An unauthorized* photo of some nice nuts. $3.49/lb through Christmas at the Middletown Whole Foods. (Photo by Jim Willis. Click to enlarge)

By JIM WILLIS

We’re not sure how sitting around cracking nuts got its start as a holiday tradition, but PieHole can say with a certain amount of first-hand knowledge that nothing helps you ease back into a nice, easy pace with your holiday cocktail like a bowl of nuts.

A bowl of peanuts may be OK with your pilsner, but when you start throwing rye or bourbon and some bitters into the mix, PieHole suggest a large bowl of nuts, heavy on the pecans and walnuts.

You’ll see unshelled nuts prominently displayed at most of the grocery stores around the Green. But we haven’t seen any priced as low as those at Whole Foods on Route 35 in Middletown. At $3.49 a pound for any variety – almonds, pecans, walnuts, mixed – that’s as little as one-third what you’d pay somewhere else.

Pecans, especially, are worth stocking up on at this price, as we’ve seen them elsewhere $14 per pound. Here’s why.

An employee at Whole Foods told us that nuts will keep “almost indefinitely,” and the store will be offering them at this price through Christmas. Should they run out this week, expect another shipment early next week.

*  Note: We have it on good authority that ou’ll be chased down by someone in Birkenstocks threatening you with a patchouli bomb if you pull out a camera at Whole Foods.