bright star

In January of 2012, I set up a new wordpress account, purchased a domain, and declared to my best friend that I was going to return to blogging. The second time I logged in, I was surprised to see that it was already late January… of 2013. Oops. Where did the time go?

My first post, actually, isn’t what you’re reading right now; this is my first public post. My first post was a piece of fiction that I wrote in an attempt to rejuvenate the creative juices that had basically dried out sometime after graduation. Graduating with a degree in something that I had truly loved was exciting; searching for jobs, writing resumes, and editing said resumes over and over again, were not. At some point, writing creatively became a luxury that I didn’t feel that I could afford, and in my mind at that moment, free time was much better spent focusing on strengthening resumes, getting my name out there, and trying to find a job.

I was so, so blessed to actually find a position in a career that I never thought that I would be able to get into. And surprisingly enough, although it has nothing (well, almost nothing) to do with my area of study, it has become something that I have grown very interested in and passionate about.

The main issue holding me back from committing fully to blogging again was the question of capability: was I even capable of producing something that someone out there (aside from my mother) would want to read? After several months of writing only cover letters set to a standardized format, then even more months of writing solely emails and correspondence related to my field, would I even be able to figure out the words that I would need to use in order to put forth an idea that had nothing to do with job experience or federal regulations? This is why the first post on this blog is a private piece, designed to remind me of how far I’ve come, and also a creative/fictional one, to collect and draw me back to the inspiration that had spurred my love for writing in the first place: books.

For my first public post, however, I knew that I wanted to explore something else that I had always loved, but didn’t pursue academically: it’s no secret that I am a big fan of all (good) things culinary. And because Chinese New Year is right around the corner, I wanted to post a recipe that I hope will bring you sweet, health(ier) satisfaction for this upcoming new year.

Almond Brittle

• 1 cup raw sugar
• 1/2 cup melted palm sugar
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 1/2 cups almonds (I like more nuts in my brittle)
• 2 Tbs. butter
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

1. Tear out a large piece of parchment paper and line a cookie sheet with it.
2. Melt the raw sugar, palm sugar, salt and water over medium heat in a large saucepan. Stir occasionally until sugar is dissolved and mixture is brought to a boil.
3. Add in the almonds and stir, frequently, until the candy thermometer reaches 300 degrees Fahrenheit.
4. When the candy mixture reaches 300°, remove from heat and immediately stir in butter, baking soda, and vanilla extract. Stir until evenly coated and combined.
5. Pour at once onto the parchment paper-lined cookie sheet and use two forks to lift and pull the nut mixture into a rectangle. When cool, snap (or slice, like I did) into pieces.