Spiced Pecans Recipe

Whether you’re making these to snack on, add to salads, or gifting them as a Christmas hostess gift, these are my all time favorite spiced nut recipe. It’s my favorite winter holiday treat to make and the best part, it’s super quick and easy to make.

Ingredients (Makes 4 Cups):

• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter

• 1/2 (packed) golden brown sugar

• 1/4 cup water

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 2 teaspoons Chinese five-spice powder

• 4 cups pecan halves (1x 1lb bag)

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. Using a silicone baking mat, spray with a little Pam.

3. In a large skillet, melt 1/4 cup butter over medium heat.

4. Add brown sugar, 1/4 cup of water, salt, and the five-spice powder; stir until sugar dissolves.

5. Add nuts to sugar mixture and cook until syrup thickly coats nuts, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes.

6. Transfer nuts to prepared baking sheet. Bake until golden, about 10 minutes. Let cool. Store in airtight container at room temperature.

Notes:

As a Hostess Gift: If you are preparing these for a hostess gift, I got these vintage looking glass jars at my local grocery store (Wegmans). It elevates the gift and presentation just slightly.

Snack & Salad Option: I love these as a snack; but a great combo is on salads. My go-to is a spinach salad with these spiced pecans, cucumber, apple, crumbled goat cheese, cranberries, and croutons.

Alterations: Sub pecans for walnuts or almonds if you’d like!

Holiday Ornament Cocktail Recipe - Small Batch Cranberry Apple Cider and Prosecco

Making “spirits” bright… get it? This is a fun take an a holiday cocktails with an added bit of joy for the season. Great for an at home holiday party or just for two for a date night dinner at home. And this is precisely what this recipe calls for; a small batch to make for two. It also packs in those wonderful winter flavors like apple cider and cranberry.

This idea came to me from a trip to Michael’s where the whole store was decked out in full blown Christmas mode. I had came across a whole aisle filled with plastic ornaments for crafting. Since I barely craft, I thought why not make one of these into a fun cocktail.

I will note this drink is more on the sweet side and I did have quite a bit of the punch left over, so this could easily make closer to about 3- 4 drink (especially when you fill the ornaments about halfway). You can also simple remove the prosecco in this recipe for an easy non-alcoholic option as well. Hope this brings you a little joy to make at home this season, enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 1 small bottle of prosecco

• 1/2 cup fresh cranberries

• 1/4 cup water

• 1/4 cup granulated sugar

• 2 cups apple cider

• 1 cups ginger ale

• 1/2 lemon, squeezed for fresh juice

• 1 cups cranberry juice

• Crushed ice

Additional Tools:

• 2 Coupe Cocktail Glass

• Fresh Rosemary for Garnish

• 2 Plastic Ornament from Michael’s

Instructions:

1. In a small saucepan, combine the cranberries and water and simmer for 2-3 minutes until the cranberries pop and split. Remove from the heat and stir in the sugar. Let cool to room temperature (or chill in the refrigerator or add some ice to cool down).

2. In a pitcher, pour in the cranberry mixture. Add the prosecco, apple cider, ginger ale, lemon juice, cranberry juice and crushed ice. Mix.

3. Over the sink I poured this mix into the plastic ornaments (filled about half full) and put the top back in place.

Serve & Assemble:

1. In the Coupe Cocktail Glasses - Add about 10 fresh cranberries.

2. Place the ornament cocktail on top of the cranberries

3. Garnish the side of the glass the a spring or two of rosemary

Cheers & Season’s Drinking!

Creamy Winter Italian Spinach and Sausage Soup

Here we go guys, my all time favorite soup to make all winter. I’ll truly makes this serval times a season with how easily and delicious it is to make. It’s the perfect mix of hearty, comforting, and really warms the soul.

It also makes a huge batch so it’s great for meal prep for the week or for a large family lunch or dinner. Hope you all enjoy this recipe as much as I do!

Yields 8-10 serving // Cook Time: 50 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground mild Italian sausage

• 1/2 cup diced onion (about half an onion)

• 1/2 cup diced red pepper ( about 1 red pepper )

• 2 tsp minced garlic

• 2 tbsp butter

• 2 tbsp flour

• 6 cups chicken broth

  • (Note: I prefer to go with a no salt or lower sodium broth because the sausage adds a lot of salt itself to the dish.)

• 12 oz fresh ramen or lo mien noodles

  • (I used a 16oz here because it was the only fresh lo mien type noodles I could find, it just means more noodles which are the best part :)

• 2 cups half-n-half cream

  • (Note: You can substitute for whole milk or 2% milk)

• 3 cups baby spinach

• 1/2 tsp black pepper

• 1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese

Instructions:

1. Brown the Italian sausage in a large pot. Drain the excess fat and set the sausage aside.

2. Using the same pot, return it to the heat and melt the butter. Add the diced onions, diced red peppers, and garlic. Sauté over medium heat for 4-5 minutes.

3. Sprinkle with flour and stir to coat. Cook for about one minute, stirring constantly. Stir in the chicken broth and bring to a boil.

4. Once the soup is boiling, stir in the fresh noodles. Return to a boil and cook according to the package - fresh noodles take about 3-6 minutes, stirring often.

5. Once the noodles are cooked. Stir in the sausage, cream, and spinach. Cook for several minutes until spinach is wilted.

6. Add black pepper to taste and serve with shredded parmesan cheese.