The Nut Bowl
Growing up we had a bowl that sat on a side table in our family room that was filled with a variety of nuts still in their shells. I remember friends coming over and nuts being cracked and eaten while we visited. I also remember snacking out of that bowl between meals. Hazelnuts were my favorite. Hard to crack but delicious. I guess that’s why Ferrero Roche now dips them in chocolate to make those delicious holiday chocolates.
Now days, when we want a snack, it’s common to reach for a bag of chips but back when I was a kid my mom rarely bought those types of snacks, we snacked on nuts or fruit. They made for an easy snack. Our nut bowl was a low wide wooden one with a place for a nut cracker and picks in a holder in the center. It let you see the full assortment of nuts to choose from.
My mom also had a second fancier nut bowl that came out for dinner parties during the drinks and appetizers portion of the evening. It was a round wooden ball with an oval cut out opening in the front. It had a special matching ladle for scooping out the nuts. Fancy salted mixed nuts went into this bowl and it was such a treat to scoop out and eat the cashews – my favorite of that bunch.
It’s funny to think about how many of the things that are so available to us today were actually treats 50 years ago. I’m still a nut-girl, chocolate covered almonds being a personal favorite, but as a kid, I’d never had them as a regular snack like I do now.
Certain fruits and vegetables were only in the store when they were in season. In the winter we had a lot of broccoli and root vegetables on the dinner table. Artichokes and peas were a huge treat when they came around and squash was for summertime. Same with the fruit selection, berries and stone fruits were for the summer and in the long winter months we had mostly apples and bananas. I guess that’s why the nut bowl was such a treat.
When I was cleaning out my mom’s house I came across that fancy round nut bowl from long ago. Turns out it was a teak bowl from Sweden. Midcentury modern I suppose. Anyway, I saved it to hold a sculpture and I knew right away how I would use it. It would be a woodpecker nest. So, I’ve nestled two babies (perhaps my brother and me) into the interior of the bowl and put the mama on top guarding us from predators and other dangers, just like my mom took care of us. It’s a sweet piece and I think fondly of my childhood and my mom when I see it. I think this is a nice new purpose for that piece of my past. The woodpecker family fits it just right.
Did your family have a special occasion dish?
