Sweet Spicy Nuts

Ca va, mon amie?

My Mother was a great adaptor of recipes! To her a recipe was a guide or an inspiration but nothing to be revered or adhered to too closely. She and my sister had a running disagreement about this. My Mother would be excited about a new recipe and would immediately start talking about what she would do with it, what spices she would change, how she would roast instead of boil, and on and on. 'Why do you need the recipe?' my sister would ask her. 'Shouldn't you try it the first time as written? You can always make changes after you've tried it.' The thing about my Mother was that she didn't have to actually taste a food to know what it would taste like. My Mother could taste the dish after just reading the recipe!

I don't have my Mother's skill so in honor of my sister I made Dorie's Sweet Spicy Nuts as written....at least the first time. They are pretty tasty and we love them and will be making more for neighbor gifts....and I'll try different spice combinations.

After reading posts from other French Friday cooks I added another 1/2 cup of nuts. It made it much easier to get them out of the egg white with no fuss. After baking as they started to dry I stirred them like I do Caramel Corn. Some of them needed a little tidying up for the final step but they turned out great and keep well.

Bon appetite!