The Christmas Song?

We've all grown up with the lilting melody and words of The Christmas Song. It starts out, "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire. . ." Now this has always fascinated me. I have never had chestnuts, never smelled them roasting on an open fire, but the picture painted in the song still elicits warmth and comfort and nostalgia. Imagine my excitement as I opened the Clark's Market Ad for the week and saw, CHESTNUTS!!! The first time in my life I have seen them for sale. I did grow up with trees in the neighborhood which were "horse chestnuts" but these were labeled "poisonous" and were merely kicked down the streets of our town and sometimes stomped and squished on the sidewalks. So I bought a few, they weren't horrible expensive, but not the cheapest item in the produce aisle either. I was being cautious. I got on the Internet and found that you could take this little wonders, prick the "flat" side of them with a knife, soak them in cold water for 15 minutes, drain and bake at 400 degree oven for 15-20 minutes. The instructions spoke of the warm roasting smells which would come from your oven. (The same process is followed for roasting them on a "shovel" over an open fire.) For our Family Home Evening, I planed on having roasted chestnuts for the treat! Some serving suggestions included salted, dipped in sour cream, dipped in melted chocolate. I was excited, I was pumped . . .and ultimately hugely disappointed. The smell was less than appealing and I guess if you like the taste of potatoes baked in the microwave a little too long, so they are a bit over cooked - you'd like roasted chestnuts. They were starchy, bland, better with salt, not good with sour cream, and a huge waste of good chocolate! I'll never have the same nostalgic feelings for The Christmas Song! Ahhh to our dreams being shattered!