Home (and Homemade Almond Butter)

I finally returned home to Bozeman this past week after a couple of weeks on the road.  I do love traveling–experiencing new places, and old places anew–but Dorothy says it best: there’s no place like home (even when it’s snowing and blowing, in May).  Perhaps it’s because, after decades of peripatetic wandering, I find myself rooting in a place.  I long for this place, this home, when I’m away.

It’s good to be back.

And back in my kitchen, of course.  I hadn’t been home for more than a few hours before I was whipping up a batch of my latest addiction: homemade nut butter.  I was turned on to this deliciousness by Deliciously Ella, who recently posted a recipe for a nothing-short-of-divine Cashew and Vanilla Butter on her website.  I don’t know why I never thought about doing this before; it’s not very difficult, and the final product is so far above and beyond anything you can buy commercially–even the most small batch, organic, raw jars in your local coop don’t hold a candle to it.  Suffice it to say I’m hooked! I opted for an almond variety for my welcome-home treat.

Homemade Almond Butter

Ingredients:
12 oz raw almonds

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit.
• Place almonds in a single layer on a rimmed cookie sheet.

• Toast almonds in the oven for 5 minutes.  Stir, and toast for 3-5 minutes more.  Take them out of the oven the second they turn fragrant, as they can go from lightly toasted to burnt in a minute!
• Let the almonds cool.
• Place the almonds in a food processor and run for 15-20 minutes (it truly does take that long).  Scrape down the sides as needed to facilitate even processing, and as you get toward the last few minutes, begin scraping the bottom too to ensure a uniform smoothness. The photos below show the evolution of the almonds to a melt-in-your-mouth nut butter.

• Store in a lidded jar in the refrigerator.
• Enjoy!