For a little Friday fun I thought I’d let you inside of my head. It’s crazy up in there. See for yourselves. Here’s my thought process that lead to this recipe.

1. Focus. You’re making chicken salad.
2. But there are two bags of almonds sitting in my counter space.
3. Just move them over next to the fruit bowl and make the chicken salad.
4. Those oranges look good. Really good. I’ll have an orange and some almonds for a snack when I’m done making this chicken salad.
5. Oranges and almonds. They’re a good pair.
6. Remember when Jamie was here and we tried to make Whole Foods’ Gingered Orange Almonds instead of buying them.
7. We should have bought them.
8. What did we do wrong? We did something very wrong. I think I want to try again…after I make this chicken salad.
9. I miss Jamie. I wish she were here to make these almonds with me again. Because I’m totally making them again. Like, right now. I’ll make the chicken salad later.
   
10. Gingered orange almonds. I need ginger.
11. Ooooo vanilla beans are next to the ginger in the fridge.
12. Vanilla beans are my favorite. I smell like vanilla because I wear this perfume. People always ask why I smell like cupcakes. Pretty sure that has nothing to do with my perfume.
13. Vanilla beans and oranges. I feel good about this. Vanilla beans and oranges and almonds and honey. Done.
14. Crap. We don’t have much honey left. This better work the first time. Recipes rarely work the first time. Don’t get too excited. Let’s do this.
15. Zest sounds good, and some juice. Squeeze. Mixed with the rest of the honey. And the almonds. Just dump them all in the bowl.
16. And now…for the vanilla bean. That really is the best smell on earth.
17. This actually looks like it’s working. Throw them in the oven for a bit.
18. Set a timer. You WILL forget them and you have no more honey.
19. You have 15 minutes to do something while they bake. Be productive.
20. I’ll teach myself to wobble.
21. Beeeeeep. Have I really been wobbling for 15 minutes? So much for productive.
22. Oh yeah! These almonds look amazing.
    
23. HOT! Why do you always try to eat things when they come out of the oven? Let them cool. Go be productive this time.
24. I wonder if I can wobble without watching the video.
25. Yes. Yes, I can.
26. Ok. I’m sweating. These things have to be cool now.
27. YAY!!!!! They taste so good! Really good.
28. They’re a little sticky. I’ll let them sit and see if they dry out a little.
29. They didn’t. I don’t mind the sticky but I think I could make it go away with a little dusting of sugar.
30. Oh. That’s nice. Sticky is gone.
31. These are a great snack. That was a successful 30 minutes. A sweet almond snack and a solo dance party.
32. Blog it.

Orange Vanilla Almonds 

Ingredients :

2 cups raw almonds (about 12oz)
1 orange
1 whole vanilla bean, split and scraped
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2-1 tablespoon organic cane sugar for dusting (optional, if you don’t want sticky almonds)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Wash and zest 1/2 the orange.
3. In a bowl combine, almonds, zest, juice from the whole orange, the scraped vanilla beans, honey and salt. Mix well.
4. Spread on a parchment lined baking sheet.
5. Bake for about 15 minutes. Be sure to check often as nuts can burn quickly.
6. Let cool completely.
7. Place the almonds in a container (or baggie) and sprinkle with a sugar if desired. Shake around to coat the almonds.

Notes:

1. I only used about 1/2 a tablespoon of sugar. Just sprinkle a little at a time and use what you need until the sticky is gone.
2. These are crazy good. Happy Friday. Let’s dance.