Culinary Adventures with Camilla

Deb from  Kahakai Kitchen  is our   Cook the Books   hostess for this round (December 2018-January 2019); she chose   Island of Sweet Pies and Soldiers by Sara Ackerman .*  You can read Deb's invitation:  here .  I definitely needed an easy read this month. Between life, work, school, and the holidays, this was a great book to look forward to at the end of the day.  And, despite the craziness of the season, I carved out time to read as I crawled into bed each night. While I am not lucky enough - like host Deb and author Sara - to live in Hawaii, I do have ties there. My dad grew up on Oahu - after his family immigrated from the Philippines - and I spent many, many summers there as a kid. Jake and I honeymooned on Kauai and went back with both sides of our family a few years later.  My parents have taken the boys to Oahu - to see where Nonno lived, where he went to school, and to experience some of our favorite haunts. Can you say ...

Nut brittle always has a place on my holiday cookie platters. It's easy and it only requires a few ingredients that I always have on hand. Butter, sugar, nuts, and chocolate. Yep. That's it. Ingredients 2 C butter 2 C organic granulated sugar 1 t Kasbah spice blend* (that's my own name for it as the smell is what I imagine a Moroccan kasbah to smell like) 2 C roasted, unsalted pistachios 2 C semisweet chocolate chunks *Kasbah spice blend: ground cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, coriander, cumin, paprika (sweet and/or hot), mace, nutmeg, and peppercorns Procedure Place sugar and butter in a large saucepan. Cook over medium to high heat, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, until it boils. Cover and cook for 3 or 4 minutes. Uncover, reduce heat and cook until it turns an amber color and is completely smooth. Stir in spice and nuts. You need to work quick before the mixture cools too much. Pour mixture onto a baking sheet lined with p...