Walnut ink
If you’ve ever shucked black walnuts, you are familiar with the indelible brown stain that remains on your hands for weeks. Walnut ink was used in the middle ages as a writing ink. Here’s how I made some.
I shucked a bunch of walnuts, put the husks in a bucket with a little water, and waited for them to turn black. When they had done so, I covered them with about a quart of water in a large pot and threw in some rusty nails. I’m not sure if the nails provide some necessary chemical catalyst, or are nothing but voodoo, but this is what someone told me, so I did it, figuring that it wouldn’t hurt. Someone with more time or a better understanding of chemistry than I can figure out whether or not to put nails in. Make your kid do it as a science project, and let me know the results.
Then I boiled it all up for a few hours, strained it, and boiled it again to reduce it to a better consistency.
That is all.
-CH