14 november

today is d.'s birthday.  the highlights?  a new guitar strap.  a song, with a girl on the piano and a boy on the cello.  a science experiment (of sorts) on the driveway.  and pecan pie.  he loves pecan pie.  i love to make pecan pie.  we're a good team that way.

my dad made a really superb pecan pie, and i followed his recipe for years after he passed away.  but my dad's pecan pie had corn syrup in it, and i'd really rather cook without corn syrup whenever possible.  so a few years ago i started looking for an alternative, and i've been making this one ever since.  it's the new family standard.  and i use this pie crust recipe, only i use an entire recipe (we like the crust.) for a single crust pie. 

(and the secret to a super flakey all-butter pie crust - aside from using less water rather than more - is to keep the dry ingredients in the freezer for 24 hours before making the crust.  works like a charm.)

Comments

[erin]

:)
i'm totally trying the pie crust thing. thanks.

[Tonya]

Where did you find the ends for the guitar strap? I've needed to make my son a ukulele strap for months now (so he can wear it like a guitar - he's only two) and need to find some hardware for it.

[chez danisse]

Thank you for the pie recipe. I love pecans and I've thought of making a pecan so many times, but then I start perusing recipes and see corn syrup again and again and think...oh...maybe some other time.

[molly]

our men share a birthday, and my man also got a guitar strap this year - though not a rocking fabric one like that! nope, a camo one from the local music store. but maybe now that i know how long he needs his strap to be, i'll make a quilted one. i'm with tanya - where did you get the ends?