Party Almonds

Well, my readers have spoke, and the winning recipe for December's "Recipe of the Month" is an appetizing appetizer.

With Christmas/Hanuka/Ramadan/Tet/etc., etc., coming up, I thought a simple dish that goes over well at parties would be the best choice. So I present to you my Grandma's recipe for "Party Almonds".

PARTY ALMONDS

• 1 tablespoon butter or margarine
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon curry powder
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon red or green pepper sauce
• 2 cups whole almonds
• 1 to 2 teaspoons kosher (coarse) salt

1. Heat oven to 325*F. In a 2-quart saucepan, melt butter over low heat; stir in oil, chili powder, curry powder, Worcestershire sauce and pepper sauce. Simmer gently 2 to 3 minutes to blend the flavors.
2. Add almonds; toss to coat and spread in single layer in 15x10x1-inch pan.
3. Bake 10 to 15 minutes, stirring once halfway through the bake time.
4. Pour nuts into large bowl, toss with salt to coat. Spread in single layer in same pan and cool to room temperature.
5. Store in airtight container.

This makes 8 servings of 1/4 cup each.

You can also make this with walnuts or pecans, which my Grandma often did. It was the easiest way to use up the walnuts from the tree in the front yard, the almonds from the tree in the back yard, and the pecans we could find growing wild all over the neighborhood where they used to live.

Oh, what fond memories.