Cinnamon Praline Nuts

Cookout season. Every Saturday is a cookout somewhere. Three days of counseling at the middle school in East Point. The work was the work.

Daddy in his apartment in the back. I brought him his coffee and his medication this morning. He grumbled. The grumble was the love. I caught the smell of Mama's seasoning blend at the stove Tuesday morning. Just for a second. The grief comes when it comes.

Corn on the cob in butter. The standard.

Marcus, 21, studying for finals at Alabama. Jasmine, 19, home from Howard for the weekend.

I went to bed at ten. The dishwasher was running. The day was the day.

Wednesday Bible study at the church. We read through Proverbs. The women in my row argued about whether wisdom is built or born. I said both. They agreed, sort of.

Miss Ernestine called Tuesday. She's ninety-something and sharp as ever. She told me my potato salad still needs more mustard.

I had a hard counseling case at school this week. A seventh-grade girl whose mama lost her job. We talked. I gave her my number. I told her she could call.

Andre called from LA. He told the Kevin Hart story again. Twenty-some years and that boy is still telling that story. Everyone in this family is going to hear about Kevin Hart at our funerals.

Saturday morning I had Set the Table at the Cascade Heights center. Twelve young women. We did baked chicken. One of them — Imani, sixteen — was so afraid of seasoning that she barely shook the salt. I stood next to her and put my hand over hers and said, baby, you cannot be afraid of food. We seasoned the chicken. The chicken came out right. She glowed.

The neighbors had a Friday cookout this week. I brought my mac and cheese. They have come to expect this. I have come to expect this. The block is the block.

Sunday service at New Birth this morning. The choir sang. I sang soprano in the second alto row. Pastor preached about Naomi and Ruth. The congregation said amen. I said amen.

I read for an hour Sunday night before bed. Some novel about a Black woman in 1960s Alabama. Mama would have liked it.

Tuesday evening I sat at the kitchen table with my composition notebook and worked on the cookbook. From Brenda's Kitchen — that's the working title. I cannot write the introduction without crying yet.

The kids were home for the weekend. The house was loud the way it should be.

Derek and I had date night Friday. Same restaurant, same booth, same enchiladas for me and carne asada for him.

I drove to the Walmart on Camp Creek Saturday morning. The kind of grocery run that takes two hours because you run into three people you know. Sister Patrice caught me in the produce. We talked about her grandbaby for fifteen minutes.

Pastor preached about the prodigal son again. He preaches about that boy at least three times a year. The text is the text but every preaching is different. I cried in the second service this time. Don't ask me why.

Thursday I made cornbread for a sister at church whose husband had surgery. I dropped it off at the hospital. She cried at the door. I told her, eat the cornbread, baby. The food is the saying.

Daddy sat in his chair after dinner watching the news. He fell asleep before the third quarter. Standard.

I went to the cemetery Saturday morning. Brenda's grave is on the hill at South-View. Curtis still goes most Sundays. I left a small bouquet of magnolias.

Between the mac and cheese for the neighbors and the cornbread I dropped at the hospital, this was a week of food-as-love in the most literal sense. When cookout season is in full swing and you’re already cooking for the block, you want something you can make in one pan and set out without ceremony — something that disappears fast and makes people ask who brought it. These cinnamon praline nuts are exactly that. I started making them for the Set the Table girls, and now they show up everywhere: the Friday cookout, the church fellowship table, the kitchen counter when the kids are home and the house is loud the way it should be.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 25 minutes | Total Time: 35 minutes | Servings: 10

Ingredients

3 cups pecan halves (or a mix of pecans and walnuts)
1 egg white
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon water

Instructions

Preheat the oven. Heat your oven to 300°F. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
Make the coating. In a large bowl, whisk together the egg white, vanilla extract, and water until the mixture is frothy and slightly foamy, about 1 minute.
Mix the sugar blend. In a separate small bowl, stir together the granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt until well combined.
Coat the nuts. Add the pecans to the egg white mixture and toss until every nut is evenly coated. Pour the sugar blend over the nuts and fold until all the nuts are well covered and the sugar clings to each one.
Spread and bake. Pour the coated nuts onto the prepared baking sheet in a single, even layer. Bake for 25 minutes, stirring once halfway through, until the coating is set and the nuts are fragrant and golden.
Cool completely. Remove from the oven and let the nuts cool on the pan for at least 20 minutes. The coating will harden as they cool. Break apart any clusters before serving or storing.
Store. Keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two weeks — if they last that long.

Nutrition (per serving)

Cinnamon Praline Nuts — Something Sweet to Pass Around the Block