honey roasted almonds.

In the spirit of DIY, I wanted to make something special to give to friends and co-workers this Christmas.  I've tried this honey roasted almond recipe a few times before and thought they would make the perfect edible gift.


You'll need:
- 2 c. whole almonds
- 1/4 c. brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp. ground sea salt
- 2 tbsp. honey
- 2 tbsp. water
- 2 tsp. vegetable oil

Spread almonds in a single layer on an ungreased baking pan.  Bake at 350 F for 12 - 15 minutes (don't preheat the oven first).

Mix together sugar and salt.

Bring honey, water, and oil to a boil over medium heat.  Add roasted almonds and stir until all liquid has been absorbed (about 10 minutes).  Immediately transfer to medium bowl and add sugar/salt mixture.  Spread on wax paper and allow to cool completely.

I put the finished product in these little jars that I found at the dollar store.

I also typed up some gift tags on an old typewriter and tied them on with ribbon for the finishing touch.

Cute. Delicious. Homemade!

cookies & crafts.

It's finally December! I'm officially allowed to start christmas-izing the apartment (although I did cheat and put up the tree last weekend!) To kick off the holiday season, my room-mate Brittany and I hosted a cookie exchange and decoration making night.  


We decided to make m&m cookies using a recipe from my friend Linsday's amazing food blog, pink peppercorn (check it out!).  After going to four different stores looking for christmas m&m's, we finally gave up and bought a package of the regular ones - I was set on the cookies being christmas-y though, so Brittany picked out all the reds and greens!

The cookies turned out great!  The only change I made was to switch the measurements for the brown and white sugar (I used 1 c. brown and 1/2 c. white)

We ended up with soooo many delicious cookies - lemon shortbreads, hello dolly squares, oatmeal, and fancy french macaroons!  After recovering from our sugar comas, we started crafting...

Our efforts resulted in some 'interesting' decorations, and a lot of glitter everywhere!  

Not exactly Martha Stewart worthy - but still festive!