Spiced Walnuts and Pecans

We're really fond of spiced nuts around here, they are great in salad, with fruit, and by the fistful. I had to run out on an errand and my helpers finished the job for me, even going so far as to label them. I did two batches at once, the walnuts were for salad and the pecans will be for a dessert. Just double the recipe below, and rotate the pans, if done on two, every 10 minutes.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 c. nuts
1/4 c. maple syrup
1/4 c brown sugar (scant cup, not packed)
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp. cinnamon
dash of nutmeg
salt (to taste)
2 tbsp butter, melted and cooled
1 egg white

Preheat oven to 300, roasting nuts for 10 minutes. Melt butter and cool. Lower oven temperature to 250. Allow nuts to cool when removed from oven. Combine all ingredients, except egg white, adding nuts after ingredients are well mixed. Beat egg white in a separate bowl until it foams and add to nut mixture. Spread on parchment lined sheet and cook at 250 for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. If doubled, rotate pans when stirring. Remove and allow to cool.

St. Patrick's Day Breakfast

 For St. Patrick's day breakfast, I decided to make McCann's Irish Oatmeal in my crockpot overnight. Many bloggers have said that the best way to keep the oatmeal from burning at the edges is to put an oven safe bowl inside the crockpot on foil or canning rings and fill about half way with water. I have also read that there is some issue with cracking when the two pots are not separated, hence the foil or rings. So here is the setup...

 This cooked about 9 hours, and this is what it looked like in the morning. You can't see it here, but mine is sitting on about 4 large canning rings. And yes, that is a souffle dish.

Ingredients:
1 cup steel cut oats
4 cups water
2 small apples, peeled an diced
1/4 c pecans, chopped
2 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp cinnamon
1/2  c. maple syrup or brown sugar
1/4 tsp nutmeg, you can use more but I'm not wild about nutmeg
pinch of salt

Just follow the set-up for the crockpot that I described, or not, if you are feeling rebellious. It's your crockpot, so do what ye like. Mix everything together in an oven proof bowl and put it in the crockpot on low for at least 8 hours. You could add raisins or more apples, even more sweetener if you like. 'Twill be ready in the morning.