Simple Pecan Pie

This is my father-in-laws favorite dessert. He came for lunch today, so we just had to have Pecan Pie.

1 pie crust (either from scratch or The Great Value brand is awesome for store bought)
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups of sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup cairo syrup
3 tablespoons of butter, melted
1 1/2 cups of clean shelled pecans

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Place your pie crust in pie plate. Make the edges thick as possible and pretty. I like to roll mine under and then crimp them with my finger tips.

In a small glass bowl, nuke your butter in the microwave to melt it. (Try not to blow it all over the microwave like I usually do)

In a mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar, syrup, and vanilla.

Whisk in melted butter.

Spread pecans in bottom of pie crust.

Pour mix over the top of pecans.

Bake in oven for about 45 minutes.

To check for doneness, giggle pie plate on oven rack. If the center moves, it's not done. Let it cook a few minutes more. Every ones oven is a little different so just keep an eye on it. Sometimes if it needs a little more I will set the timer for like 3 minutes, so I won't forget about it.

And this is what the pie looks like after you husband cuts it before you take a picture.

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Beef Bourguignon or close to it

I am a food network junky. I love to watch it. Well, how surprising is that when I really like to eat good food also.


Do you watch the food network? Who's your favorite Chef?

I really enjoy watching and cooking the recipes of the Barefoot Contessa, Ina Garten. I have three of her cookbooks. You can find things from Christmas dinner to snacks that are delicious. Most of all her recipes are simple and only use few ingredients.


My husband took me to see Julie & Julia. I LOVED it. I had heard about Julia Childs but did not really know who she was. The movie was really inspiring for me. I wanted to go home and cook something really hard and really good.

I jumped on the Internet to find a Julia Childs cookbook. Guess what? So DID EVERYONE else. They were not to be found, unless you wanted to spend like 50 bucks or more. So, instead I went to the Barefoot Contessa.

The first time I cooked this I used a roast. But for supper tonight, I only wanted to cook it for an hour, so I adapted the recipe as follows.

Beef Bourguignon Stew.
1 pound of stew meat
salt and pepper
olive oil
1/4 lb diced bacon
1 garlic clove, minced
1 cup of dry red wine
1 can beef broth
1 tablespoon of tomato paste
1/2 tsp thyme
1 large onion, cut to chunks
small bag baby carrots
3 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoon of flour
1 pint mushrooms

In a large dutch oven, brown the stew meat in olive oil. Use high heat. Remove to plate. It's should not be completely cooked. That's okay.

Add bacon and cook through. Remove to plate. Remove all dripping except about 2 tablespoons.

Add garlic and saute for a minute. Pour in read wine and beef broth. Make sure to scrap bits off bottom of pan. This makes it taste so much more yummy.

Add tomato paste. Bring to boil and let reduce for a minute or two.

Add beef, bacon, carrots, onions, salt, pepper, and thyme.

In a small bowl mash together 3 tablespoons of butter and 2 tablespoons of flour. Once combined add to beef mixture.

Stir to mix well. Cover with lid and let simmer for 30-45 minutes. Cook until meat is fork tender (pulls apart easily).

When almost done, saute mushrooms with 1 tablespoon of butter and oil until tender and brown. Add to beef mixture. Serve.

This is what's for supper tonight

Let me know if you try it and what you think.

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