Often, fresh nutritional food is spoken of as "fresh from the garden".  I want to bring to your attention that there's food in "them there woods".  On one of our trips to France, I have a fond memory of going out looking for chestnut trees on the side of the road with my husband, Chef Roland, and his parents.  It was a wonderful experience for all of us and a great reason to go for an outing.  They are in their late 80's and you could tell they really enjoyed being our guides to a choice spot and that they were able to "pass down" part of their food culture to me, their American daughter-in-law who had never harvested chestnuts in the wild.  It was beyond a Kodak moment.  After we located and gleened the chestnuts from a quaint country French farm road, we took them home where Chef Roland's mother cooked up a scrumptious chestnut soup for part of our evening meal.  That experience beat out anything else France had to offer!  Since I've not been diligent to post anything for the holidays, I will make this my contribution because ,really, it's about family and memories.  So, I've posted a link for a nice chestnut recipe.  Unfortunately, they are a little expensive in the store.  However, you can contact the Missouri Department of conservation and purchase a bundle of chestnut trees for a nominal cost and start your own chestnut orchard!! 

http://frenchfood.about.com/od/soupsandstews/r/chestnut.htm


Merry Christmas & Bon Appetit!