Nayu's Craft Time #266 Mild chaos & relaxation

Chestnuts are conkers, hidden in a spiky protective outer layer!

I know the title is a bit weird - how can chaos be related to relaxation, right? The past few days - mostly just yesterday - were more chaotic than planned. I had to finish  chore quicker than expected on the same day I went shopping (which means I should do nothing but rest, only that didn't happen). 

This is chaos - when I researched chaos online as a picture they were all dark and scary, which isn't the sentiment of this post!

I finally found some chestnuts in the shops - got to love this time of year for having food I like but rarely can buy, and because I'm having my mega strong meds tomorrow night I needed to cook the chestnuts yesterday. The cooking part was easy: tip chestnuts in a pan, cover with boiling water, cook for an hour. No mess, no fuss, simple! 

As simple as a pretty paperclip rainbow!

While it cooked I happily played on Pokemon. Then it finished, I got my knife and two bowls - one for rubbish, one for the cooked 'meat', with a third holding the whole ones. I've never cooked or deshelled chestnuts, but with advice from family I was good to go. I didn't know what a bad one looked like, but 2 or 3 chestnuts in I discovered exactly what shouldn't go in the bowl of edibles. I only had 4 that were bad, I know what's better than what my family had. Peeling a chestnut is a bit fiddly. I simply put tip of knife in the chestnut, cut it in half, then scooped out the good part into the bowl using a knife. I hadn't thought of using a spoon, but that would have made the process a little longer, and I wasn't fussed how the chestnuts looked by the end. I just needed them cooked!

You can see how they look whole and when cut in half you can see the white flesh part.

I still need to look up how long they can keep in the fridge - I may need to freeze them. I want to do a sweet crumble with some fresh cranberries, bit of orange and maybe some apple. I'm aware this may be a weird combo but it's what I fancy! Hoping there is a recipe for something similar online somewhere. 

Mine look as tasty as these ones!

Like chestnuts cranberries are another item I can only really get at this time of year, dried cranberries aren't the same. Oh and pre-packaged chestnuts are not very nice, fresh is best in this scenario! I never get to eat chestnuts because I don't eat stuffing since it's made with meat, hence me finally buying some. Because I'll be horizontal for 5-6 days straight I really didn't want my lovely chestnuts to go to waste. I might see if there are recipes involving maple syrup because I have some of the good real stuff! (a post devoted to maple syrup is coming in a few days!)

This is entirely unrelated to the post, I just thought it was cute (I love Pooh bear!)

I had some other chores to do yesterday, making it a busy day, so I relaxed with lots of Pokemon in the evening, which was bliss! Normally today would be rest day, but since I'm have ketamine tomorrow (legally guys, it is part of my pain management treatment - NEVER take drugs unless prescribed) I'll have several rest days soon. The chaos was doing a lot of things in one day, the relaxation is from tomorrow night! I hope you all have a super weekend, and if you're taking part in any festivities that you have fun!

Whateer the weather have a good one!