Happy Holidays!

I've been busy the last few days baking, cooking, and celebrating Christmas with M and my mom-in-law and my family here in the Seattle area. The one time of year I don't worry too much about being perfectly paleo is Christmas...I drink eggnog, I bake and enjoy one or two traditional Slovak pastries, our Christmas Eve Lentil Soup, and M's favorite Medieval Pie. This time I also made a couple of paleo treats.

Spiced Pecans:

2 cups pecans
1-2 T. butter or coconut oil (I started off with one T, then added a bit more).
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp coriander

Toast nuts in butter/coconut oil for about 5 minutes on medium heat, stirring frequently. (I did this on top of the stove in my cast iron pan which worked perfectly.) When toasted, place nuts in paper bag, sprinkle seasoning over the top, then shake until all nuts are well coated. Let nuts drain and dry out a bit on paper towels.

I did two other variations of this:

Curry Spiced Pecans
2 cups pecans
1-2 T. butter or coconut oil
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tsp. curry (I used a yummy sweet curry from Penzey's)

Christmas Spiced Pecans
2 cups pecans
1-2 T. butter or coconut oil
2 T. real maple sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg

They all turned out really well, and everyone loved them!