Wanna see a picture of my nuts?

When I was a little girl, it was a special treat for my Dad and me to eat a bag of pistachios together.  Remember back in the late 70's when they were dyed red?  You would have a pistachio bellyache, red fingers and a huge pile of shells everywhere that would totally freak your mom out if any touched the carpet, upholstery, clothes, etc....  I would take the red shells and smear them across my lips and give myself "nutty lipstick."  Yeah, I was a dork even as a kid. hahaha
Now, pistachios are somewhat of a comfort food for me.  I was feeling crappy tonight (still healing from the surgery) so I got a little bag of pistachios.  They don't dye them red any more.  I had to Google why--and this is what I learned:

Until the mid-1970s, all pistachios sold in the United States were imported, mainly from the Middle East. The traditional growing and harvesting methods used by pistachio farmers in countries such as Iran, Syria, and Greece often left blemishes on the outer shell, which American importers would mask with a red vegetable dye. But with the growth of the domestic pistachio industry, the days of the red pistachio may be numbered. About 96 percent of the pistachios currently sold in the United States are grown in California. These nuts are harvested without blemishes, which makes the red dyes moot.

And since I can't smear pistachio shell lipstick, I guess the next dorkiest thing I could do is blog about it.......