One of the treats I enjoy eating around the holidays is roasted chestnuts. Like many of you, I associate them with the Christmas season. But they remind me of a time when my father brought a bag home, and I put some in our toaster oven. Since they take about 15 minutes to roast, I went back into my bedroom and was resting on my bed reading my homework. Meanwhile, my mother walked into the kitchen and sat at the table to do some bookkeeping -- when all of a sudden one of the chestnuts exploded, blowing open the toaster oven door. It nearly frightened my poor mother to death. She must have thought she'd been shot! And in the heat of the moment, she was furious! She ran into my room with the rest of the hot chestnuts and told me to make sure to "fresse" every last one of them up! In her native tongue, you say "essen" for "eat" when talking about a person and "fressen,” to describe the intake of food by a beast. I thought the whole thing was so hysterical. All I could do was laugh, right in her face! -- which only made her madder. She ended up giving me a REally dirty look before heading back into the kitchen.
People get angry; animals go mad. Was my mother angry? Nah, she was mad! And I was in stitches! Accidents are funny when nobody gets hurt, but an unsuspecting person becomes unhinged.
Today ... here I sit eating chestnuts
, and they are delicious. And when I ask my mam'ma 
, she doesn't remember the family drama. But, I'll never forget it. 
, and they are delicious. And when I ask my mam'ma , she doesn't remember the family drama. But, I'll never forget it. You may also enjoy:
where I ate the best bowl of chili in my life. Ever since, I've tried to find the recipe, without success, though other 
with water so that the water is ½ way up the meat. Add 2 tablespoons hot sauce and 1 tablespoon Tabasco. Cover and cook in the oven for about 5 hours at 250 degrees.
