Isn’t there some statistic that says three out of four North Americans suffer from some kind of mental illness? So take a look at the three closest people around you. Do they seem “normal”? You know what that means? You’re the crazy one.

I think we’re all a little nuts in our own way, in our own time. I say own it. Fly that freak flag. Break out your neon purple sparkly eyeshadow. Run 15 miles with wind then phone for a ride home. Write a 500 page book and self publish it. Wear a bikini to hot yoga.

And while you’re enjoying your own crazy have a few candied vanilla pecans… because we’re all a little nuts sometimes.

Candied Vanilla Pecans

source: the world wide interwebs

• 4 C or roughly 1 Lb. pecans
• 1 egg white
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 Tbsp water
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 heaping tsp sea salt
• 3/4C vanilla sugar (If you don’t have vanilla sugar, make some. The recipe is below. Or substitute regular sugar and increase the vanilla extract to 1 tsp.)

• Preheat your oven to 250 degrees F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Mix together the sugar, cinnamon and sea salt.
• In a large bowl combine the egg white, vanilla and water. Beat the egg until it’s light and frothy. Stir in the pecans and mix well. Pour in the sugar mixture and stir until all the pecans are coated.
• Dump the mixture onto your large baking sheet and spread the nuts out evenly.
• Bake about 1 hour making sure to stir every 15 minutes and break up any large clumps.
• Cool completely on the baking sheet on a wire cooling rack.
• Once cooled: eat. Like a crazy lady. Then store any left overs in an air tight container or share with all the other lovely crazies in your life.

Vanilla Sugar

source: the world wide interwebs

• 1 vanilla bean
• 2 C granulated sugar

• Slice the vanilla bean and with the back of your knife scrape the seeds into an airtight container with the sugar. Bury the bean in the sugar, give everything a stir and seal tightly. Let the mixture sit for at least two weeks.
• You may replace the sugar so you use it as long as your vanilla bean is still fragrant.
• This sugar is really good as a substitute for regular sugar in iced tea. It would also be good in any sweet baked goods like chocolate chips cookies. Yum…..