Slow-Cooker Spiced Mixed Nuts

The community screening — the spring session. I went. Not to run it — Brian runs it now, has for two years, runs it beautifully. I went to volunteer. To hand out toothbrushes. To stand in the Madison community center where I got vaccinated, where I rented my first commercial kitchen, where 104 people showed up and then 134 and then 140, and to just: be there. As a volunteer. As a member of the community. As the woman who started it and the woman who left it and the woman who came back — not as the leader but as the help.

148 people came. ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-EIGHT. The program that I started with forty-seven and left at 134 is now at 148. Without me. The growth continued. The program continued. The toothbrushes continued. Brian runs it and Wanda volunteers and the dental practice funds it and the community shows up and the showing up is the program and the program is bigger than any one person. That's the success. That's the measure. I started something that outlived my involvement. I started something that GREW after I left. That's the best ending a founder can have: the thing you built doesn't need you anymore. And it's not an ending at all.

Amira was there. Fifteen now. High school sophomore. Tall, confident, the braids replaced by a natural style that suits her. She saw me and she ran — actually RAN — across the community center and hugged me. "MS. SARAH!" The hug of a teenager who remembers the woman who gave her a toothbrush when she was eight and who said, "You can be anything." She said: "I'm taking AP Biology. I'm still going to be a dentist." AP Biology at fifteen. Dental school track. The girl who wanted to be like me is becoming better than me. She's becoming the thing I showed her was possible: a person who helps. A person who cares for teeth and people and the community that needs both. Amira doesn't need me anymore. Amira has her own trajectory. The showing was the gift. The trajectory is hers.

I drove to the restaurant after the screening. From the community center to Gallatin Pike. From toothbrushes to cornbread. From the old career to the new one. From the woman who started something to the woman who's building something else. The driving is the transition. The driving is the bridge. Every bridge I've ever crossed has been in the front seat of a car: the Altima to Harmony Dental, the RAV4 to Sarah's Table, and today, the RAV4 from the screening to the restaurant, from the volunteer to the owner, from the woman who gives away toothbrushes to the woman who gives away cornbread. The giving hasn't stopped. The giving just changed form. The toothbrushes became cornbread. The dental chair became a counter. The community center became a restaurant. Everything changed. Nothing changed. The giving is the constant. The giving is the whole thing.

Driving back down Gallatin Pike after the screening, I kept thinking about what it means to give something away — a toothbrush, a hug, a plate of cornbread, a word that sticks with a kid for seven years. That’s what I reach for in the kitchen when I want to feel that same fullness: something I can make in a big batch, something warm and aromatic, something I can hand off in a bag or a bowl without a second thought. These slow-cooker spiced mixed nuts are exactly that — the kind of thing you set going in the morning and by afternoon the whole restaurant smells like cinnamon and something good is happening. You make them to give them away. That’s the whole point.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 2 hours 30 minutes | Total Time: 2 hours 40 minutes | Servings: 16 (about 1/4 cup each)

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups raw pecan halves
1 1/2 cups raw cashews
1 cup raw almonds
1 cup raw walnut halves
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (adjust to taste)
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Combine the nuts. Add all four varieties of nuts to a 4-quart or larger slow cooker. Toss briefly to distribute evenly.
Make the spice coating. In a small bowl, whisk together the melted butter, maple syrup, cinnamon, cumin, cayenne, smoked paprika, salt, and vanilla extract until fully combined.
Coat the nuts. Pour the spice mixture over the nuts and stir thoroughly until every nut is well coated. Spread them into as even a layer as possible.
Slow cook, stirring often. Cook on LOW for 2 to 2 1/2 hours, stirring every 30 minutes. The nuts are ready when they are fragrant and the coating looks dry and slightly caramelized around the edges.
Spread and cool. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Transfer the nuts to the sheet and spread them into a single layer. Let cool completely, at least 20 minutes — they will crisp up as they cool.
Store or share. Once fully cooled, transfer to an airtight container or divide into small bags for gifting. They keep at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.

Nutrition (per serving)

Slow-Cooker Spiced Mixed Nuts — The Giving Is the Constant