Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Sugar Pine Cones.... :)

Oh hello gorgeous mammoth sized pine cones!!!  I've never in all my life seen the likes of these. And neither had my mom, so I'm not crazy. They're called Sugar Pine Cones, and they are HUGE! Some friends of ours (thank you Rigneys!) just happen to live in Lake Arrowhead, CA where these crazy pine cones live:) One weekend when my son was going for a visit, I begged him to bring me just a few. He filled his whole trunk. He loves his mama:)
So this Sunday, I decided to finally clean em up. I gave them a good hosing down first. Then I needed to deal with the sap:(
My friend Roseann told me to bake em. It melts off the sap and makes them all pretty and shiny:)
 
Cover a large baking sheet with foil. (and let's all have a gander at the complete lack of color in this pic! LB makes up for it in handsomeness though)
 
 
Bake the beauties at 220 degrees for about 20 minutes per side. Yeah, I could only fit 3 per sheet, they're THAT big!!
And boy oh boy! the house smelled AMAZING!!
 
 
Just look at them!
 
 
Soooo cool huh!?
 
 
 
What wasn't so cool? The stinkin sap that dripped onto the bottom of the oven.
Unbeknownst to me.
Until I turned on the oven the next day to roast a chicken.
And holy SMOKE! Literally:(
 
 
 
Sooo, the ole gal went back into the fridge and I went to the store to buy oven cleaner:(
The hubby ate leftover pizza and I ate popcorn.
Buy hey, my mantle sure looks lovely!!


31 comments:

  1. Hey........you forgot to include a full mantel shot! I love those large cones. You're lucky to have someone give them to you for free! Over here, we have to buy them (that is AFTER we find them in the first place)! I don't think I've ever seen someone baking cones before. LOL! I keep resisting calling them pinecones since I live in the land of pine trees in GA. They are plentiful around here, but not near as pretty as those sugar cones. Enjoy them!

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  2. Those are so cool, love 'em. Gotta love a boy who's good to his mama!

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  3. WOW... those are big. Love them!!

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  4. Man, that is bummer that the sap got in your oven. :(
    But the pinecones are beautiful! How nice that your son got you so many. :)
    I used to have some like that when I lived in Cal. I wish I still had them!

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  5. I just had to share how I look forward to Tuesday mornings. Your posts always start my day with a smile. The pinecones are beautiful!

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  6. I love these pine cones...I have a few that I bought for about $4 each...You could have made a fortune! Send them south and we'll buy anything :) They are so fun to decorate with though, I just love them.

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  7. Those are giant...and sooo pretty!

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  8. I lived near Arrowhead for awhile and took having those around for granted. Now I'm next to the beach and see what I could have done with them! I never heard about baking them. :-)

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  9. Lucky you to get them for free. I had to order mine.

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  10. Great pictures! I especially love the tray on your table...teeny salt & pepper :) Just a touch of red...perfect!

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  11. thanks for my sugar pine cones! my kids were amazed! and i'm glad i have these pics to see the process. xo!

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  12. You got a great deal! The big, fat spikey cones are called Coulter Pine cones. AKA...widow makers. I had to order mine and paid 8 - 15 dollard a piece. Love the sugars too!!

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  13. I thought you're going to bake them to eat. They are so big indeed! I've never seen them that big for real. What a stinking sap mess! Probably it came from the pine cone juices?

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  14. Your little home is so welcoming and peaceful. Thank you so much for sharing. I have to ask, what is the color in the kitchen with the green?

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  15. So glad to see this- I just shipped home 4 huge boxes of Sugar Pine cones from a recent trip to Lake Tahoe!

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  16. I was raised in Idyllwild & my mom did this every year. The only difference is, she put them in a heavy brown paper bag & then put the bag on the foil. Ill be doing cones this year---thanks for the info. I remembered that the temp was 200 but couldn't remember the time.

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  17. I’d love to see how you decorate with these huge cones. I picked up about 10 of them this weekend
    . I see them hanging with greenery and a big red ribbon outside my front door. Anyone got any other ideas?

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