cinnamon gratitude

here we are on thankful thursday again.   yesterday, i had some friends over.    it was nice to sit and talk and just hang out for a while so i am grateful for times like that.   but that's not my gratitude for today.

my kids did a great job helping with spring cleaning over the last week.   and i'm grateful for that, but that's not my gratitude for today either.

yesterday, we made snacks to share with everyone.   i'm grateful for pinterest, my joy in experimenting, and  my air popcorn maker.   there is no such thing as salted popcorn in germany, so i make my own.   also not my gratitude today.

in honor of friends coming over, and because i like them, i made cinnamon almonds.    i love those things, but they are super expensive to buy in their neat little paper cones.    HA!   i made my own for the price of a bag of almonds, some cinnamon, and sugar.   take that expensive street vendor!   so today, i am grateful for almonds, sugar, and cinnamon.   but my gratitude for today is just cinnamon.

i love cinnamon!   think of how many things have cinnamon flavor.   cereal, toothpicks, gum, applesauce, apple pie, apple cinnamon Christmas ornaments, pancake syrup, candy, cinnamon sugar . . . come on, you think of some now.

i grew up with cinnamon sugar on toast all the time, especially when not feeling good.   turns out that cinnamon is good for upset tummies.   great for pregnant morning sickness too.   cinnamon is one of those things that scientists keep discovering more and more wonderful things it does.   nice that science starts catching up with grandma's remedies and nature.  

today, be grateful for cinnamon, it smells good, tastes good, and is good for you.   i won't tell about the good for you thing though.   i don't want to spoil a good thing by making it good for you.

i bet you would like to know how to make those cinnamon devils, wouldn't you?

ok, here ya go.   the recipe is everywhere and they all pretty much look the same so i'm not going to quote everyone here.

you're going to want a cookie sheet or bowl or something ready to receive your little darlings.   i put parchment paper out on a tray.

in a frying pan, larger is better, combine -
1/2 cup water
1 cup sugar
1 Tbs vanilla
1 Tbs cinnamon
use a med/high heat and bring everything to a boil.   stir it so it all dissolves well.

now add -
2 cups almonds

now turn your heat down just a little and stir.   well, don't whip the things but just keep them moving.
don't worry about the stuff sticking to your pan, it comes right out.   i used a bamboo spatula, just use something that won't melt.   even cinnamon isn't going to taste good with melted plastic.

eventually, they will dry out and all the cinnamon will be sticking to them and you are going to want to snitch  one right out of the pan.   be careful, just give them a second to cool off, really, it's not going to take that long.

ta-da!   if they taste better out of the paper cone, by all means, roll up a cone, but mine don't make it that far.

btw - these are not junk food.   it's almonds, which are super healthy, and cinnamon that is super healthy.   so there is no guilt at my house over these.

i didn't take pictures yesterday to show you so i'll have to make more to post for you.   the sacrifices i make for you are crazy!   i just hate to have to make more cinnamon almonds!