As I am sitting here in Phoenix at 5:00 AM, wide awake from traveling from the Eastern Standard Time zone, I asked myself how many flights have I been on this year? I counted 21 with 4 more left to go this year. That's a whole lot of air travel.
So I started thinking about when I most enjoyed going to the airport and I remember back to the late 80's early 90's when Beth, Danny and I would have airport field trips. They were young children and a trip to the airport was fun. We couldn't afford to fly anywhere but you don't need a lot of cash to have a great time.
First we would drive to the long term parking. That would guarantee a free shuttle bus ride to the airport. We would marvel at the ticket booths, uniformed staff and all of the shops. Then the kids and I would get to take the escalators to the main floor and we hopped the train to the gates. There were moving sidewalks, people hurrying to their gates - so much to see. We would look at the screens and all of the places that people were going. The flight attendants and pilots in uniform were also intriguing to young children. There were different size planes and we would watch them take off and land. We would talk about what we would see if we were on those planes and where they would land. Sometimes we were lucky and we could get a pair of the junior flight attendant wings. The last stop would be lunch at one of the restaurants and then we headed back home. It was a very inexpensive day trip, learning experience and a lot of fun. Unfortunately with security measures it is no longer an option for young children.
The featured brooch and bangle reminds me of blue skies and flight. As to the recipe it's a stretch but I thought about the nuts you used to get on flights (I haven't seen any lately) and wanted to add a recipe for glazed spiced nuts. I love to put these on salads. One of our favorite salads is romaine lettuce, slightly roasted sliced pears, blue cheese, spiced nuts with a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar on top.
This recipe is from one of my favorite resources
http://www.marthastewart.com/349611/spiced-nuts. Jeff and I always joke around when I get ready to experiment with a new recipe as I will say, "I wonder what Martha has to say?
I would probably substitute cinnamon instead of allspice.
Ingredients
1 large egg white
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 3/4 teaspoons cayenne pepper
2 1/2 cups pecan halves, or assorted nuts, such as cashews,
walnuts, or almonds
Directions
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Beat egg white until soft and
foamy. Combine all remaining ingredients except pecans; whisk into egg white.
Stir in pecans until well coated; spread mixture in single layer onto an
ungreased baking pan.
Bake pecans for 15 minutes, then remove from oven. Using a
metal spatula, toss, stir, and separate nuts. Reduce oven to 250 degrees and
return nuts to bake until medium brown, about 10 minutes. Remove from oven; toss,
and stir again. Place baking pan on wire rack to cool (they will crisp as they
cool). Break up any that stick together.
