Crackers!

There follows something of a rant!

I like nuts - Brazil nuts, walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts - the lot. So, before Christmas, we bought some nuts in their shells. First attempt at cracking a nut failed - one arm of our ancient nutcracker snapped in half. No problem, we thought!

So, the next day I bought the very nice-looking wooden nutcracker as recommended by the owner of a local kitchen shop. It cracks walnuts and larger hazelnuts as long as they're not too big or too small, but is totally useless for the others. The following day another purchase, the very sturdy looking metal nutcracker from a well-known store. We have managed to crack a few nuts with it, as long as they're not too hard and fall within a very limited size range.

Result - lots of uneaten nuts, still in their shells. Mr M's threatening to bring in the sledgehammer...