First attempt at smoked almonds.

I think smoked almonds are my favorite “healthful snack.” They’re high on the list if they aren’t number one. Their major drawback, as far as I’m concerned, is that they can be too salty and not smokey enough.

So, when Bill got me a smoker for Christmas, almonds were one of the first things I wanted to try out. I didn’t consider whether raw almonds are cheaper (though I assume they should be since there’s less processing to be done), or anything similar.

Monday, I tried them out. Like almost any kitchen(-related) appliance, the smoker came with directions and recipes. The smoked nuts recipe was nearly useless. It said to smoke them for an hour. No suggestion on kind of flavor. If I wanted them salted, I could either shake them with salt after, or soak them in salted water “a few minutes.”… Continue reading →

Things we made this weekend & I forgot to take pictures of.

I make myself really busy sometimes. So much so that I forget how nice it is to just be at home. Which means that, when I finally am home, I end up doing one or both of two things. Most likely, I stop and do a lot of quiet hanging out with Bill and a lot of reading. Or I cook a lot.

This weekend was a long one for Bill, and a quiet one. We ran just a few errands, had a very nice meal out, learned about a bocce ball league, had a guest over, and I read a lot. And then I cooked everything. We also played a bunch of games.

It wasn’t really intentional to cook everything. It happened because it was a really nice weekend and because we had a lot of time and because we ran errands.… Continue reading →