Thanksgiving was wonderful.  Ben and I traveled to my sister’s house in Dallas to spend the holiday with my parents, my 3 sisters and their husbands, my nephew, cousins and their husbands,  their kiddos, my aunt and uncle and grandpa.   We had 19 people for lunch on Thursday, and it was so great to have so many people there.  It’s getting harder and harder for all of us to get together now that everyone is moving to all ends of the country and having kids.  So, this was a special Thanksgiving.  The food was incredible and included a cornucopia of turkey, dressing, cranberry sauce, green bean and mushroom casserole, balsamic roasted sweet potatoes, sauteed carrots and fennel, and flaky rolls.

Dessert is a favorite part of the meal.  Pies are the traditional Thanksgiving dessert in our family.  This year we had apple streusel, pumpkin, and cinnamon custard pies, a gingerbread pear tart, and a chocolate chip pumpkin bundt cake.  We did not make a pecan pie for Thanksgiving day, but I just couldn’t stand not having a piece this year.  So we made one after Thanksgiving…not that we really needed any more pie, but a little extra pie never really hurt anyone.

This is the recipe that my Grandma June always made, and it is the best pecan pie ever.  I use whole pecans because it looks prettier and I like getting a big pecan in a bite instead of some chopped up pieces.  This does make the pie incredibly difficult to cut a pretty piece from.  But it looks beautiful on a holiday table and by the time people start devouring it, no one cares what it looks like.

Grandma June’s Pecan Pie

• 4 tablespoons butter
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 3 eggs beaten
• 1 cup light corn syrup
• 1 1/2 cups whole pecans
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 steaspoon vanilla
• 1 unbaked pie shell

1. Beat butter and brown sugar until creamy.
2. Mix in eggs, corn syrup, salt and vanilla.
3. Put pecans into pie shell, then pour filling on top.
4. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.
5. Let cool before cutting.
6. Serve with sweetened whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.