Aunt Judy's Pecan Pie

I have been taking quite the blogging break. Actually I'm really just pathetic at blogging. It's just not something I'm good at keeping up to date. Anyway. I decided to share my latest interest. Pie. I want to bake the best pecan pie possible! This my friends...is not it. lol But it's a start.

I had big plans to spend my weekend making home made crust and then hand selecting the pecans and turning it all into an awesome masterpiece. Well the best laid plans usually don't happen. We ended up with company on Saturday then grocery shopping Saturday night, church Sunday morning and a trip to visit Brian's mom on Sunday afternoon. So my time was taken up by other things. I ended up grabbing a store bought pie crust and figured I could at least attempt the pie and worry about the 'homemade' crust later.

So here it is...

Aunt Judy's Pecan Pie
*Aunt Judy is Brian's aunt. She is a retired Home Economics Teacher! So she knows what she's doing. She gave me her recipe and some tips.

Recipe:
1 cup whole or chopped pecans
1 cup sugar
1 cup white Karo Syrup
3 eggs
1 T. melted butter
1 T. flour
1/4 tsp. salt

Beat together ingredients listed above minus the pecans.
Place your pie crust into your pie pan. I used the pre made crust so I  just rolled into a glass pie pan. I put a little flour on each side. (the package said to!) Then I poured my cup of pecans into the bottom of the crust. I spread them out so they covered the bottom of the pan. Then I poured the filling over the pecans. Waited a few minutes and the pecans had magically risen to the top of the filling.

Put it in the oven at 350 for about 45 minutes. I placed foil over the crust about 20 minutes into the baking time so it didn't burn.

**I used Wal Marts 'Great Value' light corn syrup only because the shelf was completely empty of Karo brand. I will use the good stuff next time. I've been told the brand of syrup makes a huge difference.

Here's a picture play by play. Well amost...I forgot to take a pic of the filling as I mixed it! oops

The Ingredients

At least it's 'Pillsbury' not 'Great Value'!

Added some flour to both sides.

Poured the filling over the pecans. See how they float up!

Baked. I covered it with foil 3/4 the way through so it didn't burn.

Finished product. Brian said 'It tastes just like Pecan Pie'. lol

This pic is out of whack and I can't get it to look right! ugh

Oatmeal Crispies

Oatmeal Crispies
■1 cup Shortening (Crisco)


■1 cup Packed Brown Sugar

■1 cup Sugar

■2 whole Eggs

■1 teaspoon Vanilla

■1-½ cup All-purpose Flour

■1 teaspoon Salt

■1 teaspoon Baking Soda

■3 cups Quick Oats

■½ cups Finely Chopped Pecans

Preparation Instructions

In a large mixing bowl, cream shortening with both sugars until well combined.

In a separate bowl, beat eggs together. Add vanilla and stir to combine. Add to the shortening/sugar mixture and mix well.

In a separate bowl combine the flour, salt and baking soda. Mix carefully into the egg/shortening mixture until well combined. Now add the quick oats and mix well again. Finally add the finely chopped pecans and mix well to combine.

Divide the dough in half and place each half of the dough onto a sheet of waxed paper. Roll the dough into a log and then wrap it tightly in the waxed paper. Now you can either chill or freeze the dough until later or you can go ahead and slice the dough evenly into cookie rounds.

When you are ready to bake them place them on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes until they are golden brown.

Happy 17th Birthday to Audrey!

French Toast (My favorite thing for breakfast!)

Very simple and sooo good. I use french bread, eggs, milk, pure vanilla extract & oil. Simple. So simple you'll be able to figure it out just by looking at the pictures below!

Now add some butter, syrup and maybe some fresh fruit! mmmmmm

Race Day Taco Salad

This is a typical Sunday afternoon meal. Usually eaten while watching a Nascar race! It's pretty simple for me to fix and not miss too much of the action!

Race Day Taco Salad

1 pound lean ground beef
1 pkg. taco seasoning (any brand)
lettuce (chopped fine)
tomato (diced)
grated cheese
sour cream
avacados
gaucamole seasoning mix
corn chips
salsa or picante sauce

Brown the ground beef and add the taco seasoning as per the package directions. Slice your avacados and place in bowl. I like to mash mine and get them nice and smooth then add the seasoning mix. Set aside.

Next layer a nice big plate with corn chips. Add your meat and other topping items you like. Spoon on sour cream, gauc & salsa. Enjoy and hope Kasey Kahne wins the race!

Recipe Source: me

Baking Tips:
Getting Ready/Equipment
Tips for great baking from the Kraft Recipes web site. These are all so true!



•Don't mess with the basic ingredients, the flour, liquid, salt, fat and leavening in your recipe. Unlike other types of cooking, you must measure your ingredients accurately and have the right tools to do so.


•Dry ingredients are measured in flat-topped measuring cups and are made to be filled to the top and leveled off.


•Liquid measures are usually glass, with more space at the top, and a pour spout. Add liquids to the cup, set it on the counter and look at it sideways, on its own level. Do not substitute liquid and dry measuring cups for one another -your ingredient measurements will be inaccurate if you do.


•Tableware spoons should not be used for measuring since they vary in size.


•For best results use shiny aluminum baking sheets without sides (baked products will brown more quickly on dark-colored baking sheet because they absorb more heat than the shiny type). You can also turn a jelly-roll pan (15 x 10 x 1-inch pan) upside down and use it in place of a baking sheet.


•Prepare baking pans according to the recipe. Cookies with a high fat content may not need to be baked on a greased surface. Remember some non-stick pans can be ruined if you apply non-stick sprays.


•Tip: allow baking sheet to cool completely before reusing.


•Tip: Line baking sheets with parchment paper. The paper will withstand high temperatures without scorching. This makes the baking sheet easier to clean, and you can slide the sheet of parchment with the baked cookies right onto your rack for cooling. However, as they cool you'll need to turn them over to complete the cooling and prevent the bottom of the cookies from getting soggy. **I don't ever leave my cookies on the parchment paper. They get soggy really quickly, even if you turn them.**

•Bake only one sheet of cookies at a time on the middle rack in the center of the oven.


•A wire cooling rack speeds the cooling of cookies, etc. It allows steam to escape from all sides of the baked product so the bottom doesn't get soggy.


•Tip: use a cooling rack with closely spaced wires so cookies have adequate support when cooling.

Something Easy

It's not all homemade around my house. I'm not to proud to support Betty Crocker or Duncan Hines! So this morning we are having some easy & quick muffins, from a mix!

Of course anything with the name 'Cinnabon' in it is bound to be good right?

See. 3 ingredients. Milk, eggs & oil.

Give it a good stir, put in your muffin pans. (makes 12)

Then you add the little topping packet. You can get 1 teaspoon per muffin. Doesn't seem like much but it's just right.

20 minutes later and you've got muffins!