Every year the holidays are filled with celebrations encouraging us to eat, drink and be merry…but the party doesn’t truly get going until somebody’s uncle has too much egg nog and brings out his fancy nuts.
UNCLE AL’S FANCY NUTS
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tbls orange juice
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 egg white
1/4 tsp cardamon
2 cups walnut or pecan halves
Preheat oven to 250. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and lightly grease. In a medium bowl, combine sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cardamon. In another bowl, combine egg white and orange juice; beat slightly. Dip nuts in egg-white mixture, then in sugar mixture. Place on prepared sheet; do not let them touch. Bake 1 hour.
VARIATION: For a spicier version, try Uncle Pepe’s Zesty Nuts. Substitute 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper, leave out cardamon and nutmeg.
HELPFUL HINT: If you’re giving them as a hostess gift, try packaging them in a handcrafted nut-sac.
Another favorite nut recipe (someone’s, not mine)
ROCKY MOUNTAIN OYSTERS
a.k.a. Montana Tendergroins, prairie oysters, cowboy caviar, swinging beef.
The recipe I found suggested a beer/cornmeal batter for the “calf fries”…which brings to mind the idea that anything is edible if it’s deep-fried. Almost anything.
WINE PAIRING
No one can resist my “Schweddy Balls” Eggnog. It is the perfect accompaniment to fragrant, salty nuts.
Just add one pint of Ben & Jerry’s Schweddy Balls ice cream to Martha Stewart’s eggnog recipe.
http://www.marthastewart.com/334357/eggnog
(This limited edition flavor is available in the Twin Cities area at Kowalski’s and Cub.)
MORE SCHWEDDY FUN
Click on the link below to view the classic SNL skit or to send a Schweddy greeting card on Facebook.
http://www.benjerry.com/flavors/feature/schweddy/
I’m laughing right now because that picture that you have of the fancy nuts is one that I remember from my childhoold. It had a scrunched up snake it in and when you opened it the snake flew out. I can’t tell you how many hours of fun us kids (5 of us) had with that can. Ok, ok, we lived on a farm and there wasn’t a lot of excitement going on…. The other exciting thing was that we were on a party phone line and you could listen to other people’s conversations on the phone. Most of the time we got caught because we would start laughing, but just imagine being able to do that today!!
Do you have the pattern for the hand crafted nut sack?
Thanks!
Grandma Sue…There isn’t a McCall’s pattern for the nut-sac. It’s really just a matter of taste and size…a small handful of nuts might only require a decorative cellophane, whereas if you’ve got a big sac-ful to give, you might want to fashion a drawstring pouch (similar to a marble bag). Good luck!
I love RM Oysters- we sell Rocky Mountain Oysters online at
http://www.wix.com/thermglobalguy/rocky-mountain-oysters