Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Pecan Pie

I love the holidays... and really love Thanksgiving.... I love all the traditional holiday favorites, turkey, stuffing, sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes & gravy...I could go on and on... I also love pies...pumpkin & pecan...which is my husbands favorite.  For some reason people seem to think that it is really difficult making a pecan pie, which is so not the case.  It is one of the easiest pies to make.  Just mix and pour, literally it takes longer to heat up the oven, than to get this pie ready to go in.  I have tried several and keep coming back to this recipe off of the Karo syrup bottle.  I made a few adjustments, (added more pecans, and a pinch of salt to the recipe) but the rest is the same as always.  Love , love, love this easy recipe.  Make this for your family today. Enjoy

*Recipe adapted from the Karo syrup recipe


1 cup light Karo corn syrup
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
2 T. melted butter
1 t vanilla
2 cups chopped pecans
pinch of kosher salt
Frozen deep dish uncooked pie shell (or you can use homemade one)

Preheat oven to 350.  In large bowl place corn syrup, eggs, sugar, melted butter, vanilla & pinch of salt.  Mix well using a spoon.  Add pecans mixing well.  Dump mixture into pie shell.  Place on baking sheet and bake for 60-70 minutes.  Remove from oven, let cool and enjoy.

Friday, November 1, 2013

Baked kale chips

I just made Baked kale chips and SCORE!!!! they are awesome :)  I have been wanting to try these for quite some time and so so glad I did... they are crispy crunchy awesomeness... I seriously could probably eat the entire baking sheet full myself..   There are countless ways to dress these up, garlic or onion powder, pinch of cayenne or hot pepper flakes for some heat, your favorite seasonings so delicious.  I used a splash of low sodium soy sauce (so watch sprinkling them with salt) wait till they are done to put any salt on them, cause the flavor intensifies with cooking in the oven. When mine where done I just tasted a few and some were salty enough with the soy sauce others needed a little sprinkle of salt.


**Note, when you put prepare them make sure you take the stems/ribs out of them, or they will not cook all the way through and be tough and chewy instead of crispy.  Also make sure that they aren't touching and are in a single layer or they will not be crispy but soggy and that's NOT what you want. I also used the bag of pre-washed kale but think next time I will just buy a bunch of kale and do my own washing a preparing so that I can have bigger chips.  When you use the pre-washed kale and remove some of the stems/ribs the pieces of kale shrink up and become very tiny. 
Also, if you are using other seasonings add them to the soy sauce/olive oil mixture.  Go sparingly on the olive oil/soy sauce.  If you use too much liquid they will not crisp up in the oven. Enjoy


4 cups kale leaves (tough stems/ribs removed washed and dried)
1 t olive oil
1 t low sodium soy sauce

Baked kale chips

Preheat oven to 350.  In large bowl mix olive oil & soy sauce.  Place washed prepared kale on top of seasoning.  Toss with hands well making sure kale is coated (won't look like enough but it will be fine).  Place chips in a single layer on baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes or until kale is dried and crispy.  Remove from oven, taste then sprinkle very lightly with salt if necessary and eat immediately. Enjoy.