The recipe portion of this blog

I think I mentioned that we're hosting a party this Friday evening, and that I settled on a wine and appetizers theme? Well, I came across a recipe for Maple-Spiced Nuts in the latest Health Magazine, and figured I'd try it since I always like to serve nuts as part of a cold appetizer spread and I also always like to eat them. They came out pretty yummy, so I thought I'd share the recipe. I already had all the ingredients in the house, which I'm guessing most of you would too.

• 1 and 1/2 cup nuts (I used almonds and cashews and those worked well, but I think peanuts would've been good too)
• 1/2 cup maple syrup (I used maple syrup made by monks and tapped from the trees on the campus of Hubs' college, but I'm guessing you might not have that particular kind on hand...)
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• a sprinkle of sea salt

Preheat the oven to 350 and then bake the nuts on a greased baking sheet for 10 minutes; let them cool a bit.

Slowly bring the maple syrup to a boil in a pot; add the butter to the syrup and stir. Add the already baked nuts to the mixture and coat them; remove from heat and let cool.

In a bowl, mix the cinnamon and chili powder. Remove the nuts from the pot with a slotted spoon and coat them in the spice mixture.
Lay them flat to dry on a cookie sheet or baking pan and sprinkle with sea salt (do this before they dry though - I did it afterward and the sea salt didn't stick at all).

Let them dry and that's it - they're really good!

I'm also planning to make Spicy Orange Garlic Shrimp, a recipe I found on Momofonefornow's blog from Pastor Ryan. Also REALLY REALLY tasty.