Nuts!

Speaking of nuts.....

About 4 or 5 years ago I realized I had gotten stuck on a phrase when things weren't going well. I'd say, "Nuts!" thinking it was far nicer than many other expletives I could be saying. Until one day, a preschooler heard me say it, looked me straight in the face and said, "Mrs. Mullen, that's a BAD word." I thought about it for awhile. His mom is a friend of mine, so I told her what he had said. She replied, "Well, when you live in a house full of boys, you can just imagine what that means at our place!" I was so embarrassed, I broke myself of that word very quickly. Well, I digress....

When we were leaving Lincoln a few weeks ago, my favorite son-in-law sent a Food & Wine magazine with us for the ride home. I found several recipes in that one book that peaked my curiosity. I really enjoyed this pecan recipe, this would be a great neighbor or co-worker gift for the holidays. FYI, I did a half batch and probably would again. Just half everything, the egg is tricky but you can do it!!

MAPLE PECANS

4 cups pecan halves

1/2 cup pure maple syrup

2 Tbsp butter, melted

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper(use 1/2 tsp if your not afraid)

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1 large egg white, at room temperature

1. Preheat the oven to 350*. Spread the pecans on a large rimmed baking sheet and toast until they are fragrant, about 10 min. Let the pecans cool. Lower the oven temp to 250*.

2. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. In a large bowl, toss the pecans with the maple syrup, butter, salt, cayenne and black pepper. In a medium bowl, whisk the egg white until frothy. Add the egg white to the pecans and toss well.

3. Spread the pecans on the lined baking sheets in a single layer. Bake for 40 minutes until the nuts are golden brown. Immediately loosen the pecans from the paper with a spatula. Let cool completely on the baking sheets before serving.

The recipe said you can store in an airtight container for up to 1 week. I kept ours for about 3 weeks and they were fine. I did keep them airtight.