Pine Nuts, Part II or When Good Pine Nuts Go Bad

Bleck. That describes the horrible taste still lingering in my mouth from the terrible dinner I just made. As I am on my mission to find a great orzo salad, I stumbled across a Mediterranean one that looked promising. The main ingredients: orzo; spinach; feta; red onion; pine nuts and a vinaigrette dressing. How can you go wrong with that? I will tell you - by using rancid pine nuts.

I guess I have finally figured out the problem from last week. It had nothing to do with cooking the pine nuts in oil. I just did some research and realized you need to be fairly particular about how you store them. Just from my little bit of research it seems like there are two good options: (1) Store them in a paper bag, not a plastic bag or plastic container, in a cool, dry area. (2) Store them in the fridge.

Not only am I going to have to throw this salad out because it is inedible, but I think it's going to give me nightmares, and I don't think I am going to be able to use pine nuts for quite some time. It really was that bad. I am telling you this because I like you and I never want you to experience the horribly bitter acidic taste of rancid pine nuts. (Can something be bitter AND acidic?) I'm going to eat some frozen soy creamy cherry chocolate chip yumminess from Trader Joes to make myself feel better.