word. i tried that one year. never again. i do like roasting them and eating them out of hand - when you roast them, make sure to score the shell. if you are feeling really adventurous you can roast them all, spend the time to shell them (not fun) and use them in a stuffing recipe (i thought it turned out pretty good - cornbread, chestnuts and sausage), or get adventurous with desserts, they would taste pretty good with a glaze on them. My family roasts chestnuts around the holiday season every year. I think they're delicious, especially when they carmelize a bit in the process, but they are usually a real hassle to shell. But, last year a friend of mine ordered a bag of fresh chestnuts from a chestnut farm in Ohio. These were Chinese chestnuts (as opposed to the variety I had always eaten which we called Italian chestnuts, not sure if that is the official name). The chestnut shell looked slightly darker, but the flesh was the same color, and the best part was that they practically jumped out of their shell during the roasting process. We'd score them across the top in an X pattern, and the nut would split right open as it roasted. The flavor was a little different, not as sweet, perhaps, but they made up for it in ease-of-access. He'll be ordering another batch this year and I can't wait 'till they show up.
