
Autumn seemed to arrive suddenly that
year. The morning of the first September was crisp and golden as an apple …
~ JK Rowling ‘Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows’
Today I made almond butter for the first time. First time I’ve taken any kind of nutter and whirred it around in the food processor till the container got warm and the nuts mushed into teeny tiny grind.
Not sure why I just upped and did it. Could be part of my Use It Up/Shop the Pantry campaign, especially since I don’t like peanut butter. Cream cheese and any dark blue fruit jelly has always been my go to for that kind of sandwich. Try it on matzah during Passover. Delish.
I’d been working on eating down the past-their-fresh-date-nuts every morning with my oatmeal. But when you go to big box stores, you come home with big bags. So the almonds had a third of a bag left and the expiration date said November 2012. Oops.
My family is into making things from scratch. My husband has cucumbers
soaking in brine on the counter. We’ve made limoncello, yogurt, pesto, satay sauce, many loaves of bread and apple sauce and apple wine. I want to try
ketchup soon.
So smashing nuts to a pulp is within the realm of do-ability. And easy.
I pulled out the ancient Cuisinart, some canola oil, a few almost empty little jars of French and German honey and toasted up about 8 ounces of almonds that had been languishing for too long in the freezer.
In minutes I had something quite tasty and better than peanut butter, IMHO.
Looks like I created about a cup. This afternoon my snack will be leftover raisin challah, leftover European jam (many little jars fit tucked between boots and sweaters in suitcases returning home for winter break make good gifts for parental foodies. Many.)
Is this a good way to declutter or what!