Party Nuts!, Cookbook of the Day

by Nicole Weston, Posted Nov 20th 2006 @ 8:02AM

If you have to pick one snack to have available to serve to guests during the holiday season, nuts are not a bad option. Putting problems with allergies aside (which hopefully your guests will inform you of in advance), nuts are healthy, filling and subject to an almost unlimited number of variations, 50 of which can be found in Party Nuts!: 50 Recipes for Spicy, Sweet, Savory, and Simply Sensational Nuts that Will Be the Hit of Any Gathering. The book includes sweet, salty and spicy variations, after starting with a "rule book" for nuts. The "rules" are more like tips and include pointers such as buying your nuts from a reputable source that stock them fresh, as opposed to working from prepacked bags. The author also points out that nuts should be stored in the freezer to prevent the natural oils in them from turning rancid and provides ballpark toasting times, which give you an easy way to add flavor to raw nuts without much work. But with only a bit more time, you can make Hot Pepper Sesame Peanuts, Sugar and Orange Macadamia Nuts, Honey-Cardamom Almonds or Rum Glazed Spiced Pecans.