Roasted Slivered Almonds: Christmas Song

Roasted almonds are great! They taste wonderful right out of your hand and can garnish salads, add chunkiness to cookies, or--my brother's favorite--can be chopped up in a food processor and put on top of ice cream.

But almonds are also expensive, especially if you want slivered. So I buy my almonds online from Bulk Foods. I love Bulk Foods because I can buy nuts, crystallized ginger, buttermilk powder, oats, almost anything from them and get more for less money. It's a great place to check out!

For nuts, I keep them in the freezer so they don't go rancid before I can use them all. Bulk Foods is great to order from, especially around the holidays. Save money on those Christmas ingredients for your special holiday recipes.

Since today's recipe is for roasted nuts, I thought of a song that mentions roasted nuts. And it's not just any song, it's "The Christmas Song" by Mel Torme.

ROASTED SLIVERED ALMONDS

1 pound slivered almonds from Bulk Foods

1. Line jelly roll pan with parchment paper.
2. Spread almonds in a thin layer over the parchment paper.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
4. Bake for 7-9 minutes until just golden brown.
5. Remove from oven and allow the almonds to completely cool.  Store in a sealable bag in the freezer.

Back in the Kitchen: Lovely Buttermilk Waffles

After almost a week of not being in the kitchen, it's so good to be back!

Today I made Buttermilk Waffles, but these are unique--they use buttermilk powder!  Ironically, we ordered food stuffs from Bulk Foods and the order came yesterday, including buttermilk powder.  I was so excited when I read the recipe this morning and saw it used buttermilk powder!

The waffles came out wonderfully!  I've included the recipe.  Don't skip putting the waffles in the oven to crispen before you eat them.  They are a classic, timeless waffle made from scratch!

For some classic jazz, here's Louis Armstrong and May Alix on "Big Butter and Egg Man" from 1926!

BUTTERMILK WAFFLES

Adapted from a recipe from America's Test Kitchen

Dry:

2 cups flour

1/2 buttermilk powder

1 tablespoon sugar

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Wet:

1/2 cup sour cream

2 large eggs

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/4 cups lemon & lime soda or club soda

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.  Put a cookie rack on a lipped baking sheet in the oven.

Whisk all dry ingredients together in a small bowl.

In a medium bowl, whisk together sour cream, eggs, oil, and vanilla until combined.  Mix in the club soda.

Make a well in the dry ingredients and gently stir the wet ingredients.  Don't over mix; batter should be lumpy and still have streaks of flour.

Heat waffle iron and  make the waffles according to the waffle iron directions.

When waffles are done, put in the oven for up to 10 minutes for a crispy crust.  Serve with syrup and fruit.