Mixed Nuts

With the holiday entertaining season getting closer with each falling leaf, it's time to start thinking about those easy, yet still kind of fancy, snack recipes. These sweet, salty, spicy, party nuts are simple to make, and will rival those expensive blends at the local Foodies-R-Us.

I find this technique much easier than the stovetop pan method. You'll get beautiful, perfectly frosted nuts that are roasted evenly, with no bitter burned spots. Speaking of which, I played it pretty safe with the cooking times, so you may be able to go a few minutes longer for a deeper roast, but, don't get greedy.

By the way, I always upload these videos to YouTube before I publish the blog post, and I just finished reading the first few comments. Wow, they sure have some wild imaginations over there! They claim the video is loaded with innuendos and lowbrow, double entendre-based humor. How dare they! They're LOL'ing, ROFL'ing, and LMFAO'ing all over perfectly innocent recipe directions. It's nuts.

Anyway, I hope you give these delicious, candied mixed nuts a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 4 cups of nuts:

• 1 cup raw walnut halves
• 1 cup raw pecan halves
• 1 cup unsalted, dry roasted almonds
• 1 cup unsalted, dry roasted cashews
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 tsp cumin
• 1/4 tsp cayenne
• *For the syrup:
• 1 or 2 tbsp butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• *Heat to a boil, cook one minute, and pour over nuts!