RECIPE OF THE WEEK

MA BARKER'S PECAN PIE

This recipe is contributed by my friend and colleague, Julie Nelson....thanks Julie!

Here is what Julie says about her pecan pie: "It's the one I baked for a restaurant in Fayetteville (AR), Coy's Place. It was also requested for Tyson Foods Christmas party one year...that about killed me!! 25 pies in 1 day!!"

3 eggs
2 cups Gold Medal flour
1 c sugar
3/4 c Crisco
1 cup white Karo
1 tsp salt
1/2 stick butter
1/3 c water
1 cup chopped pecans

Mix flour and salt. Add Crisco and cut into flour mixture. Add water and mix together until it forms a ball. Put in 9 inch pie plate.

Beat eggs with mixer in a bowl. Add sugar and beat 30 seconds. Add Karo and beat 30 seconds. Add stick butter and beat 30 seconds. Add pecans and beat 30 seconds. Pour pecan pie mixture into unbaked pie shell. Bake at 350 for 55 minutes. DELISH!!
(Easy way to make the pie crust is in a food processor.)

Good enough to eat.......

What could be better than a homemade double-crust blackberry pie warm from the oven? And just as good is the satisfaction of picking the berries yourself. Today my husband and I spent the afternoon picking blackberries on the 74 acres where our cattle graze. If you've never picked blackberries let me warn you that it is best to wear long sleeves, long pants and gloves to protect yourself from the blackberry vines which are extremely stickery. Besides gathering about a gallon of juicy berries, we also got a little surprise. While we were picking in a very overgrown area where the blackberry vines had grown up and entwined with the branches of a cedar tree, we discovered a baby raccoon sitting at about eye-level getting his share of the warm, ripe berries. He didn't seem too alarmed by us and we moved a little ways from him to give him his space. After a few minutes he moved on to "better pickins'" and so did we. What a sweet surprise from Mother Nature!