Nuts!

Today I don't have to go anywhere. It's a wonderful feeling.

This morning I caught up on housework and tasks that had gotten shoved to the back burner. The umpteen reminder notes I'd written to myself that were scattered all around the kitchen have been whittled to just a handful on my desk, and I hope they'll be gone by the end of the day. The tidying also filtered down to my email inbox. I deleted quite a few messages that I didn't need anymore, and moved others to folders. Buried at the bottom of the inbox I found a link to a recipe for making almond butter I'd gotten back in January. I decided to try it today.

I know there are many types of nut butters, but I've never eaten anything other than the peanut kind. I buy standard grocery store peanut butter, alternating between the smooth and chunky varieties. However, we always have almonds in the house. (I buy them in bulk at Costco, where they come in three pound bags); they're a great snack or non-meat protein for meals on the run.

The recipe for Homemade Almond Butter I used came from Rebecca Wood. It called for exactly three ingredients-almonds, salt, and oil. No sugar, no preservatives. Because we were low on almonds, I decided to cut the recipe in half, figuring if I liked it I could make more another time. Rebecca recommended toasting the almonds to enhance the flavor and aroma of the finished product, so I measured out nuts onto a cookie sheet and put them in a preheated oven. At the end of the toasting period the smell of the nuts was intoxicating. I dumped them in the food processor with a pinch of salt and pulsed them until they were finely ground. I added oil to the bowl, and kept processing the mixture. When the oil was incorporated things still looked pretty dry, so I added more oil (which was an option in the recipe).

Even though it was only 10:30 in the morning (and much too early for lunch), I decided to make myself a sandwich. I spread a layer of almond butter on a slice of whole wheat bread, added apricot preserves to a second slice, and put them together. The almond butter was good, but a bit grainy, which I think was probably the result of making a small amount. The nuts kept getting thrown to the sides of the processor bowl and didn't puree correctly. Next time I make the recipe, I won't try to modify it!

Since the almond butter doesn't have any preservatives I stored the leftovers in the refrigerator. I'm already looking forward to having more tomorrow, and if Tony wants he can take some for lunch, too.