season's greetings

one of my favorite parts of this time of year is the sending – and receiving – of christmas cards. a month of getting fun mail everyday? bonzo loves it.

this is our fourth holiday season getting our cards through minted – and i love each year's card even more the last. their quality is great – and the experience is easy and quick.

this year i decided to do a postcard. i thought it would be fun to switch it up – um, and save a few pennies while i was at it. i figured they'd get a a little dinged and inked up in transit but they're postcards, not heirlooms. plus they're so ephemeral, these holiday cards so i didn't really think twice. i set aside a few for keepsakes, of course, and threw the rest in the big blue bin in front of the post office – along with a little caution to the wind!

if you still need to order your holiday cards or think you might want to use minted sometime, you can save $25 off your first order if you let me refer you! (i'm not affiliated with minted nor is this a sponsored post but i just wanted to throw that out there – twenty five bucks is nothin' to sneeze at!)

quick. easy. yummy. pretty.

'tis the season of gifts. big gifts, small gifts, edible gifts – and last minute, easy gifts.

sure, baking cookies is a fun and easy enough stand-by for gift giving but isn't this also the season of too-much-sugar? so instead of going the sweet-route, we're opting to make a favorite, savory recipe and packaging it up cute-as-can-be to hand out when we want to pass a little holiday cheer around.

roasted rosemary cashews
1 1/4 pounds cashews (i buy trader joe's dry roasted, lightly salted organic cashews)
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped rosemary (i'm pretty liberal with the rosemary!)
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt (i skip the salt – or just do a pinch – since the cashews are already salted)
1 tablespoon melted butter (get organic, pasture butter if you can!)

preheat the oven to 375º
place the nuts on an ungreased, rimmed baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes, until they're warm.
meanwhile, combine the rosemary, cayenne, sugar, salt (if using) and butter in large bowl. then remove the nuts from the oven and toss them in a bowl to coat them with all the rosemary goodness. (i like using a big, stainless bowl with a lid.)

they're best served warm and are a perfect thing to make when entertaining or bringing to a potluck or to a hostess. but to package as gifts, i let them cool completely.

once cooled, scoop however-much-you-want into a natural waxed paper bag, tie with baker's twine and  a sprig of rosemary. add a gift tag if you're so inclined. done and done: the perfect little something to give this holiday season!