Representative J. Arthur Younger's "Minted Nuts"

Did I need to recreate two nut-based dishes in the span of three weeks? I don’t know, that’s just how it crumbles sometimes. Let people get their innuendos and wordplay out of their system. First it was Mitch McConnell’s Nut Pie, now it’s Minted Nuts.

Was I just basing my choices off of my excess walnuts? Maybe.

Not really though, there is no such thing as “excess walnuts.” In reality, this recipe was one I was eyeing up closer to Christmas, but then I spent Christmas with a norovirus and couldn’t lift my spirits up enough to mint any nuts. Too busy throwing up like George H.W. Bush at a Japanese dinner.

J. Arthur Younger

Republican Representative from California

Favorite Food/Homespun Recipe: Favorite

Notable:

having a highway named after him…okay that’s pretty much every congressman

Quotable:

“Art was a person of firm opinion and absolute integrity.” — Rep. Glenard Lipscomb

As always, I followed the recipe word for word, no alterations:

INGREDIENTS

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

1 tbsp light corn syrup

1/8 tsp salt

6 marshmallows

1/2 tsp peppermint flavoring

3 cups walnut halves

INSTRUCTIONS

1) Cook together slowly the sugar, in the water, add light corn syrup, and salt.

Be careful when measuring salt — iodized table salt and kosher salt are quite different. The ratio I used, imagining Younger went with table salt, which I don’t have at home, is 1.25: 1 kosher-to-table.

2) Cook until it forms a soft ball in water or 230 degrees with candy thermometer.

Intelligent TikTok followers pointed out that I was looking for a soft ball when I actually should be seeking the soft ball stage. In this step, that is not clear to me. Is it clear to you? Are you some sort of candy expert?! What I actually needed to do is drop a spoonful of the hot syrup into a bowl of very cold water, swirl it around until it easily forms a ball in the cold water but flattens once pulled out. Was this clear in the directions? No. I blame myself, of course, but I’d like to blame J. Arthur Younger more, mostly because he cannot defend himself due to his being dead.

3) Remove from fire and add 6 marshmallows.

4) Stir until melted. Add peppermint flavoring and walnut halves.

Peppermint flavoring always makes me think of Listerine, and sometimes, I can’t get it out of my sense memory. Maybe these nuts will reset my associations.

5) Stir until every nut is coated. Cool on unglazed paper.

“Globs” would be the appropriate measurement for this once all the nuts are coated.

Voila! If you want to actually watch me attempt to eat it, go to the Cookin’ with Congress Instagram or TikTok. Don’t mind this, it’s just a bowl of frosted walnuts. The mint smell faded slightly overnight, remaining present but not overwhelming. There was plenty of paste to spare as I broke up the. nuts and plated them for this American photograph. I could already tell the texture might be an issue…

Verdict:

Chalky. Colgate flavored walnuts, anyone?