Although I’ve been home a week, I’ve had so much to do that I have had no time to indulge in my passion. I’ve had fleeting glimpses of Ruby Crowned Kinglets, Yellow-rumped Warblers, Bushtits, and Anna’s Hummingbirds all bathing in my fountain but I’ve barely had time to look through binoculars for positive identification let alone had the time to set up my camera to take decent photographs. Without the daily photography excursions I’m used to, I’m kind of going nuts, which brings me to today’s post.
I’m heading to Santa Rosa to visit my brother on Christmas Day. We don’t exchange gifts but I can’t go empty-handed. I decided the perfect thing would be a batch of Rosemary Maple-glazed Nuts. When I visited Vermont in October, I of course came home with lots of maple syrup. The jug-shaped bottles even caused my luggage to get a closer inspection from TSA. When I arrived home, one of the TSA “We’ve been rummaging in your luggage” notices was tucked inside. Because I knew I shouldn’t have pancakes and maple syrup every day like I did in Vermont, I knew I needed to find a good way to use the maple syrup. I wanted nuts with sweet-savory-spicy flavors so I combed the Internet and found a delicious recipe. It has a little kick of cayenne for interest. The nuts were a hit at my Thanksgiving crab feast and the friends I’ve given them to have difficulty sharing with anyone; I even took a double batch with me to Bosque del Apache so that my photography buddies could have a snack after the morning explosion of Snow Geese. Those nuts lasted only two days.
As I look at this image, I can smell the savory aroma of the rosemary and the buttery sweetness of the maple syrup. Oh, wait. I can smell them because they’re still warm and out on a rack cooling just a few feet away from where I type. I think my brother will go nuts for my nuts. Everybody else seems to.
