Natural Plant Processing (and Cookies Too)

Posted January 3, 2010

Today was our first foray to Coyote Hills Regional Park in the East Bay. Our East Bay Regional Parks are a wonderful resource for homeschoolers, offering terrific naturalist programs and a multitude of ways to connect with nature.

We are also volunteering to help prepare native plant foods for use in programs with school children and had to get up extra early for the hour-long trip to Sunol.  Our immediate impressions as soon as we arrived were "we are so glad we woke up at 7 am (on a Sunday) for this!" - it is a thriving wetlands and reminded us so much of the London Wetland Centre.

Due to some *ahem* confusion *ahem*, we arrived two hours early, but it worked out perfectly for a nice morning hike. Where's Waldo the hummingbird?

We saw herons, egrets, mallards, Whilte American Pelicans, swallows, and geese during our short walk along Alameda Creek.  It was marvelous!

Tiny cobwebs heavy with dew reflecting the morning sun

We made it to the Ohlone Indian shellmound site and back in time for the workshop.  Acorns await us!  These were gathered by volunteers from the Bay Area and required sorting for mold, cracks, galls, insect boring/holes, and for weight (very light acorns are immature).  Caps on acorns also indicate that the acorns are immature and not ready for drying and further processing.

To open an acorn, place it upright (eg, cap end would be at the top) and simply tap with a hammer or rock. The nut meat has to be cleaned of the red skin which is horribly bitter.  Different from a peanut, the skin goes around the individual sections of the nut, so acorns have to be split using a knife, or obsidian blade. We love that we keep bumping into classmates from Merritt's mycology class - Celine, next to K in this photo, was also there with her boyfriend :)  She runs wonderful youth programs at the Peralta Hacienda Historical Park)

M helped Ling, another volunteer, make acorn cookies while we were splitting the meat (hard work!)

After the splitting, Bev used her Ohlone winnowing basket to remove as much of the skin as possible.  We then wet the remaining nuts to reveal the seams that we missed, and [repeat above]

Clean acorns are then separated from the rest

Here, (Editor's note: "self-appointed") Master Chef K is grinding the acorns into flour (using modern technology or a coffee grinder).  Sorting, grinding, shifting and regrinding what didn't make it through the sifter.

Refining the acorn flour.  The flour is then leached.  The final product is then placed in a flour sack-lined dish rack and water is dripped throughout the day until it is no longer bitter in taste. Lastly, it is stored in the freezer (in modern times)

It's not all work - we had a terrific day socializing with everyone as we worked.  We meet the most interesting people at volunteer programs! 

Sweet rewards - acorn muffins

And acorn cookies!

A few acorn recipes to enjoy:
- Prodigal Gardens: Medical Herbs and Wild Foods
- Grandpappy's Basic Acorn Recipes: Acorn Information, Identification, Processing, and Recipes

Enjoy!

Good Eats episode:
Three Chips for Sister Marsha (Season 3)

• The Thin
• The Puffy
• The Chewy

The Cookie Clause (Season 7)

• Sugar Cookies
• Royal Icing
• Chocolate Peppermint Pinwheel Cookies

You might also enjoy:
History of Cookies