Sweet Spicy Holiday Snack

Need a great snack in about 1 hour? If you are concerned about added holiday fat consumption and don’t want the usual snack mix with butter this is it long time viewer favorite + favorite party snack - my seasoned spiced nuts. Roasted in the oven with egg whites you can omit the butter flavor.

I’ve listed add-on options to mix with the nuts, if you want to put your own holiday snack spin on my classic version. 

Spiced Nuts Recipe | From George Hirsch Living it UP! cookbook and TV series

Sweet Spicy Holiday Snack

Add any of the following to the Spiced Nuts Recipe to make your own Sweet Spicy Holiday Snack: 

1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup white raisins
1 cup Indian nuts, aka pinion, or pine nuts
2 cups mini pretzel sticks
1 cup wasabi nuts
1 cup green & red M & M’s
1 cup chocolate or white chocolate  

Whirley Pop

I received this popper as a gift from The Piano Man himself a few years back. It's a classic. It's a great popcorn maker - every kernal pops. 

The 6 Quart Whirley Pop Stovetop Popcorn Popper is the ultimate popcorn machine. Use any popcorn, as little as a teaspoon of any oil and in less than 3 minutes, there will be 6 quarts of delicious, mouthwatering popcorn to enjoy. Official instructions.

Each Popper is hand assembled and checked for quality. They take pride in every popper made and stand behind their products, with a 25 year warranty. How about that?

Hampton Farms

Have you ever noticed you can't just open one peanut shell? I have yet another family tradition to share that puts peanuts center of the table. My family from the south always arrive with the largest bag of Virginia peanuts every year, when they visit each summer. We all sit around the table, break open the bag, crack open the shells, have a few IPAs and talk for hours. Good Stuff!

The other special thing is these peanuts are from Hampton Farms in North Carolina. The Barnes Family has owned and operated peanut farms since 1917. You maybe thinking - but you just said they we Virginia peanuts? Virginia peanuts are the variety of peanut distinguished by two nuts in every shell, a majority of which are grown in North Carolina.

What's all the spit'n about?

"It’s the bottom of the ninth at Yankee Stadium... the Yankees are ahead by one run with bases loaded - no outs - they bring in relief pitcher, Mariano Rivera to get them out of the jam. The Yankees are on edge, and seem to be spitting-out all there nervous energy." They are spitting out the official sunflower seeds of Major League Baseball, Spitz Sunflower Seeds. The name Spitz - go figure? Would you like a sunflower seed? You know you can't just have one!

Think beyond baseball. Sunflower seeds are commonly eaten as a healthy snack. The seeds can also be used as a garnish or an ingredient in healthy recipes; sunflower seeds are an excellent source of dietary fiber! Seeds are available seeds-in-shell, good especially if you play ball, or de-hulled; perfect as a salad topping, sans the spitting.

TIPS: Try adding sunflower seeds to cereals or breakfast granola. For entrees, simply add finely ground sunflower seeds to breadcrumbs or panko breading mixtures. 

The Original Flavor

What is the first sign of spring to you? Daffodils, birds singing, or is it the return of Major League Baseball? If it’s baseball, then that means there’s a seventh inning stretch with the legendary song "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" (by Jack Norworth 1908) accompanied by consumption of one of America’s oldest snacks. The popularity of that song, still sung today, with the line “buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack” will be heard throughout baseball stadiums in America this month.

But Cracker Jack is so much more than candy caramel-coated popcorn and peanuts. There is also that special little surprise in each box which still brings smiles to faces on kids of all ages. Did you know these one-of-a-kind prizes are sought after by collectors fetching north of 50k dollars? Hey that’s cool! - which by the way is the meaning behind the term ‘Cracker Jack’ in the 1890’s. I do think the name Cracker Jack is fitting, somehow ‘Cool Jack’ just doesn't have the same ring.

Watch this classic TV commercial from the 1960’s featuring Jack Gilford.