Pecans, Pecans and more pecans!

We are so blessed to live in rural Georgia.

Laid back, easy pace of life.

I grew up watching Little House on the Prairie and always wanted to be Laura Ingalls. I grew up in the suburbs of Wilmington, Delaware. Nice little neighborhood. But it wasn’t Walnut Grove. We didn’t have Ma making homemade pies sitting on the window to cool or berry picking or fishing for dinner. Those things just looked wonderful to me. Somehow I over looked the fact that in the winter they had to use a bathroom that was 100 feet away from the house and probably smelled horrible, that walking to school every day a few miles would be no big deal, no phones, no close neighbors, nothing really to do when it got dark except read or sew by candle light.

The things we take for granted when we watch a show like that.

But I still love the idea of it all. And living here in a small town I can give my kids just a little of it.

And they can still come home to the x-box and TV and computer and calling friends, blah, blah, blah.

One of my favorite ways of putting a “little House on the Prairie” in our lives is when it’s Pecan season.

Everywhere you look around here, there are Pecan trees (Georgia is the #1 producer of Pecans.) Fields of them grown by commercial farmers, old farm houses with rows and even the yards where neighborhoods were built in old pecan groves.

We’ve always been fortunate enough to be able to pick up other peoples pecans or pick them up at the city park. And I realize that some of the “city folk” might not know a thing about this so I took some pictures when we went picking this last time.

So from the tree to the table (so to speak)

Pecans-From Tree to Table

It’s like a treasure hunt, you spot one among the leaves

Then you find more

This one is a slinky on a dowel, you can fill it up in no time flat!

So you gather all your pecans, we usually only spend a few hours picking them up. And all the kids go with me to do it.

Now you have pounds and pounds of pecans IN THE SHELL.

No way anyone wants to shell all those nuts, so it’s off to get them cracked.

First they weigh them cause they charge by the pound

Then it’s into the cracking machine for our nuts

Oh and just a note-most of the farmer’s pecans are going off to China, probably why the price is so high in the stores

Those giant bags in the background are China bound

Now back home to the kitchen table and time to clean off the shells and dust

So now that we have all these wonderful pecans, what to do with them.

Well, we throw them in everything, stuffing, sausage balls, cookies galore…

Here are 2 easy recipes for a sweet pecan snack when you just need a little something to nibble on. Both recipes come from our old Church cookbook “Feeding the Flock” from Grace Baptist Church.

Bobbie’s Cinnamon Glazed Nuts

1 cup sugar
4 Tablespoons evaporated milk
2 teaspoons water
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups pecans

Mix sugar, milk, water and cinnamon in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring frequently.

Let boil for 3 minutes then remove from heat, stir in vanilla and then pecans.

Coat pecans well.

Pour out on waxed paper and separate quickly.

Let cool and store in air tight container.

Spiced Nuts

1 egg white
1 Tablespoon water
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 cups pecans

In a large bowl combine sugar, cinnamon and salt, set aside.

In a separate large bowl, beat egg white and water together with a whisk until frothy.

Add pecans to egg mixture, coat well.

Pour coated nuts into sugar mixture and coat well.

Spread out pecans on a foil lined baking sheet. Place in a preheated 300 degree oven for 40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes to loosen.

Once cool, store in an air tight container.

I’ve linked up over at Home Savvy A to Z