Mom's Pecan Pie

If you invite my mother over for Thanksgiving, you better ask her to bring a pecan pie. Should you forget, forgo any pecan dessert at all. And whatever you do, do not pick up a grocery-store pie. It would be an insult.

She doesn't mess around when it comes to this pie. I grew up knowing how to spot a good pecan pie from a bad one at a pretty young age. Burnt pecans, too much cracking or the overly gooey are the hallmark signs of a bad pecan pie.

Her pie is pretty delicious. It's the recipe her grandmother, Grandma Peach, used to make. My mom said she's pretty sure it came from one of her cookbooks, but in the way recipes do, as they get handed down, we forget where they originated and remember only where we got them.

That's why I'll call this Linda's Pecan Pie, after my mother who gave it to me. Maybe someday it'll be called Amy's Pecan Pie.

Linda's Pecan Pie

1/4 cup butter

3/4 cup sugar

3 eggs slightly beaten

1 cup white corn syrup

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup chopped pecans

1 pastry shell*

Cream butter; add sugar gradually and cream together until light and fluffy. Add remaining ingredients and blend well. (Butter may clump when the corn syrup is added and that is okay). Pour into uncooked pastry shell. Bake on lower shelf in a moderate oven (375 degrees) for 40 to 45 minutes. Cover edge of pie crust to prevent from browning too much.

For better results start temperature of oven at 400 to 450 degrees then reduce heat after 10 to 15 minutes. Make sure if you do this method to cover the edge of the pie crust or it will burn. This time is part of total cook time above.

The center of the pie may split to vent but will close when the pie cools. Cool completely before serving.

* If you need a basic pie crust recipe, click here.