Walnuts for Breakfast.

Today I want to wend my way Around the Kitchen Clock with Walnuts. This delightful little promotional recipe book was produced by the California Walnut Growers’ Association in the 1930’s.

Walnuts for Breakfast?

You may think that using walnuts at breakfast requires a little stretch of the imagination, but after you’ve tried a few of these suggestions you’ll wonder why you never thought of it before. Walnuts belong in breakfast menus – for their delightful flavour and crunchy crispness. Just try them! You’ll find the family enthusing over the new appeal in their everyday foods.

You can start right off with the fruit. If you serve baked apples, add a few chopped walnuts to the sugar and spices for the filling. Or you can rescue prunes from their everyday sameness by stuffing each one with a walnut half in place of the pit.

The breakfast jam or marmalade is greatly improved when a few broken walnut kernels are added. Many women make their preserves that way in the first place – or just mix in a few walnuts before serving.

And breakfast breads – that’s where walnuts come into their own!  Have you ever eaten toasted nut bread? If not, you’ve missed something! Muffins, buns, rolls – any sweet bread is better with walnuts added to the dough. Or chop a few kernels very fine and sprinkle them over the cinnamon buns or coffee cake. Walnuts blend delightfully with the raisins in such breads and add a delicious extra flavour.

Do you tire of the same old cereals day after day! Then add chopped walnuts to the cooked cereal just before you take it from the stove. Their flavor and firm “body” will be a pleasant surprise. It’s a good way to get the children to eat their cereal, too!

And we’ve saved the best breakfast suggestion till last. Waffles! Pancakes! Favorites in every family! But until you’ve tried waffles or pancakes made with walnuts you don’t know how good they can be. Just add a handful of chopped kernels to your own recipe – and you’ll discover a new delight in these old favorites.

Here are two of the five breakfast walnuts recipes given in the booklet:

Walnut Scrapple.

1 cup cornmeal                        1 ½ teaspoons salt

½ cup hominy                         6 cups water

1 cup Diamond Walnut kernels.

Combine the cornmeal, hominy, salt, and boiling water in the top of a double boiler. Cook over direct heat stirring constantly till thick. Then place over boiling water in the bottom of the double boiler. Cook about 1 hour. The add the Diamond Walnut kernels and pour into a greased dish. Cool and chill until firm, then cut into slices and sauté in hot fat in a skillet. Serves 6 to 8.

Steamed Walnut Brown Bread.

1 cup breadcrumbs                  1 cup cornmeal

1½ cups milk                           1 cup oatmeal

½ cup molasses                       2 teaspoons soda

1 teaspoon salt                                    ¾ cup water

1 cup whole wheat flour         1 cup broken Diamond Walnut kernels.

Soak the breadcrumbs in the milk. When soft, rub the crumbs and milk through a strainer and add the molasses and the salt, whole wheat flour, cornmeal, and soda which have been sifted together, the rolled oats and the water. Blend well and add the Diamond Walnut kernels. Pour into four greased 1 lb. baking powder tins, and steam for 2 hours. Makes 4 loaves.