Fair Winds and Following Interstates
During the Civil War, Fort Fisher played a key role for the Confederacy. It protected Cape Fear and allowed blockade runners to bring their much needed supplies. The port at Wilmington, NC, remained open long after the Union had shut down other ports thanks to Fort Fisher. Known as the Gibraltar of the South, when the fort finally fell to the Union, the war ended shortly thereafter.
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| Atop the breastworks |
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| Visitor Center Mural |
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| Blockade runner model |
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| Looking towards Wilmington |
While sitting at Mike's Collision Center, we noticed several employees picking something off the ground. Apparently it wasn't trash because they were folding the bottom of their shirts to make pockets. So on the weekend, Harold checked it out. They were picking up pecans. When Mike came by on Monday, he said we could help ourselves. That's good since we had already picked some and made a pie.
After almost rubbing our fingers raw shelling the first batch, we decided that despite being a single-use item we wouldn't use much, a nutcracker was in order. It sure did make the next batch go easier on our fingers.
We repaid Mike and crew with a dozen pecan cookies and a pecan pie. We tried our hand at glazed cinnamon pecans using our popcorn popper. Our popcorn popper plate required a little soaking afterwards, but I'm ready to do it again. Yum!
So far we've shelled and roasted 24 cups of pecans. As I write this, Harold has brought in another couple of pounds to shell. Guess we'd better get busy...
The links will take you to the recipes we used. As to proper pronunciation, we'll leave that alone. To borrow a phrase from sports fans, even we're a house divided. 😂
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| One of two trees in the lot |
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| Part of the haul |
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| Breakfast is ready |
