See what happens when I get a couple of days off?  I don’t know what day it is!  I posted that video on Friday and then realized that it was FRIDAY.  As in Flashback Friday.  So I guess you’ll have to flash back only one day with that one.  Sorry, folks!

Well…. I made it through the holidays.  It was questionable there for a bit.  I go into overload at about the 50th baked good.  It was quite a blow when I lost every stinking thing that I baked last Saturday.  EVERY. THING.  Just to give you an idea, I threw away 30 qty. 1/2 loaves of baked goods.  Yes.  Thirty.  OK, Thirty-ish.  I lost count.  Thankfully, I recovered, but my baking confidence was seriously damaged.  To the point where I am afraid people are at this very moment spitting a bite of my banana bread directly into the garbage can, it’s so bad. Everything in them might have sucked.  I ended up baking a lot, and it should have been worth it when I had home baked baskets of goodies for all my loved ones on Christmas Eve.  Hopefully they tasted good, because at some point there were no more taste test loaves or time to do so.  It really is the thought that counts, right?  My babysitter told her mom (my boss at work) that I was crazy.  She said “Have you seen those baskets?  There’s a ton of them!  And she hasn’t even started baking!”  Little did she know that I had certainly HAD started, and failed.  And failed, and failed, and failed.  Oh, and that her mom tells me when she says I’m crazy.  Ahem!

It ended up I made 12 loaves of banana bread (successful bread, not the stuff I threw away), 10 loaves of carrot bread, and 10 loaves of apple bread.  The apple is my favorite, the carrot is new, and the banana is from a nut bread recipe that I’ve used forever and I just add banana.  I don’t know if it would be any good at all as a straight nut bread because I’ve NEVER made straight nut bread.  I also made 8 or 10 rounds of glazed almond (and I have the tiny burns to prove it), one big pan of toffee, 8 batches (by batch I mean of dough, not pans) of peanut butter cookies, 3 batches of chocolate chip cookie bars (totally mundane, I know, but my dad loves these), and 8 batches of snickerdoodles.  The snickerdoodle is our new favorite cookie in the Frank house.  I retained for home use or threw away banana bread, cornbread, and beer bread.  Over the top amounts.  On Christmas morning I made one more batch of apple bread for brunch in 2 regular sized loaves just for eating since I gave everything away and kept nothing for myself.  My husband made everything look pretty and Christmas-y for gifting.  Every loaf is wrapped in butcher paper and ribbon, The cookies are tucked into little paper bags of red and green, and the candy nestled into little PLASTIC Christmas candy bags.  Grrrr.  There aren’t many choices though, because the nuts have butter in them and will not tolerate a paper bag presentation.

It’s exhausting just looking at all of it again.  Seriously cute though, right?

Here’s the glazed almond recipe just for kicks:

1/2 cup of sugar

1 cup of raw almonds

2 tablespoons butter

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Combine the butter, sugar, and almonds in a skillet, and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until the almonds are covered and the sugar is melted and amber color.  Turn off the heat, add the vanilla, and stir quickly to combine.  Pour candy onto a piece of foil, sprinkle lightly with sea salt, and allow to harden.  Break into small clusters and watch it disappear!

It’s a completely simple recipe, right?  Deceptively simple for how wonderful these are when completed.  Here are my tips on the almonds:

1. Wear long sleeves, and a glove on the stirring hand.
2. Do NOT double the batches.  It’s tempting, I know.  Don’t.
3. Use a WOODEN spoon for stirring.  I prefer a flat ended spoon for ease of pushing it around for even cooking.
4. Keep stirring, even when your arm falls asleep.
5. Do not put your heat too high.  Or too low.  I can’t help you here, you just have to figure it out.
6. A face mask?  Maybe… if you don’t like tiny burns on your face.
7. Yes, keep stirring.
8. They aren’t done until the sugar mixture is all translucent and amber color, no cloudy sugar.  Look at all the nuts, because clumps of sugar will try to hide.
9. Pause before you add the vanilla, to allow the sugar to fill all holes your spoon may have made or it will spit like the Dickens!
10. If you haven’t already been wearing one, put a glove on the stirring hand BEFORE you add the vanilla.  It will still spit.  Yes, you let the sugar fill the hole.  It will still spit.
11. This can be dangerous candy to make.  Make your children leave the kitchen.
12. If you hear a loud pop, protect your face!
13. Do not put the foil directly on a pine table.  It can and will cause any knots in your table to release sap.
14. Have your foil ready BEFORE you start cooking the sugar.
15. Seriously, reconsider the face mask.  Especially if you have slow reflexes.
16. The process is much faster in a hot pan after the first batch, plan accordingly.
17. This is really hot, please be careful.  Melted sugar is capable of some SERIOUS burns if not handled with care.  It’s a melted solid, it’s sticky, and it’s extremely hot.  A lethal combination.

Reconsidering the nuts?  Naaah, I didn’t think so.  Those tips are from years of experience in making this wonderful concoction.  I’m only half joking about the face mask.  I will say that once you get into the groove and know what you’re in for, they are really delicious and possibly worth the pain and suffering.  If you wear the mask, they’re cake.  Let me know what you think.

If this snow lets up, we’re off to the Science and Industry Museum today.  I love the snow, so I don’t know what I’m hoping for.  It’s a tie right now between hunkering down with the kids at home and watching it come down, or seeing the Green Home at the museum before they remodel it.  I hope you have a great big ol’ pile of a great weekend, everybody!