My Countryhome Reader Question: About Almonds

Hello everyone,
Today, I´m answering a reader´s question about almonds.
A reader asked me what to do after picking almonds from the trees.
Here´s a picture of almonds that I picked in a previous year:



Almonds have three layers of skin / rind. In the picture above you can see two external layers.
After picking almonds from the trees it´s a good idea to remove the first skin because this layer is thinner (like velvet to touch) and absorbs more humidity. If you picked your almonds in early September, this layer of skin is easy to remove because it naturally cracks with August hot temperatures (in Portugal).
After removing the first skin, you should keep almonds in a place without much humidity or light. Avoid keeping almonds locked in plastic bags or boxes, to last longer they need to "bread".
I keep almonds with the second layer until I want to use them, this way they last longer (around one year). After removing the first two layers of rind there´s still a third one left.
A good tip to remove almonds´ third skin is to put them in hot water for 5 minutes, afterward, the skin comes out perfectly. I use this technique to do roasted almonds in the oven (salted or sweet).
Here´s a recipe of an almond cake (in which you don´t need to remove the third skin) that I enjoy very much:

Portuguese Menu - Sweet Almonds Cake

If you have more questions about this topic, just let me know.