My Thanksgiving Pie - Pecan Pie

Happy Thanksgiving all!

I can't tell you how this tastes yet, as it won't be sliced till after dinner.  But, I sure do like the looks of this pie...

GBD... Golden Brown and probably Delicious!

But how can you not love the cut out of the star of the Thanksgiving dinner, immortalized in pie shell dough.

Actually, I owe a couple of thanks for this. Both the thanks go out to one of my favorite blogs, The Mystery Lover's Kitchen and to one of their contributors.

I've written of them before, 6 merry murderesses who delight in food and murder mysteries.  Always a good read.  But last week they were giving Thanksgiving recipes.


Krista Davis, author of the Domestic Diva Mysteries Series posted this recipe for Pecan Pie.  But, there are a couple twists and turns (red herrings if you will) in the recipe to make this pie stand out from the rest.


BTW, Krista has a new book arriving in the stores on December 7th.


The Diva Cooks a Goose, features recipes and a Christmas themed murder (in-laws and their "surprise" girlfriends... who doesn't ponder murder at this most glorious time of year).


But I digress...
My second thanks also go out to Krista.  On The Mystery Lover's Kitchen blog, Krista is having a weekly feature of making other blogger's favorite Christmas cookies.  I was thrilled when she chose my pecan lace cookies as her first post in the series (and even more thrilled... actually relieved when hers came out so well).  The prize, in addition to the honor was a set of cookie cutters.  Including this turkey!


So, great recipe and I wanted to show off my new toy...


Here's what I did...

First Murder Bourbon Pecan Pie

3 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon instant coffee (Sophie uses Sanka)
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
3 tablespoons bourbon (airline size bottle holds about 4 tablespoons)
2 eggs
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
3/4 cup dark corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups roughly chopped pecans
1 unbaked 9-inch pie shell

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.

Microwave the butter for about 30 seconds and set aside to cool.

In a cup, stir together the instant coffee, cocoa powder, and bourbon until the coffee crystals and cocoa powder are dissolved.

Beat the two eggs in a mixer. Add the brown sugar and cooled butter and beat. Add the corn syrup, salt, and vanilla. Beat to combine all the ingredients. 

Mix in the pecans.

Pour into pie shell and bake 55 to 60 minutes

Did you notice the instant coffee in the recipe.  Can't wait to see how this tastes!


In order to get the turkey look, all I did was roll out the dough a little larger, folded some over in a little decorative border.  I used a second sheet of pastry to cut out the turkeys.  I used an egg wash to make them stick.


Here's a few photos to give you a better idea...

Thanks Krista,  for the recipe and the cutters!

And my friends, I wish that your Thanksgiving offerings to the family table all look this good, and most important, taste just as good as I imagine this will


Happy Thanksgiving

And lest we forget...

Thanksgiving has a complicated origin in the United States. Only occasionally were there presidential proclamations of a national day of thanks prior to the American Civil War. In 1863, President Lincoln proclaimed a national Thanksgiving day. Since that day, Thanksgiving has been observed annually. Likewise, only a month before the attack on Pearl Harbor, in 1941, Thanksgiving became a federal holiday. It is not acoincidence that this most "family" centric of all our holidays has it's origins when we were asking our best and bravest to sacrifice to the fullest measure of devotion. Enjoy your day with your family, make all your friends welcome in your home, and consider for a moment (dare I be politically incorect and ask you to pray for) the people in harm's way who earn our thanks every day.
...