Thanks for the kind words, here and on the seed catalog post. I envy you for having a friend with a chestnut tree. The iqf recipe is actually pretty simple and quick if you don’t glaze – ahem – the finished product but if you’re starting with raw chestnuts you probably wouldn’t make them into marrons glaces unless you were some kind of fanatic (no names, please). As for the pro part, your lovely blog suggests you’re not exactly a duffer yourself and I hope you’ll come back again soon.

I’m glad you stopped by too. It’s really fun to connect with Australia and of course any friend of marrons glaces…

I’m still fooling around with assorted recipes and on that basis feeling even more strongly that the IQF’s are definitely the way to go for ease and consistency. The ones I used were not, I’m sorry to say, as richly chestnutty in flavor as the fresh ones, but they were a bit old by the time I got them so I’m planning to try again, and to try other brands in hopes the technology itself isn’t responsible. Mentioning all this because unless IQF is more common there than here you’re probably going to have to do a bit of shopping and testing before settling on a course of action.

definitely worth it ( except for the weight gain problem).

BTW, inkitchenandgarden got upgraded a while ago, gaining in index and search what it lost in old fashioned month by month archives, but there’s lots and lots on the site about growing and cooking summer vegetables so I hope you’ll look around for seasonal enjoyment.

Happy holidays – in the warm sun!

It’s summer in Australia now, so this is not the season, but for sure I’m going to give it a try and make my own, later in next year.

Merry Christmas!