Angels n' Nuts

You might wonder what angels and nuts have in common?

At Christmas time something happens to me
I get all silly over ideas for fun projects
Each year I give my neighbors something from my garden
This year it will be Nuts

We have 5 walnuts trees,
so...

1. I picked them (it took several weeks)
2. Dried them in the sun on the front porch
(which took another two weeks)
3. Then I cracked them ... alllll of them
(that took another two months,
while watching chick-flicks, of course)
4. Roasted them with a delicious Ginger-Honey Glaze


Recipe:

Ginger and Honey Roasted Almonds

Yield 5 cups

Inspired from: Eat Make Read

5 cups almonds

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

2 tsp salt

2 tsp ground ginger

2 tbsp honey

2 tbsp water

2 tsp canola oil (or another flavourless, odourless oil)

1. Preheat oven to 325°F/160°C
2. Place nuts in a single layer on two rimmed baking sheets. Toast until nuts are fragrant, 10-15 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through cooking. Meanwhile, combine sugar, salt, and ginger in a small bowl and set aside.
3. Combine honey, water and oil in a large saucepan. Bring it to a boil over high heat.
4. Reduce heat to low and add roasted almonds while still warm. Cook, stirring a few times, until all of the liquid has evaporated and evenly coated with the honey, this will take 3 to 5 minutes. It should look nice and shiny at this point.
5. Now, spoon the sugar mixture over the nuts, stirring between every addition of sugar and spice mix and then tossing it thoroughly to coat evenly. Spread nuts in a singer layer on a sheet of parchment paper to cool. Can be kept in an airtight container for 1 week.

5. Meanwhile, back to the crafts ...
I used quart-sized canning jars, an idea from Hanna ,
and her lovely Norwegian blog...
(I can't understand a word on her blog,
but I love looking at her styling!
And I've come to love the beautiful whiteness
of the Scandinavian crafts & home decor!)

I stuck sticker stars all over them,
and along with using a paper doily, I sprayed them silver.



6. I sprayed the lids silver too.


7. Then, using silver paper doilies and wooden craft clothespins,
I made little angels to hang on each jar.


I won't tell you how many nuts I ate while roasting them,
but suffice it to say, they're ADDICTIVE!
(:

Merry Christmas Crafting!

and WOW, I just realized that this is my 99th post!
How time flies!

...almost 100!