preheat oven to 350ºF rack in middle position, line a 10 x 15" cookie sheet with heavy foil (jellyroll pan works great), having the foil go up the sides, spray foil with cooking sray

cover the bottom of the cookie sheet with a single layer of soda crackers, salt side up, ( you can break them in to smaller pieces to fit if you have to, set cracker lined pan aside

combine butter, white sugar and vanilla in a heavy sauce pan, bring to a full boil over medium high heat stirring constantly, ( a full boil will have breaking bubbles all over the surface of the pan) boil it for exactly 5 minutes, stirring constantly

when times up, pour mixture carefully over the soda crackers as evenly as you can, sprinkle the salted nut pieces over the top,

slide the pan into the oven to bake for 10 minutes, remove the pan from the oven and let it cool on a wire rack, when cookies have cooled all the way, peel off the foil backing and break into ramdom size pieces