Glad to see all the love for black walnuts! Here's what we use in the Ozarks to crack these native nuts: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Ozark-Nutcracker-by-Handy-Andy-Heavy-Duty/282055823572?_trksid=p2047675.c100011.m1850&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D37115%26meid%3D36e0c8e2592947b78c4edc64d5fad411%26pid%3D100011%26rk%3D6%26rkt%3D10%26sd%3D282135272582

Having grown a tree or two, I should warn that the well-known common idea that black walnut trees inhibit other nearby plants' growth appears to be true, at least according to my experience.

Finally, it's wonderful to have a bowl of mixed nuts and a nutcracker on the coffee table, but keep in mind that those nuts age fairly quickly: the meats dry out and can even get rancid in the shells. So, eat 'em up!

Geo

When I was growing up, a holiday favorite of the adults in my family (and, later, me) were pickled walnuts, which I think are largely a British favorite. No idea how they became so dear in my family, a bunch of Dutch-Germans. But anyhow, they'd always be served as an accompaniment to beef dishes. And pre-Internet, they were darned hard to find, so anyhow lucky enough to discover a stash at some specialty market won the Christmas-giving award if they were kind enough to share. If Wikipedia is to believed, they're not that hard to make, but you need access to nuts whose shells haven't set yet.