If nuts were people...

I mean...if what we snack on and cook with were the names of people, who would they be? I asked myself this as I was testing a cookie recipe with pistachios, probably my favorite nut of them all. In my first years in NY, my happiest nights out were dinners at Frank Doelger's. The menu never varied: a bowl of pistachios as the appetizer before we tucked into "the old family recipe" (Contadina pasta with bottled sauce). The conversation was as crackling as the sound of those pistachios being shelled. Such good times. Even the word "pistachio" is fun. If it were a person, I think it'd be: Pistachio: the illustrated Italian chef on the pizza box Brazil Nut: a soccer fanatic Almond: the roadie with the most miles traveled with the Allman Brothers Band Macademia: a college dean who's a little too friendly with the students Cashew: the stiff-upper-lip managing director of a bank that's "too big to fail" Pecan: the cheerleader at the top of the living pyramid Filbert: the kid in middle school who carried a briefcase