I know that they have to be ground and soaked
to remove bitter tannic acid. I've also heard
that they're not particularly good.

I ask because my mom has a giant oak tree
which is dropping some really big acorns.
It's a California live oak, and I don't remember
this tree producing acorns of significant
size when I was a kid. The few acorns were
really tiny.

I suspect the tree is dying. There's something
called Sudden Oak Death going around here, and
this tree is the most prominent tree along a
heavily travelled road. It has moss growing on
it, which it didn't have during most of the
time I've known it.

I've never heard of oak trees producing a bumper
crop of acorns when dying. The acorns look
really good, but they're going out with the
yard waste unless I save them.