Holiday Host Gift: Sweet & Spicy Glazed Nuts

As the holidays approach, our calendar is filling up with parties!  White Elephant parties, Ugly Sweater parties, and Work parties.  Each year The Hub's company hosts a fabulous holiday party at an awesome venue with a fun theme.  They've done Vegas, Roaring '20s, '80s Prom, 1979, and this year's theme:  Truman Capote's 1966 Black & White Ball. We had to do some research to figure out what this meant.  Basically everyone needed to dress in all black or white and wear a masquerade mask.  Here are some images from Mr. Capote's legendary party: Some friends planned a pre-party gathering at their house before the event and, you know me, I don't like to arrive empty handed.  Since we were having dinner at the party, I didn't want to bring anything too heavy.  I decided that Emeril's Spiced Nuts in a pretty mason jar would be the perfect gift to bring our hosts. I went to the hardware store to buy a medium sized mason jar and stopped at the grocery store for a giant can of mixed nuts.  Then I made the treat and assembled the gift using some leftover tissue paper and ribbon, all in about 30 minutes.  So easy!  They are sweet with a lot of kick - it is Emeril's recipe after all.  You might even want to buy a set of smaller mason jars and prepare them all in advance to bring to parties over the next few weeks. You'll need:

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups mixed nuts, such as walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts and almonds

Directions: Mix spices and reserve.  Heat nuts in a dry skillet and cook, stirring frequently, until they begin to toast, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl and set aside. Add the butter, sugar, water and spices to the hot skillet and cook, stirring, until a glaze forms, about 1 minute. Return the nuts to the skillet and toss to combine with the glaze. Cook for about 1 to 2 minutes, or until the nuts are glazed and golden brown. Remove from the heat and transfer to a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil, separating with a fork. Let rest until cooled and the sugar has hardened, about 10 minutes. Store in an airtight container.

We had a great time at the party and I think our group looked pretty fabulous.

5 Responses to “Holiday Host Gift: Sweet & Spicy Glazed Nuts”

1. alexa - cleveland's a plum says:

   December 6, 2010 at 8:55 am

   i love the hub’s glasses over mask look.

   Reply
   • Natalie says:

     December 6, 2010 at 1:04 pm

     Haha! Everyone was so creeped out!

     Reply
2. nate says:

   December 6, 2010 at 1:44 pm

   It’s like you read my mind — those nuts are amazing!! I was eating some yesterday and wondering what you had put in there. Mmmmmmm!!

   Reply
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