Pecan Pie Bars

Once again, Robin comes through. She brought these treats made using her SIL’s recipe to a family gathering and we all lost our minds.

Crust:

• 2 c. all purpose flour
• 1/3 c. sugar
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 3/4 c. cold butter, cubed

Filling:

• 4 eggs
• 1.5 c. corn syrup
• 1.5 c. sugar
• 3 Tbsp. butter, melted
• 1.5 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2.5 c. chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350ºF.

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar and salt; cut in cold butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Press into a greased 15x10x1-in. baking pan. Bake 20 minutes.

In a large bowl, whisk eggs, corn syrup, sugar, melted butter and vanilla. Stir in pecans. Spread over hot crust.

Bake 25-30 minutes longer or until filling is set. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack. Cut into bars.

Yields: 4 dozen

How to dry basil

A friend is growing basil and asked about drying it. Here is my tutorial. You can use these instructions for any fresh herbs you choose to grow.

Pick it above a node where new leaves are forming. You will get new stems there.

This is a good size. It can be taller. You don’t want to pick it much sooner. But, I do try to pick it before it starts to make flowers and, soon after, seed. (Called bolting for serious newbies.) Bolting doesn’t stop me. I just try to stay on top of it so I don’t risk running out before I can get fresh next year. And, the more you pick, the more it grows.

This is a good size bundle for drying. Bigger doesn’t get enough airflow and it rots. (Voice of experience. I tried lots of things just see if or how they worked. Most don’t.)

Tie the bundle together by the stems.

Hang them upside down. (VoE: if you try hanging them like they grow, they rot.) Let them hang until dry. It can take 2 to 4 weeks, depending on humidity.

When it’s dry, I pick the leaves off the stems and give ’em a spin in our little food processor.

This is what came off of about 4 stems.

This is what it looked like after a spin in the food processor.

Then, I store them in a jar I saved. Some people have mortars and pestles for this purpose. I’ve also just stored them mostly whole (allowing for breakage as I clean leaves off the stems) and crush them in my hands before dropping the roughly broken leaves in the pot.

This is some oregano I prepped from my garden next to the container of what I had bought from the grocery. I have since dumped the brown and repurposed the container for my own product.

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If you want to simply use fresh leaves in a dish, I do this:

Pick as many individual leaves as suits you

Stack them on top of each other and roll them up

Slice the roll. I tend to try to slice pretty thin.

Sometimes, I use the “strings”. Sometimes I give a couple of extra sideways cuts.

Porch Rocker cocktail

Recipe from the Pimento Tea Room in Holly Springs, NC.

Make ginger syrup by slicing a piece of ginger about the size of your thumb into thin pieces and steep it in a cup of sugar and a cup of water. Let it come to a boil and then turn off the heat and leave it alone until it’s cool enough to transfer to a clean container. Store in the fridge.

In an iced tea glass, combine

1 oz bourbon

0.5 oz ginger syrup

Give it a good stir. Fill the glass with ice. Top with tea.

Watermelon Sangria

My sister sent me this recipe via Instagram. I have modified it for my own convenience.

1 bottle of bubbly wine (usually Prosecco but Cava is fine)
1 c. Fresh watermelon juice
3-4 oz White Rum
1 oz Orange Liqueur
1 oz Simple Syrup
1 oz Brandy

Mint for garnish

Mix everything but the wine together, add a shot (more or less) to your wine glass, top off with Prosecco. Twist a mint sprig and drop it in. Or use mint infused simple syrup. Or both.

For the record, a medium sized melon made 6 cups of juice.