Sugar and Spice Almonds

Wes and I have been dating for about six months now. So far, everything has been wonderful. We have similar interests and opinions. We both really enjoy eachother’s families. And we communicate wonderfully.

Basically we get along swimmingly.

Until we get in the kitchen.

In the kitchen, we are both two huge know-it-alls.

It is a mess.

Neither of us is a cooking wizard, but for some reason we have astronomical egos when it comes to our cooking knowledge.

The second someone adjusts the temperature on the stove or attempts to give a seasoning tip, it is world war three.

And don’t even get me started about grocery shopping.

I have to sneak fresh foods into the cart when he isn’t looking.

OH, and God forbid there be a small snack food in the house that isn’t ice cream.

Fine. If I have to, I’ll make my own tasty snacks.

The will do quite nicely…

1 pound packaged of sliced almonds

½ cup sugar

3 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon paprika

1 dash-1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (depending on how much kick you want)

1 tablespoon olive oil

Start by laying out a large sheet of tin foil and rubbing it down with a light layer of olive oil to make sure the nuts won’t stick.

Then, heat the sugar in a large non stick pan over medium heat. Occasionally tip and swirl the sugar until it is all melted into a golden syrup.

The sugar melts pretty suddenly, so you need to keep a watchful eye on it or it will burn.

When the sugar has melted, lower the heat and add the butter and the spices.

Stir the mixture well until it becomes sugar syrup.

Add in the nuts and stir them gently till they are coated.

Cover the pan and stir them every minute or so until the almonds are brown and toasty.

As soon as they are toasty and brown, remove them from the heat and spread them out on the tin foil to cool.

Make sure to remove them quickly so they don’t burn.

Let them cool and enjoy.

I’ll enjoy mine while I figure out how to fix our kitchen woes.

Love and Beer Floats

Angela