What can I say? I'm a lazy blogger. Or a busy blogger. Or an unmotivated blogger.
All of the above.
But that doesn't mean I don't love you. I promise, I will be a better blogger. I mean, I'm coming up on my one year aniversary and I've got all sorts of excitement planned, so I can't bow out now.
But enough of that. Let's get to the good stuff.
Michael and I aren't really Valentines Day people. It's just such a silly fake holiday geared towards buying drugstore chocolates and greeting cards. We don't completely scoff the holiday though. We'll eat a nice meal and Michael might get me a little something. I always make him something good: cookies or candy.
I like to make him something significant to my life. One year I made brigadeiros, a Brazilian chocolate. Sometimes I like to use an ingredient I know he loves, like pecans in the linzer cookies I made him last year. This year I combined both and made a confection of my childhood that happens to have pecans and caramel (a throwback to Michael's favorite pie, pecan).
Pecan pralines are a special Texan treat. In Tex-Mex restaurants, you might get a sopapilla, which is a delicious pillow of fried dough filled with honey. If you don't go that route, at the cashier, there is always a pile of these sugary delights.
This recipe is from my uncle's cookbook "From the Parson's Table." It's always a great resource for recipes of my childhood.
The players:
Butter, milk, corn syrup, sugar, salt and baking soda.
Bring these to a boil:
Chop up a cup of pecans.
Add them to the boiling mixture:
And try really hard not to let the mixture boil over in your too-small saucepan. Note to self: get a larger saucepan...
Heat until the mixture reaches 235˚. It took a long time for me because I had to stir so much, and keep the heat low to avoid boiling over. With an appropriately sized pot, it shouldn't take too long.
Off the heat, stir in the vanilla.
Spoon the mixture onto parchment or wax paper, and let cool.
Because of the humidity, my pralines didn't harden. In the end, I put them in the freezer for a few hours, and that did the trick.
They were delicious. Not exactly the pralines of my childhood, but still very tasty.
The Parson's Pralines
2 c. sugar
1 c. milk
2 Tbs butter (Uncle Dave says margarine, but that's not how we roll)
2 Tbs corn syrup
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
1 c. chopped pecans
Mix all ingredients but the pecans and vanilla in a sauce pan. Bring to a boil. Stir in the pecans and continue to cook to 235˚. Remove from heat and beat in the vanilla as the mixture cools. Spoon out on wax or parchment paper to cool and harden.
By the way, this would be a fantastic end to a homemade Mexican meal. Even better crumbled up over vanilla icecream!
Enjoy!
Playing,
Meredith
1 comments:
Those look good. Nice way to celebrate in your own style.
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