My first Pecan Pie.

In my opinion, my mother is basically the best baker in the world. Ok...best cook in the world. One of my goals in life is to become as sufficient of a cook as she is. She had no formal training, she has never worked in a restaurant, and she has never written a cookbook. However, she grew up in a family where cooking was very important. She learned to cook mostly from her Granny (her father's mother) in a tiny little house in the middle of the country. She has told me that she attributes the basis of her cooking skils to her Granny. Don't be mistaken though, my mother's family is full of good cooks, including my mother's mother, and my mother's sister.

She was allowed to help out in the kitchen as much as she wanted, and was able to explore her creativity as well. That resulted in, in my opinion, a very well rounded cooking ability. My mom can cook, she can bake, she can grill...and so on. When I was a kid cooking was one of my favorite things to do with my mom (although sometimes I know I got in the way). My mother allowed us to explore our creativity in the kitchen as well, and I am very thankful for that. I will never be one of those girls that is terrified of getting married and having to cook for her husband everynight. I already cook for my boyfriend about three times a week, and it is one of my favorite things to do.

When I was growing up, I would always come home to some type of baked good after school. This is partly attributed to my father's immense "sweet tooth" and partly due to my mother's love to cook for others. Thank goodness. There would be chocolate chip cookies, german chocolate cake, lemon meringue pie, brownies, peanut butter cookies, etc. However, the biggest staple in my mother's sweet "repertoire" was her pecan pie. It was undoubtedly my father's favorite, and it took many years for her to fine-tune the recipe to his exact taste. She came up with what he thought "was the perfect pecan pie". Of course I helped my mother make this when I was little, but I have always wanted to master it on my own.

I took the first step and made my very first pecan pie from my mother's recipe, all by myself.

However, I am in college so some of my supplies were limited. I think it turned out pretty well though.






The crust was a little off, but I have a valid excuse. I am in college and since I do not have a rolling pin I had to use an empty wine bottle to roll out my crust. Yes, you heard right. It tasted great though, and I guess that is the important part! I wouldn't say it was perfect, but I'm still pretty proud :)

Jane's Pecan Pie

1 c. brown sugar
2 Tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 c. karo syrup
1/4 c. butter (melted)
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 to 1-1/4 c. pecans

Mix brown sugar, flour and salt. Add karo syrup, butter, eggs and vanilla. Mix well. Stir in pecans. Pour in unbaked pie shell and bake in preheated 300 deg to 325 deg oven for 45 min to 1 hour.

For chocolate pecan pie, place just enough semi-sweet chocolate chips to cover bottom of pie shell and then pour in filling. Most recipes say to cook at 350, but I always cook my pies at a lower degree than normally called for to prevent the crust edges from burning, so time is approximate.
Copyright Jane Jenkins

Store bought crusts are OK, but I think it greatly takes away from the yumminess of the pie. I used a basic Betty Crocker Pie Crust.


xoxo Mikayla