Cooking 'N Lilly: Pecan Pie

Hey Ya'll! One day I'm going to get better about posting every day or at least every week. Maybe that's what I'll do for the new year. I have so many wonderful new dishes to share with you! I have been cooking up a storm. I just love my time in the kitchen and wish I could be there every day. If anyone has an extra $100,000 or so laying around, I would love to borrow it to help start my very own lunch and coffee shop here in Hilton Village. Just let me know :)

I wanted to give you my Pecan Pie Recipe. Now, I must say growing-up I was never a fan of Pecans, much less Pecan Pies. My grandparents had a small Pecan Farm (The Norman Nut Farm -- no lie, I have the hat to prove it), so we had Pecans on everything. I always wanted Walnuts or Cashews, not trashy Pecans. A few years after my granny died and my grandpa sold the farm, I went to the store to buy my first bag of Pecans -- I couldn't believe what people paid for that "trashy" nut. Pecan is now really my nut of choice for baking and such. I guess I returned to my roots -- somethings are just in your blood and will always be in your blood.

Even after discovering my love for the Pecan, I still was not a fan of the Pecan Pie -- it was too gellie inside. But I did love the top and the pie crust. So I decided to start experimenting. Boy did I strike gold! It still has all the wonderful elements of a great pecan pie, but with all the gellie mess inside. Now being a good southern pastor, my Pecan Pie would not be complete without a little Jack Daniels as well! I hope that you can find a way to put this into your holiday baking, you will be glad you did!

The Pastor's Jack Daniels Pecan Pie

1/4 c. butter
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. dark corn syrup

1/2 c. light corn syrup
4 eggs, beaten
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 a cup bourbon
1 pie shells
1 bag pecan piecs

1 bag whole pecans

Combine butter, sugar and corn syrup. Cook over low heat, stir constantly until sugar dissolves. Let cool slightly -- only one or two minutes -- if you wait too long it will be too gellie. Add eggs, vanilla, salt and bourbon to mixture; mix well. Cover the bottom of the pie shell with pecan peices. Pour filling into shell and top with pecans. Bake at 325 degrees for 50 to 55 minutes. Serve warm or cold.

If you ask me the ONLY way to bake a pecan pie, is with the pecans nicely placed on top. Here's my latest pie ;