Chestnuts

All right, I've taken a deep breath and started in on marrons glace.  And will probably take many more deep breaths, because the house smells wonderful--the air is redolent with chestnuts and vanilla and sugar.  

This is a slight problem, because candied chestnuts take 3-4 days, mostly soaking in sugar water while you try very hard to ignore them.  Wish me luck!