Tonight we roasted chestnuts.

There are so many fond memories wrapped up in those tiny little nuggets for me, so when I saw the chestnuts in my local market I grabbed a couple of handfuls and raced home to roast some for my favorite little two-year-old. Just to cram more memories inside those little buggers. Because I'm a crammer like that.

The best part about eating memory-filled roasted chestnuts is the whole re-living the memories part. And now that I'm sharing it with my daughter, she gets to re-live those memories with me.

Tonight, we not only sat at my mom's kitchen table, watching her fingers curled around that dull paring knife that she's used for 34 years, scoring the chestnuts in preparation. But a second later, we strolled the streets around the Plaza Mayor in Madrid, Spain, looking at all the Christmas lights and smelling the wonderful nutty smell of the chestnuts roasting in the pans of the street vendors. A few minutes later, we were walking out of the Musee D'Orsay overcome by the rich smell and handing over a few Euros for a cone of yumminess. Finally, we were curled up on our couch, in San Antonio, Texas peeling back the crispy shells and popping those warm chestnuts in our mouths, enjoying their savory creaminess and making our own memories to re-live next year.

If you have a life list, be sure inhaling (literally & figuratively) roasted chestnuts is on it. It's one of those life treausres that every one must enjoy.

Here's how to roast your own.

1. Only buy the good ones. Big & plump and they should have a flat side.

   

2. Wipe them down with a damp paper cloth.
3. Score them with an "X"

   

4. Soak in slightly salted water for 10 minutes.

   

5. Pat dry. Lay them out on a baking sheet, scored side up.

   

6. Roast in oven for 20 minutes (depending on how many you have) at 425 degrees (or you can roast them in a cast iron pan on your stovetop).
7. When they're done, they'll look like this (tip: cracking them open is much easier when they're warm).

   

For a touch of nostalgia and to put a smile on Martha Stewart's face, wrap them up in newspaper (or yellow pages) cones.