Maple & Sea Salt Pecans

I am way, way overdue in posting this but I wanted to share a recipe/tutorial from something I made for Christmas.  (Yes, Christmas – you should see how far back my “to be blogged” folder goes.  Oye.)  Anyways, I wanted to make a food gift to give to the wonderful people at my puppy dog’s daycare who love on him oh so much.  And then recipe turned out to be so good I gave a batch to my father-in-law and I think maybe my brother too.  I lost track of who I gave it to – it was nuts.

Get it?  Nuts?

Okay, sorry.  Onwards!  This was a big hit, and if you want something different from cookies or other sweets to give at the holidays, I’d highly suggest this.

Or to just make for your own eating pleasure. 

The recipe came from Food & Wine magazine.  Here’s the original link but I’ll post directions here too.

Ingredients

• 4 cups pecans
• 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 large egg white, at room temperature

The How To:

• Preheat the oven to 350°. Spread the pecans on a large rimmed baking sheet and toast until they are fragrant, about 10 minutes. Let the pecans cool. Lower the oven temperature to 250°.
• Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. In a large bowl, toss the pecans with the maple syrup, butter, salt, cayenne and black pepper. In a medium bowl, whisk the egg white until frothy. Add the egg white to the pecans and toss well.
• Spread the pecans on the lined baking sheets in a single layer. Bake for 40 minutes, until the nuts are golden brown. Immediately loosen the pecans from the paper with a spatula. Let cool completely on the baking sheets before serving.

They can be stored in an airtight container for up to 1 week – if you can resist them that long.

(Glass jars from IKEA)

Real World Palm Springs

I love going on vacation and staying in a home – you’ve got your own kitchen to make a mess in, rooms to retreat to when your vacation companions are on your nerves (what? it happens) and sometimes even a washer and dryer.  Plus, I just love houses – I’m addicted to Zillow and Trulia – so it’s fun to explore a new house.  We’ve always had good luck using VRBO even though it’s a bit of a gamble.  It’s like buying a house sight unseen – you’re going off pictures and descriptions and crossed fingers and hoping the place you’re calling home for a week isn’t going to end up a total lemon.

We lucked out again with the place my parents booked in Palm Springs.  It’s a cute ranch, very modern, lots of bedrooms and my favorite part – a kitchen that looks right out into the family room and dining area.  I love cooking on vacations when you’ve got time and energy to explore new recipes and I was very excited to see this layout.

We walked around like we were contestants on the Real World, claiming bedrooms, opening cupboards and exploring our new home for the week.  I took a handful of pictures of the house before we do what my family does – starts leaving books, flip flops, sweatshirts, computers, etc on every surface.  I actually wanted to pin some of these pics, so it served a selfish purpose.  But I do love this little house we’re calling home for a week!

Basic Math

2 + 1 = 3.  Basic math.

So why do I have a feeling life is about to get more complicated?

Baby Cline, due mid-August! 

One of the {Many} Reasons I Love Social Media

It’s no secret I love social media – especially Twitter and Instagram.  There are many reasons, but it mostly comes down to the feeling of connectedness that these forums can create. 

Right before Valentine’s Day, Starbucks switched their regular cups to Valentine’s Day themed one.  I noticed one morning, all on the same morning, that six of my friends on Instagram had taken pictures of their cups.  Six!  As I scrolled through the pics that day, I couldn’t help giggling at the world that social media has created – that something as silly as a Starbucks cup can create a shared moment among people.  It’s just a small example, but it sort of encapsulated one of the many reasons I love social media.

Happy Birthday, Jenny!

Just like last year, the winos (minus new momma Shelb) converged on Raleigh to celebrate the birthday of the fabulous Jenny.  This was a big birthday too… the big 3-0!  I love what Jess said about our get together, so I’m just going to straight up plagiarize her: “Words cannot describe what glimmers of happiness fall on this otherwise dreary winter month when we are together.” (Jess, if I knew how to use EndNote I would create a proper reference for you.) 

