracked. They came from a big tree behind the house. Thank you for sparking that memory.
Wow, it’s wonderful that your family had a pecan tree in the yard. We’ve always had to buy our nuts to crack at the store. Merry Christmas!
We were very blessed to have pecan trees in our yard. Pecans are still my favorite nut to eat.
Wishing you and your family a wonderful Christmas! My goodness, your picture takes me back to my childhood. I’d forgotten that, for many years, my mother would put out a very similar bowl filled with nuts, along with the nutcracker.
It’s nice to hear that this post brought back some warm memories. I hope that you had a wonderful Christmas.
Nuts are a daily offering in our home. However, walnuts in their shell are extra special, particularly at Christmas!
Nuts are such a healthy food. We eat them frequently, though not quite as often as you.
Merry Christmas! Growing up, we had a bowl of pecans.
My sense is that it was more common to have a bowl of nuts when we were young than it is now. I hope that you had a wonderful Christmas.
I hope you had a wonderful Christmas as well.
We had a lovely Christmas with family.
We always had a bowl of mixed nuts.
Having nuts during the holidays is such a nice tradition.
I always cracked nuts and salted them with my Dad. I still have the bowl and the tools we used to scrape out every little bit. Merry Christmas Everyone.
What a lovely memory! It’s special that you still have the bowl and tools. I hope that you had a wonderful Christmas.
merry christmas to you and yours. No fire here 🙂 – we’ve had a very hot month already, and storms! And oddly, there was snow down south in tasmania yesterday and christmas eve – in the middle of summer!. And bushfires and storm damage! Wow what a rollercoaster. Happy 2026!
cheers
Sherry
Whew, the weather sounds really crazy in Australia! It’s amazing that there was snow in Tasmania in December. Hopefully the weather settles down soon. Belated Merry Christmas wishes!
I used to always have nuts to crack out too. I wonder how that got lost.
In my family, it seems like some traditions just slip away, while other traditions are added. I guess it all balances out.
As a special treat during the holidays!!!
Walnuts…Pecans….Brazil Nuts ….
Nuts are a wonderful holiday treat. I always especially look forward to Brazil nuts, since I never see them (shelled or unshelled) outside of a few weeks in December.
Have to have nuts. But walnuts is fine. Can’t crack brazil nuts and nobody likes them anyway. Almonds taste good, but can’t be cracked. Keep it simple!
🙂 It’s so frustrating when I can’t get a nut cracked, as well as when I get the nut cracked, but can’t get it out of the shell or pulverized it in the process.
Grrrr!
There was always a bowl at the house when I was growing up and I only stopped the tradition after both a granddaughter and daughter experienced severe allergies! Miss the ritual cracking of them.
Traditions change over the years to better meet the needs of family members.
Thanks for the memories of crackling open pure nourishment, one shell at a time!
🙂 You have such a wonderful way with words.