2009 Holiday Basket Bonanza: Spiced Pecans
7Nov2009 Filed under: Holiday Basket Bonanza Author: twobarefeetThis is the first installment of the Kitchen’s 2009 Holiday Basket Bonanza (HBB). Last year, I started doing baskets for a few recipients on our holiday list. They were so well received that I decided to do them again this year, but I am switching out a few of the recipes to try new ones! I’ll be making a trip out soon to buy supplies and I’ll be updating the Kitchen with pictures as we go!
Last year’s baskets included Oreo truffles, banana bread, homemade white bread and Stonewall Kitchen jam, spiced pecans, brownies, cookies and seasoned popcorn. This year, I am keeping the banana bread, spiced pecans and the brownies and I will make a different homemade bread with jam. The rest is getting changed up! I’ll be doing truffles again this year, but I’m going to do Almond Joy truffles instead of Oreo. I have a very soft spot for Almond Joys. Mmmm. I’m also making some savory crackers and snickerdoodles, and one more savory item TBD.
This week, I’m sharing the recipe for spiced pecans that I used last year. It was great, very easy. My only issue is that I wish I had a bigger cookie sheet so that I could make more at a time!
1 c. sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 egg white
3 c. pecan halves
4 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
Preheat oven to 300. Line baking sheet with nonstick foil. In small bowl, stir together sugar, salt and cinnamon. In medium bowl, whisk egg white and 1 tbsp water until foamy, then add pecans to bowl and stir until coated. Pour in sugar mixture and melted butter and stir well to combine.
Spread pecan mixture in an even layer on your baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes, stirring twice during cooking. Remove from oven and cool completely.
This makes three cups.
2 Responses to “2009 Holiday Basket Bonanza: Spiced Pecans”
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About this blog
It all started as a New Year's resolution for 2009. I wanted to start trying menu planning, a concept that I had stumbled across while looking for dinner ideas online. I dove into it with energy and unlike most diets, saw success immediately. The success only made me more interested in how I could improve, what new recipes I could find, etc. I started using my family blog for menu planning posts and it kind of started to take over. So, I decided to give my culinary fumblings their own home- and mygrandcentralkitchen.com was born.
Why "my grand central kitchen?" Well, I have 2 kids that are about 20 months apart. I have a husband who works from home. Cooking is a hobby for me. So you could say that aside from the playroom, the kitchen is the busiest room in my house and usually looks it. ;) It feels a bit like Grand Central Station, especially between 4 and 7 pm.
I hope that this blog gives me even more inspiration for my own home and the ability to inspire others in the kitchen, as well. I'll be posting not just menu planning and recipe links, but also interesting things I find online, things on my wishlist and recommendations. And who knows where it might go from there. :)
I certainly hope you enjoy the ride.
Jenni
November 8th, 2009 at 12:20 am
Do you have pictures of your baskets from last year?
twobarefeet
November 8th, 2009 at 8:41 am
Unfortunately, no. I guess I just didn’t have confidence in myself to think that hey were going to come out as well as they did. I will definitely be taking pictures this year. I buy baskets cheaply at the Christmas Tree Shop or the Dollar Tree (why are these stores always a Tree?), and I get the cellophane bags to hold the foods either at a craft store or online. Then I crush up tissue paper on the bottom in red and green and buy the shrink wrap to cover the basket. This year, while at the Dollar Tree, I found basket bags that I’ll be using instead that were 2 for $1. Sweet!!!