Christmas past

Happy New Year! Christmas is over and once again it's time to gear up for the new year. I don't like to emphasize resolutions very much - they are too easy to fail at and be discouraged by. But I do have a goal to start getting up earlier in the morning. And I started a "New-Testament-in-one-year" reading plan. It's only about 1 chapter a day - so far, so good. Aside from resolutions, we are spending time going through old toys and things to give away. The kids made out with A LOT of new toys this year. I feel like I'm constantly cleaning up their new toys, trying to keep little pieces together as long as possible before they vanish.

This year, our "stock" Christmas gift was a bag of cinnamon pecans, tied with a ribbon and tagged with the recipe. I found the recipe in my Mom Sense magazine (by MOPs). The kids had fun helping me make the pecans too. They were delicious! Some people used them in salads and some just snacked on them. Pecans were a bit more expensive than I thought (even in bulk), but it was worth it for a nice and easy gift. Here's the recipe:

Cinnamon Pecans

1 egg white
1 teaspoon water
1 pound pecan halves
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 25o degrees. Beat egg white and water until frothy. Add pecans, coat well. In a small bowl, mix sugar, salt and cinnamon; add to nut mixture, stirring well. Spread on large, flat, buttered or greased pan and bake for 1 hour. Stir every 15 minutes.

Enjoy!