It's raining chestnuts in Heidelberg.

Since about two weeks ago, I have noticed that the roads have become covered with chestnuts falling from trees.

Chestnuts come in two varieties: toxic horse chestnuts and edible sweet chestnuts.

Walking to the classrooms in town, I see endless trails of horse chestnuts, which have spiky husks.

The spiky husk protects one chestnut with a smooth shell.

In contrast, edible sweet chestnuts cover the grounds of Moore Haus.  Edible sweet chestnuts have needle-sharp, porcupine-like husks.

The porcupine-like husk protects typically three chestnuts

Edible sweet chestnuts also have a tassel or point on the nut that your fingers can feel.

I have gathered hundreds of sweet chestnuts on the grounds of Moore Haus, thoroughly washed them, and boiled them.

A large tray of boiled chestnuts.

I spent nearly two hours shelling chestnuts to extract five cups of chestnut meat.

How will I use these precious five cups of chestnut meat?  Chestnut cookies?  Chestnut pancakes? Chestnut waffles? 

Dennis Fulbright, a professor of plant pathology at Michigan State University, claims chestnuts are low in fat, high in protein, gluten-free, and high in vitamins and fiber.  I claim they taste yummy.

I decided to bake Mexican Wedding Cakes (a.k.a. Russian Tea Cakes) using chestnuts rather than pecans or almonds. 

Meredith informed me that these cookies might be her new favorite among the different types of cookies that I bake.  She said these cookies remind her of the kind she gets with her mom at a bakery in Nashville.