I’ve been trying some new foods this year to get into that Christmas spirit. One was roasted chestnuts. I happened to walk by some in the grocery story and picked them up on impulse. I once ate a roasted chestnut appetizer during a memorable meal at a restaurant in Michigan, and I wanted to see if I could recreate that dish at home.

As it turns out, I unknowingly bought one of the best kind of chestnuts for roasting. Apparently, shoppers can buy ones from Asia, Italy, and South Carolina. The package I bought was from Italy. I found a recipe online and waited until a weekend when I had time to try it. The process takes a while because the chestnuts need to soak to soften. The recipe on the package of chestnuts did not include that step, so I’m glad I looked online. I think it would have been harder to peel the chestnuts if they had not been soaked after being scored.

It also took me a while to score the pound of nuts that I had. I was being careful not to cut myself in the process and my fingers got tired about halfway through, so I took a break. It also takes a while to peel the nuts once they’re cooked. But the results were worth it! The naked nuts look like little tan brains and taste like a cross between a pecan and a walnut.

I was glad that they keep well in the refrigerator or freezer. Russ and I couldn’t eat all of them in one sitting. In fact, I think we still have a few left that we should probably eat today!

My other festive food was a cranberry curd tart with a hazelnut flour crust and sugared cranberries. I’d made the tart before a few times with a recipe from the New York Times. The recipe appealed to me because it is wheat-free. I cheat a bit—I don’t make my own hazelnut flour. I buy it from Bob’s Red Mill at my grocery store, which usually carries it during this time of year. I also made the recipe easier by not straining the cranberry mixture. I just blend it all up in a blender. That gives it a good color and extra flavor. But I do juice my own orange and grate fresh orange zest.

The sugared cranberries were my new thing for the season. I had some leftover cranberries from making the tart. I’d seen photos of tarts decorated with them and thought it looked fun to try. Like with the chestnuts, the sugaring process for the cranberries takes some time—mostly in waiting for things to dry.

I used this online recipe for the cranberries. I didn’t have any parchment paper, so I used aluminum foil, and that seemed to work just fine. The recipe also includes tips on how to sugar rosemary sprigs to make the pie look more Christmasy. I didn’t have any rosemary, so I simply went outside and clipped off a balsam sprig to decorate the pie. (Note: we did not eat the sprig, it was just for decoration!)

I would advise making the sugared cranberries the same day the pie will be eaten. If the decorated pie is stored overnight in the fridge, the sugar grains tend to “melt,” and you’ll need to take the berries off and re-sugar them. The cranberries can also be eaten by themselves as a snack. They’re great!

So, if you have some time this year and want to try something different, these are two foods to consider. I probably won’t roast chestnuts again, but I’ll for sure make the tart and cranberries during future holiday seasons.