Winner of the Cutthroat Tunno Pumpkin Pie Contest and a Killer Pecan Pie Recipe!

Yesterday was my sister-in-law Patty’s birthday. She is one of the nicest humans on the face of the earth and watching her raise her kids showed me the investment of time and love that goes into raising children.  Why do you think I put it off for so long?

I mention her because after many years of either not placing or not baking, she is finally the winner of the CTPPC, and it’s about damned time!

When not baking, Patty is a Pittsburgh Pirates baseball lover- here she is on the Roberto Clemente bridge looking fab.

My nephew Chris did not enter a pie this year, but he has taken the trophy so many times, the glow of victory  can’t possibly burn as bright for him, so it was good that he gave others a chance.  You go Chris! I look forward to going to Patty’s house and just touching the trophy, so I can bask in the afterglow of her victory since I’ve never won it.   Congratulations Patty, you deserved it!

My Thanksgiving was awesome. I got to spend the day with my kids and their friends, cooking and fussing over pumpkins and table settings, which I love doing.  The next day my sweet Brandon came to visit with his wife and little girl and I was in heaven.  We all stood in the kitchen and grazed on leftover turkey with all the trimmings. That’s one of my favorite things to do with family members

We went to the playground, played, talked, then ate a big pasta meal.The next day just whizzed by and as always, it feels like there’s never enough time when we visit. Having them here just made me want to see them more, so I think I’m going to have to do some traveling in the coming year!

I laid on the couch after they left around 6 or 7 and woke up at about 2 am. Then I fell asleep again in what appears to be a Thanksgiving coma, and I’m not sure I’m actually out of it yet. But I’m hoping that maybe by tomorrow I’ll be coherent, and getting over a nasty head cold.  But I can’t rest until I tell you about the pecan pie I made. (Please pardon my poor photo placement, but I had to post these because I’m a proud Franma.)

Esther and Brandon coming down the slide.

Esther drinking out of one of my mom’s espresso cups with her mom, Ingrid watching.

I’d love to take credit for the recipe myself, but it’s my friend Kimberly’s. She’s an amazing cook. She baked a pecan pie back in 2010, which she brought to my house for Thanksgiving and it was the best I’d ever had. (I never forget good food!)

The flavor was wonderful and it had just enough salt to make it amazing. So, I begged her for the recipe. Then I scribbled it down on a piece of paper and lost it for a few years in a massive pile of recipes. (Thank God I write this blog or I’d never know where my recipes were.)

I found it just in time for Thanksgiving and my daughter loved it!  I actually added twice the amount of pecans it called for by mistake, but it was so good, I recommend doing that.  This recipe says it will make two pies, but when I cut it in half, the filling was just barely enough for a regular pie shell.

Some people put chocolate chips or chocolate ganache in the bottom of the crust then pour the filling in over that.  You could do that, but honestly, this pecan pie was really great just plain with a little homemade whipped cream on top!

My pie with Kimberly’s scribbled, stained  recipe beside it.  

Kimberly Swan’s Amazing Pecan Pie (this makes two pies)

[cooked-recipe id=”20422″]

If you make this, please write and tell me what you thought. when I tasted it, I thought it was one of the best pecan pies I’ve ever had because it wasn’t just sweet, it was salty too and that made it delicious!

By the way, I think they’re having a cyber sale at Gettasommadis, my online store, so go check it out. There might be something in there for the Italian in your life.

Now on to Christmas. I think this year, I’ll post some of my favorite Christmas cookie recipes!