Squishy Shoes and Candied Nuts

I had a lot of fun last night running with my wife and a couple of friends of ours. We did a local 8K to see the lighting of a community holiday lights display… while pushing 6 kids in 4 strollers… in near freezing temperatures… in the pouring rain.

By the time we were done we were all soaked to the bone. With every step came the squish, squish noise of saturated footwear. My fingers had turned into deathly pale raisins inside of the gloves. Surprisingly, there was very little complaining from the kids. I think a combination of hand warmers, glow sticks and the promise of post-race goodies kept them (slightly) above the meltdown threshold.

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As I tried to connect this with some sort of sugary concoction for purposes of this blog I started thinking about a couple of times in grad school when I sat through football games in absolutely miserable weather, in many cases long after the result of the game was no longer in question (because I refuse to be one of those pansies that leaves early).

I'm still trying to decide which I liked more, watching the game (even in the rain) or smelling the cinnamon almonds. Turns out they are super easy to make yourself, and much cheaper.


Candied Almonds

Ingredients

½ cup water
1 cup white sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp ground nutmeg (optional)
¼ tsp ground ginger (optional)
2 cups whole roasted, but not salted, almonds (other types of nuts or cuts such sliced or slivered will work)

Directions

Combine the water, sugar, and spices in a saucepan over medium heat; bring to a boil; add the almonds. Cook and stir the mixture until the liquid evaporates and leaves a syrup-like coating on the almonds. Pour the almonds onto a baking sheet lined with waxed paper. Separate almonds using forks. Allow to cool about 15 minutes.

These are great for a snack by themselves or as a topping for ice cream or salads, especially when using sliced almonds. Spices can be omitted, or changed based upon your preferences. If I'm going to use them on salads I reduce the amount of spices by about half.