Spiced Pecans

 Once upon a long long time ago, I was helping my friend Eleanor decorate for Christmas. She had this wonderful Santa Claus collection and I was helping her display them. She also had these little gems of pecan deliciousness that were SO hard to resist... I couldn't stop eating them and asked her to quickly jot down the recipe for me.
 Well, cut to about a million years later when Neil, Lea, Katie, and Aniell came over to help me decorate my tree. Neil brought me a little gift bag filled with spiced pecans from his Mom, Mary Beth, (who is a fabulous cook, btw) and I immediately thought of Eleanor and our little Santa decorating night. I quickly looked in my old recipe box, and lo and behold, there was the little scrap of paper that Eleanor gave me that night. How could I have forgotten about this? One taste and you'll be making them every year during your holiday season. They're SO delicious and SO SO easy. You could even make a few batches and fill up little cellophane bags tied with ribbons and give them as gifts, just like Mary Beth does. Thanx to Eleanor for giving me the recipe, and thanx to Mary Beth for the gift! People always love when you give them a home made gift, dontcha think?
They'll love this one too!!

1 lb pecan halves
1 egg white
1 tbs water
1 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon

Beat egg white and water until frothy but not stiff. Set aside.
Mix sugar, salt, and cinnamon.
Pour pecans into egg white. Stir to coat well.
Add sugar mixture and stir carefully until the pecans are covered,
Spread pecans on a cookie sheet.
Bake 40 minutes at 275ºF, stirring every 15 minutes.
Remove from sheet to cool. Store in an airtight container.

Tip:
As far as I'm concerned, the first rule of cinnamon is that there's no such thing as too much. I was about to add more cinnamon to the sugar mixture but decided to go even further and added a tsp of apple pie spice blend. What's not to love?? Also, don't forget the salt. That makes all the difference!!