Friday, December 10, 2010

Oh, nuts



It's been one of those weeks.  Not completely crazy at work (that was last week), but just kind of all over the place. Up and down, up and down.  I knew it was off to a great start on Monday, when I got a call from one of Gillian's daycare teachers.  We've had a lot of trouble with Gillian defying authority lately, which I know is not unusual for 4-year-olds, but it's been starting to get out of control.  In Gillian's own words, she got in trouble "because I ran out into the hallway when I wasn't supposed to, and I spit at Miss S--, and I called Miss S-- a butt-face."  *sigh*  We'd even had a talk before she left the house on Monday about listening to teachers and other adults (since there had been lots of not-listening going on the previous Friday).  I can't wait for the teenage years...  (And yes, if you're wondering, J & I could barely keep straight faces when I asked G to tell her father why she'd gotten in trouble at school on Monday.)

So we tried something new for the rest of the week.  When Gillian left for school on Tuesday, I told her that if she could behave and have a much better day, I would have a surprise for her at the end of the day.  I was off that day, and while I was out running errands, I picked up some cute sparkly snowman stickers.  If she has a good day, she gets one (just counting weekdays for now). If she gets at least four for the week (I know better than to expect a 4yo to be good every single day), she'll get a special treat.  Brianna wanted in on it, too, so for her, the goal is to have a good morning before she leaves the house--getting ready for school without a fight.  So far it's going well--Gillian was much, much better the past three days (confirmed by her teachers), and Brianna has been much more pleasant to be around in the morning.  Now I just need to stock up on inexpensive prizes. =)  


After everything that's been going on, I think the daycare teachers need a treat, too.  So I'm going to make them a batch of the spiced nuts from Around My French Table.  They're one of the December recipes for French Fridays with Dorie.  As with the November recipes, we get to pick which recipe we make when, and I was happy to find an easy one to make this week, since my motivation has been lacking a bit.  

It doesn't get much easier than this.  Mix together some sugar, salt and spices.  Toss a couple cups of nuts with a slightly beaten egg white, then toss with the sugar & spice mixture.  Spread everything on a sheet pan and bake for half an hour at 350F.  Enjoy!  To be a bit more specific, I stuck with the recipe for the first attempt at this one.  So the spice mixture was sugar, salt, chili powder (I like Spice Islands), cinnamon, and a bit of cayenne.  My nuts were a cup each of cashews and pecans, both favorites around here.  I lined my sheet pan with non-stick foil to make things easier.  That's pretty much it.


The verdict?  Well, these certainly don't last long!  I took some to work, and they were a big hit.  My original thought was that I should get them out of my house, but having them at work just meant I could keep eating them.  Oops. =)  Even B & G liked them, at least the cashews (not fans of pecans).  These are definitely going in my holiday goodie bags this year.  I tried out another version this morning--chai spiced.  Half a teaspoon each of Vietnamese cinnamon, ground ginger and ground cardamom, along with a quarter teaspoon of freshly grated nutmeg, a pinch of cloves and a few grinds of black pepper.  The house smelled fantastic by the time they finished baking.  I can't wait to try some more variations.  

For this one and lots of other wonderful recipes, I highly recommend that you check out a copy of Around My French Table.  And if you aren't a member already, we'd love to have you join in the fun at French Fridays with Dorie.  




9 comments:

  1. Yum! I loved these nuts. I made mine with almonds, as that's what I had on hand. But I picked up cashews, pecans, walnuts, and more almonds the other day, so I can do a mix next time.

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  2. Those darn kids.... you gotta love them! And those darn nuts... I gotta make them! I LOVE Vietnamese cinnamon -so much so that Costco's Kirkland brand is Saigon cinnamon. I'm love all kinds of nuts and can't wait to give this one a try. Glad this was a quick and easy one for you!

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  3. OMW, I laughed, I did, sorry, when it is someone else's child, it is always funny, but not when it is your own most of the time. We did the sticker thing for a time also...Matt would always have all his stickers and Alex would remain stickerless for a good deal of the time. A good deal of the time. A great deal of the time. Almost all of the time. One of the things we used to do for a "great reward" was give them a buck at the end of the time and let them go to the dollar store and buy whatever they wanted with their buck. They would spend an hour in there deciding each time. It was fun. Your little vignette up there with the nuts is very nice, makes me want to come over and sit down and munch a few with you and watch a movie. I need to get to these soon.

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  4. Your nuts look good and I like the second spice combo you did. We, too, went the sticker route for behavior...it's also how we potty trained our guy. Works great. Now he's 12 and stickers don't hold so much weight anymore. LOL.

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  5. I have GOT to make these nuts. Just too good to pass up. Glad the girls are being 'good' this week. Ah, the Teenage years, when they really KNOW what a 'buttface' is!!!

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  6. Oh goodness, your girls are too funny. Well, like Kayte said, I realize it's only funny to me because it's not my kids yet :)

    As you know, I'm not a fan of nuts, but I just know Dorie's recipe would be a hit with nut lovers. Maybe I'll make some for my father-in-law for Christmas!

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  7. Love your chai spiced version!

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  8. Don't mean to laugh but when I was teaching if one of my younger students had called me a butthead I would have cracked up!

    BTW, my husband term of affection for me is butt face.

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