My brother-in-law has an allergy to pistachios, which is really quite unfortunate. I love pistachios, and I try to keep a stash around the house for when I crave them. I couldn't even imagine not being able to eat them.

Knowing that my brother-in-law has an allergy to them, it dawned on me that my 2-year-old daughter might have inherited the genetic traits to also be allergic. Until recently, I make sure to keep them away from her, referring to them as "daddy's nuts," and that "daddy's nuts" are "no-no's". haha...

Anyhow, while my in-laws were over for the Christmas weekend, somebody slipped my daughter a pistachio and didn't tell me until later... which kind of freaked me out, because you never know how somebody will react to an allergy. Fortunately, my oldest daughter does not appear to be allergic to pistachios.

I've been thinking about nut allergies, and how strange they are. I mean, take the peanut. It's an amazing nut. Or legume, I suppose. According to wikipedia, the peanut is used for more than just food:

Peanuts have a variety of industrial end uses. Paint, varnish, lubricating oil, leather dressings, furniture polish, insecticides, and nitroglycerin are made from peanut oil. Soap is made from saponified oil, and many cosmetics contain peanut oil and its derivatives. The protein portion of the oil is used in the manufacture of some textile fibers.

Peanut shells are put to use in the manufacture of plastic, wallboard, abrasives, and fuel. They are also used to make cellulose (used in rayon and paper) and mucilage (glue).

That's amazing. All these wonderful uses for the peanut... and then there are some people who are allergic, and if they even breathe in peanut dust, they'll DIE. BAM. End of story.

What a freaky thing. Nuts are weird.