So after eating (and totally falling in love with) the Orange Spice nuts from Sweet Obsessions on 16th Ave by Mcdonald (”they’re heavenly with a glass of cold white wine” the cashier told us and boy was she right!) my friend Anne and I were all of a sudden moved by a desire to make yummy nuts of our own.

The heavens opened up and all the possibilities shone down us: curry nuts, bar nuts, candied nuts, filberts, almonds, cashews. It was all so exciting.

First things first. Step one: What nuts to make.

So Anne had found a drool-worthy recipe in Vij’s cookbook which we decided we had to try. Next some web recipe searches came up with a couple doozies. First, the award-winning Union Square Cafe bar nuts, which mixed sweet (brown sugar) with hot (cayenne) with fat (butter) with salt tossed with some fresh rosemary – we halved the amount of salt in the recipe for the better I’d say. Second, some candied bacon nut mixture that was a smash hit at this New York Times contributor’s wedding. By her account they nearly eclipsed the romantic and momentous event at hand.

Then there were my friend’s spicy maple candied walnuts that get gobbled up in seconds flat come xmas time when she gifts them. The recipe calls for a candy thermometer, maple syrup, brown sugar, salt, cayenne, and cinnamon. The result is a nut covered in fudgey goodness with kick.

We settled on Vij’s nuts and the spicy candied walnuts. But then at the last minute threw in the Union Sqaure nuts – I mean how can you turn your back on the nuts that won the title “best bar nuts in New York” from The New York Press.

Step two. Where to buy nuts.

After researching and chatting to friends we had it narrowed down to Famous Foods over at Kingsway and King Ed and Galloway’s in Richmond.

But then at the last minute someone mentioned that the walnut haves at the sliver of a bulk food store Weigh To Go (3534 41st Ave. at Dunbar; Phone: 604-266-6206) were the best in the city. Sadly for us Weigh To Go threw us a curveball by being closed on Sunday (not entirely shocking given its sleepy location) so we foraged at IGA across the street which worked decently .

Step three. Booze.

We bought some Becks, Brooklyn Lager, and a bottle of the Blasted Church’s fun chirpy white Hatfield’s Fuse as liberal accompaniment.

Step four. Toast and mix and toss and bake (below are Vij’s spicy almonds after coming out of the oven).

Step five. Feast.

Going clockwise from the upper left corner we have: Vij’s spicy toasted cashews, ditto with almonds, spicy candied pecans (that go great chopped up and tossed in a salad with honey mustard dressing), union square magic nuts, spicy candied walnuts.

All of them were winners. The Union Square ones were the easiest but were very much superior fresh.