Pecan Pie

I’ve always been one to order the dessert with the most chocolate in it.  So as a child, I picked the chocolate dessert wherever we went.  But my dad usually ordered pecan pie whenever it was on the dessert menu, and when I realized just how much he enjoyed it, I began to get curious about the pecan pie.  I was familiar with lots of fruit pies - berry, citrus, and other pies, but I’d never had a pie that revolved around a nut.

So about a year or two ago, when I decided I’d surprise my dad with pecan pie, I asked my Facebook friends for the best pecan pie recipe.  And one friend was generous enough to share his pecan pie recipe with me.  I tested it in my kitchen and it was pretty easy, much easier than I thought it would be, and looked just as I remembered it from restaurants.

And it’s delicious.

And what’s amazing to me is that these days, my dad says it’s much harder to find a good quality pecan pie in a restaurant that doesn’t have a strange, unpleasant texture.  His current favorite is the pie that I make at home.  And I made it for his birthday celebration yesterday - delicious, of course, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  And a leftover slice for breakfast this morning was a great way to start the day.

So while I’m not going to give away the recipe on the blog, as it comes from someone else, I will say that if you seek out an authentic pecan pie recipe, and not something that sounds mass-produced, you’ll probably be quite satisfied with the result.  Begin with your basic pie crust and take it from there.  

They say every good cook should have signature dishes, and for desserts, we should have a signature pie, cake, and cookie.  My signature pie has always been key lime as it’s probably my favorite pie, but I might just have to take on a second signature pie, the pecan.  It’s that good.  And speaking of key lime pie, in a couple of weeks I’ll be making that as well, and of course I’ll be posting about it.