If I had to make a prediction for a 2014 food trend, I’d pick artisan nut butters. Yep, I’m talking $12/jar fancy shmancy nut butters. They might be a blend of different nuts or have special spices and flavors added. Of course, chocolate-hazelnut has been done and people love it. What about vanilla cashew butter or ginger brazil nut butter or cardamom almond hemp seed butter?

So I thought I’d whip up my own batch of trendy nut butter using good ole Texas pecans and chai spices. Making nut butter is so easy. Um, you put the nuts in a food processor and let it whirl around until it turns into nut butter. That’s pretty much it. I liked using pecans because I can get them locally since I live in Houston.  It’s our state tree and everything. Pecan trees, a species of hickory trees, are actually native to the U.S. and our country produces more than 80 – 90% of the world’s supply. So that’s neat, too.

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