We had dinner at a great Mexican place, Dos Taquitos, on Friday night in downtown Raleigh.  There was a long wait for dinner, but luckily we had months of conversations to catch up.  Well, sort of.  We email every day (yes, every day) so we’re all pretty caught up on each other’s lives…but some stories are so good, we reserve them until we’re together in person. 

I swear I actually did take some people-pictures at dinner, but I didn’t have the flash turned on on my phone so they didn’t come out good.  So, look! Food!  (It was good – tacos carnitos!)

Saturday morning, we lounged around at Emily’s house and got to spend some quality time with our wino niece, Claire, who just turned one (one!!!) a few weeks ago.  She is an absolute doll.  Doggy Coleman had to get in some snuggle time too, of course.

Later on, we went to grab lunch and watch yet another miserable Wake Forest basketball game.  Actually, our seats ended up being in a spot where the TV was really hard to see and none of us complained.  Sometimes it’s better just not to watch these things unfold. 

Before dinner, Jenny took us to this great place in downtown Raleigh called The Raleigh Wine Shop that did tastings.  You loaded a card and paid per the ounce to taste various wines.  I’ve just started noticing places like this popping up and I think it’s absolutely genius.  There was even a couch in the back with crayons and a coloring table – I’m not really sure what audience they were aiming for, but I took it upon myself to tap into my crafty side.

After the tastings, we had dinner at Humble Pie (a tapas restaurant) and then went out downtown to eek every little last bit of celebration out of the night. 

Weekend getaways with your best friends always go way too fast, and Sunday morning was here before I knew it.  We’d been counting down to this trip for so long and by Monday all of us were emailing that we had post-wino-vacay-blues.  I’ve been best friends with these girls for over a decade now (!!) and when we get together, it’s as if the time and distance since our last visit vanishes and we pick right up where we left back off.  I am so blessed with their friendships, and I’m so thankful that we each make the effort to get together a couple times of year since college.  I’m glad we were there to ring in Jenny’s 30th with her, and I’m already counting down to our next getaway. 

January-cap

January, as seen through my phone archives.

Happy New Years - Body Pump - Spinach Blackberry Smoothie

Sister Visit - Buddy’s Bed - Early Morning Body Pump

Warm Weather Runs – Curlers - Dance Trance Birthday

Rabbit, Rabbit!

Happy First of February!

Some more thought provoking questions from my Happiness Project Page-A-Day Calendar…

• Definitely to go to bed early and wake up early.  I loooove going to bed, and I also love the wee hours of the morning when you wake up early and the world is still very still and quiet.  One of my very favorite things is to travel to the west coast and stay on east coast time – to go to bed exhausted at 9 pm and wake up super refreshed at 6 am. 
• My favorite parts of my ordinary day are first thing in the morning when I get up and sit on the couch and check my email, and Buddy snuggles up on my feet – and in the winter, that’s paired with coffee and the fireplace and in the summer, that sun is coming up and it might even be warm enough to sit outside.  My other favorite parts of my ordinary days are my work outs – especially on Dance Trance days, cooking dinner and eating with Matt on nights he is home and reading before bed. 
• My perfect day would start off with writing first thing in the morning, followed by a workout and a big breakfast.  Then I’d do my coaching mid-morning to early afternoon, which is usually when I’m most personable and attentive.  I’d end the workday with emails or other reading – things that require less mental attention than coaching or writing.  Then I’d cook dinner (which I don’t get to do every night because of my work schedule), walk Buddy and hang out with Matt or a friend – ending the day with wine and a good book.  (Ok, can I pretty please have that day every day?)  I don’t totally know how to answer that last question – I do feel like I am doing the best I can do make room for the things I love (working out, cooking, writing) within the confines of my long workday plus commute (and my unwillingness to give up anymore sleep!).