At this point it's very difficult to find whole chestnuts that aren't moldy, in the stores, and we have resorted to steamed packaged ones, or even to frozen. They are not quite the same, but still sweet and chestnutty enough.

I believe the steamed packaged kind were what my mother went with this year. I have memories of past Christmases and Thanksgivings spent peeling chestnuts and certainly did not blame her.

The ancient cheesecake sounds amazing and I loved hearing about your day.

Thank you!

(If your household can safely consume the quantity of dairy required for the sixteenth-century cheesecake, I really recommend it. I kind of can't and it was still worth it.)