Mini Pecan Pies

 

I think pecan pie must be my daddy's favorite.  Any kind of pecan pie.  When my sister and I were little, he would buy us the little packaged pecan pies--were they Little Debbies?--that came in tiny tin pie pans.  Part of the charm there was the idea of eating a pie all by yourself.

 

 

These were actually quite easy to make.  I can't remember where the recipe for the pie filling came from, but it is fairly standard.  It is, however, delightfully sweet and nutty, with no corn syrup.  And the mini shape means you get one (or two!) all to yourself.

Mini Pecan Pies

1 box (2 crusts) refrigerated pie crusts (I used Pillsbury)

2 eggs

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 cup light brown sugar

1/4 cup white sugar

1 tbs. all purpose flour

1 tbs. milk

1 tbs. vanilla extract

1 cup chopped pecans

1.  Preheat oven to 350.  

2. Roll out pie crusts until they are thin, but still workable.  Cut out circles using 3.5 inch round cookie-cutter.  Grease two 12 cup muffin tins with cooking spray and press a crust circle into each cup.

3.  In a large bowl, beat eggs until foamy and stir in melted butter.  Stir in brown sugar, white sugar, and flour; mix well.  Last add the milk, vanilla, and nuts.

4.  Spoon one tablespoon of filling into each cup.  Bake 20 minutes (or until down), rotating halfway through baking time. Cool for five minutes in tin. 

 I am looking forward to seeing how Daddy likes this version--perhaps it'll be an improvement even on the Little Debbies!

Our New Home

 Although it has been a few months since we moved in, I still don't feel like our house is "done."  There is, in fact, one whole room that is just stacked with boxes.  But, if I waited until everything was perfect, I would never get this post up, so here we go anyway.

 One of the things we liked most about the house was how open everything was.  The kitchen, dining room, and living room are all open and connected.  We knew that we wanted to be able to put a desk in the living room.  When we lived in our apartment, we originally planned for the office to be a separate room, but we always ended up carrying the laptop into the living room or working at the dining room table.  We don't like being separated, so it works best for us if everything is basically one big space.

 The guest room is still a bit bare.  The furniture belonged to Jordan's grandmother, and it is beautiful.  I really love the old, vintage feeling.  The duvet cover is one I made in college out of a set of sheets!  I am going to use the pillow cases that came with the set to make shams, but haven't gotten around to it yet.

 We really love our home.  We feel blessed to have found one so quickly and just where we needed it.  The move-in process was a real learning experience.  We were very lucky to have both Jordan's parents and my parents come at various stages to help--with unloading, cleaning, painting, and pulling off wallpaper border (nightmarish!)  At some point, I may post some before-and-after photos--the difference some paint makes is really astonishing.

There are still a few things we would like to do--the bathrooms need painting and there is a lot of work to be done in the yard--but I kind of like the fact that it is an ongoing process.  We are growing into our house, slowly making it ours.  It's definitely a nice feeling.