August Boil
Look for volunteer peanuts along the plowed edges. Volunteers come up first and are usually ready in mid to late August. The runners set down by a seeder and lined in rows have a few weeks yet.
Pull up four or five plants, shake off the dirt, and throw them on the tailgate with roots exposed. Make sure the peanuts tangled in the roots are mature enough, the pods filled out, ready for boiling. My father always eats a few raw ones.
Snap them. The dulled shells are the ones to get; the pale ones still too young. Toss into a boiler.
At home, wash in the sink. Fill the boiler up three, four times and swish the peanuts around, empty the mud-water, repeat.
Draw enough water to cover and place on stove.
Add salt. Estimate. My father pours it in from the Morton container, about he says, three tablespoons.
Bring to a boil. His is a copper pot, turning green in splotches around the lid. When it heats up, it rattles.
Let boil 10-15 minutes.
At ten minutes, taste.
At eleven minutes, taste.
At twelve minutes . . . if cooked too long, they’re mushy; not long enough and they’re too firm. We turn the eye off at twelve minutes and remove from the heat.
Let peanuts sit and cool for an hour, let them draw the saltwater through the shell.
Taste until the salt is right, and it’s what you want.
Drain.
Eat.