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The Natural Diet PlanGathering nature's goodies for your diet plan. Pecan Haven - Gathering Pecans for Your DietOne of my favorite seasonal activities when I was a child was our annual Pecan Hunt. My father would load us in the old jalopy, then head out into the country in search of pecan trees. I wondered how he was able to spy the pecans so easily, especially since most were on the ground. I soon learned that he was familiar with the identity of the tree, and could discern oaks from pine, pecan from sycamore and so forth. That knack was something that I would eventually be able to do myself. We always took along big brown paper grocery sacks and we stuffed them full of pecans. Many still had the husks (or jackets) on them, and I always loved peeling them off. My fingers would turn green, then brown, then black and would stay that color for a couple of weeks before it would finally all wear off - all the while, my mom fussing at me for unwrapping the pecans. Since my childhood, I've learned that there are many more items in Nature's Backyard than pecans. Store-bought nuts are very tasty when fresh, but most of the time, they are permeated with a rancid, old taste to them. There's nothing on earth quite like the taste of freshly-picked pecan cracked by one's father. On the next crisp fall day when the pecans fall, I hope that you'll pack up the kids and hit the country roads in search of pecans, and perhaps, make a few lasting memories in the process.
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