By Week 315. Spring 2022. I am 39 years old and standing in my kitchen — the Bench house kitchen, the one that held cancer and divorce and cinnamon rolls — and the stove is on and something is cooking and the house smells like fresh herbs and possibility and this is my life. This is the life I built.
I went for a run this morning — the Saturday routine, the greenbelt, the river, the particular meditation of feet on a path and lungs filling and the body doing what it was told it couldn't do. The running group meets rain or shine.
Mason is 11 and reading everything he can find and examining the world under a microscope with the intensity of a tenured researcher.
Lily is 9 and riding horses with the fearlessness of someone who has never considered the possibility of falling.
I made sourdough with butter this week. The food continues. The food always continues. It is the thread that connects every week to every other week, every year to every other year, every version of me to every other version — the woman on the kitchen floor, the woman at the chemo recliner, the woman at the grill, the woman at the outdoor table under the string lights. All of them, connected by the food they made with their hands. All of them, me.
The sourdough was already done — cooling on the counter while I laced up my running shoes and thought about nothing harder than the sound of the river — and by the time Mason looked up from his microscope and Lily came in smelling like horses and outside air, I wanted something to go alongside it. Something buttery and a little sweet, made with my hands, the way all the best things in this kitchen have been made. This buttery almond crunch is exactly that: unhurried, honest, and good in the way that ordinary Saturday things are good.
Buttery Almond Crunch
Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 20 minutes | Total Time: 30 minutes | Servings: 12
Ingredients
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 1/2 cups sliced almonds, divided
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Prepare your pan. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Spread 3/4 cup of the sliced almonds in an even layer over the surface and set aside.
- Melt the butter. In a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter completely. Add the sugar, salt, corn syrup, and water, stirring to combine.
- Cook the toffee. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the mixture reaches 300°F (hard crack stage) on a candy thermometer — the color should be a deep amber, about 15–18 minutes.
- Finish and pour. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract. Immediately pour the hot toffee over the almonds on the prepared baking sheet, spreading quickly with a heatproof spatula to an even layer.
- Top with almonds. Scatter the remaining 3/4 cup sliced almonds evenly over the top of the hot toffee and press gently so they adhere.
- Cool completely. Allow the crunch to cool at room temperature for at least 30 minutes, until fully hardened. Break into irregular pieces and serve alongside sourdough or on its own.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 280 | Protein: 3g | Fat: 20g | Carbs: 24g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 55mg