Pick acorns in autumn, usually in early November (before the rains).

ACORN PREPARATION

Crack the shell and remove meat. Spread meat out in the sun to dry. Drying takes about two weeks in good sun. Take the dried Acorn meats and roll them between your hands to remove the outer skin. Put meats in basket and winnow any remaining skins out. Grind the acorn meat into a flour. Traditionally this was done with a stone mortar and pestle- today it is ground in a food processor.

LEACHING

Put the flour in a flat basket, Vivian and Violet prefer a traditional basket made of hazel switch- you can use a colander lined with a dishtowel or other thin cotton fabric. Put in sink. Make sure the flour is spread evenly in the basket or colander. Tie a branch of redwood, or a piece of tinfoil shaped into a trough, to the faucet so that the water will run over the branch or foil and into the basket. Let the water dibble into the basket-making sure enough water runs so that there is a continuous layer of water over the flour and dishtowel, but not enough to disturb the flour. Let the water run in this way 4-5 hours or overnight. After soaking in this way, let all the water drain out. Squeeze out remaining water by placing flour in dishtowel tying all corners together and twisting, or hang dishtowel by the corners and let drain.

COOKING

Bring 4 cups of water to a boil. Put approximately 2 cups of processed acorn flour in a large bowl. Stir it with a spoon to release the oil in the acorn. It is important to add cold water to the acorn flour so that it pours easily into boiling water- acorn flour will clump in the boiling water if it is not mixed with water first. The cold water and acorn mixture should be the consistency of thin gravy. Continue to mix while pouring meal into boiling water. The acorn flour will start to thicken as soon as it hits the boiling water so stir constantly- a whisk works best. Turn down heat and bring the mixture to a roiling boil. Cook the acorn for 20 minutes until you see bubbles and mix puckers on top and starts to rise and water has evaporated.

Acorn mush is traditionally eaten with salty foods like fish, seaweed or venison.