Thursday, May 1, 2008

cookin' in beantown...

this post is about nuts. delicious nuts. granted i was whippin' them up in beantown, so you'd think i was going to post about beans. but - BUT, beans and peanuts are legumes. think cousins - first cousins even (although i used almonds and cashews too... but no need to poo-poo on my legume connection).

anyway, i was in beantown visiting the brother, his girl, and our friend from undergrad that was tourist-ing in boston (jess). you'll see the visited kitchen above. very cute. d & t have a knack for kitchens.

on the saturday that jess and i were there, d & t decided to throw a simple potluck party. some good community eats and drinks, but even as guests, jess and i were expected to contribute (not that we minded - heeeelloooo!). jess whipped up a spinach and artichoke dip in a bread bowl, pretty tasty too. d made some extra spicy hummus (just the way i like it), and t created a batch of brownies for the occasion - in addition to her tomato-basil-mozzarella skewers (with HOMEMADE mozzarella!). excellent spread overall.

i contributed candied nuts.
yes, nuts. there were plenty of jokes that weekend - so don't you start too.
i got the recipe from a fellow food blogger, passed to me from a co-worker. granted, mine didn't turn out as pretty as his, but they were quite delicious. we were eating them hours before the party and into the next day. below i chronicled my nutting in photos for you all - enjoy.

must use raw nuts. i got mine from whole foods (although trader's would have been cheaper...)

you'll need coarse salt, sugar, cinnamon, chili powder, cayenne pepper, and water. pretty simple, pretty basic.

nuts in the pan (with water and sugar).

out of the pan, cooling.

close-up!

this batch had cinnamon added (for a sweet component).

this batch had the cayenne pepper and chili powder added (zestangicy!).

displayed (with some non-coated nuts at the top). i think the little labels add to the presentation. don't confuse this with a sandra lee table-scape though. i don't do table-scapes. and if i ever do - smack me. hard.

anyway - this was so easy. very quick. i recommend.

2 comments:

d. said...

Bitch, you forgot my QUICHE!

Kt said...

that's because it was forgettable. j/k... maybe :P