Monday, May 31, 2010

There's a Way to Eat Sunflower Seeds?





I've always taken delight in our sunflower fields around Kansas; the fields are just full of huge, happy flowers! I enjoy eating sunflower seeds too and prefer them "naked" to in a shell.


Why?

Too much effort in finding that little seed to munch,
when you can just pop a whole handful in your mouth
and get to the business of enjoying the salty crunch!

Recently I had a delightful lesson on wiggling that little sunflower seed out of it's shell; taught to me by a successful wiggler. My 16 year old daughter.

Her instructions follow....(these are beginners instructions)

  1. Just put one seed at a time in your mouth
  2. Turn the seed ridge side up, gently bite down on it to crack it open
  3. Find the seed and wiggle it out
  4. Move the seed to the back of your mouth
  5. Keep the shell in the front of your mouth
  6. Spit the shell out
  7. Enjoy your efforts
I would love to tell you that all went well. I really did give it my best and I paid attention to all the details she patiently spelled out for me.....4 different times!

My first attempt: Did not bite down on the shell gently and ended up with several pieces of shell. I completely lost the seed. Spit the whole thing out.
#2. Bit down softly on the shell, still couldn't tell the difference between the shell and the seed and spit the whole thing out.

#3. Bit down softly on the shell, found the seed this time but lost it somewhere around the molars. Spit the whole thing out.
#4. Bit down softly on the shell, found the seed, moved it to the back of my mouth and kept the shell to the front. Succeeded in spitting the shell out and enjoying the seed!

My daughter then informed me during my very nice victory dance, that I need to work on my spitting. I remind her of a llama. hmm....

After several more attempts at clearing the chest region, I can proudly say that my spitting is a little more refined and some day I will be able to spit out two shells instead of an arsenal!


































































































































































2 comments:

  1. Hi Julie. What a great post. I'm laughing at your teenager being so patient and you not quite getting it. Sunflower seeds are way too much work for me - I'll take cashews any day.

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  2. Thanks so much! You're my first non-family post! You made my day!

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