First of all, Merry Christmas and Hanukkah Sameach!! I hope you have a fabulous holiday!!

Things are crazy right now with last minute preparations, but I thought I’d check in with you guys for just a second to toss out a tip for those of you who are scrambling as much as I am. 🙂

I swear Christmas came way too soon this year. I realize that it’s the same day every year, but I was just not on top of my game this time around, and I’m not sure why. Maybe the weather? We’ve had a few cold days and a fair amount of snow, but it keeps warming up, meaning the grass is uncovered – an unusual thing for winters here! Or maybe it was because we had our Friends Thanksgiving after regular Thanksgiving this year? Who knows.

In any case, for those of you (like me) still looking for a quick last minute gift for neighbors and the service folks in your life (mail carrier, trash collector, etc.) or perhaps one more item for the appetizer table, you are in luck! I have the perfect idea that’s home made with simple ingredients, and SO delicious –  Spiced Rum Toasted Pecans.

A couple of days ago I came to the realization that I was WAY behind on cookies (just like everything else.. but cookies were the source of panic at this particular moment) and there was no chance in heck I was going to be able to make enough for the cookie trays I usually bring to neighbors. I eventually told myself that it just wasn’t going to happen this year, but it kept popping into my head that this was a little tradition that I needed to keep going, because those little tokens of gratitude are important.

#merrychristmas neighbors!

A photo posted by @leeesher on Dec 12, 2013 at 4:13pm PST

Then, just a day or two later, one of my coworkers brought these delicious pecans into the office, and I knew my Christmas gifts for neighbors were saved!!!

They are super easy to make – if you have an hour somewhere in the vicinity of the oven (wrapping gifts?) you have plenty of time  to crank these out. They taste legitimately gourmet (kind of egg noggy, kind of spiced rummy, all the way yummy) so no one is going to know that you spent about 5 minutes of actual time making them. Our secret. ^_^

To give these as gifts, I divided them equally, placed them in small cellophane bags from the craft store, and tied them off with curled ribbon.  Nothing too extravagant, but still pretty. Oh, and in a quantity New Year dieters won’t curse you for!

5 from 1 vote

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Toasted Spiced Rum Pecans

Ingredients

• 2 cups whole pecans
• 1/4 cup salted butter
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 Tbsp dark or spiced rum
• 1 tsp grated nutmeg

Instructions

1. Roast pecans at 300 for 15 minutes. In the meantime, melt butter. Stir in sugar, rum, and nutmeg. Heat until sugar is dissolved.
2. Once pecans are roasted, pour the butter mixture over the nuts, and return to the oven for 10 minutes. Cool on waxed or parchment paper.

Recipe Notes

Recipe and photos from Mayhem in the Kitchen!
https://mayheminthekitchen.com/spice-rum-pecans/

Anyway, back to frantic gift wrapping for me! I hope you all have a fabulous holiday, and we’ll talk in 2015!

I’ll leave you with a ridiculous photo of me and Mr. Leesha –

…. yes this was the best one. 🙂

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