Pecan Chocolate Chip Pie --- Stacy Ahlden Connor Recipe

          Some moments just break your heart.  I am beginning to realize that as the ones we love grow older, these moments become more frequent and painful.  These difficult moments tear at the edges of my heart and remind me once again that Grams is getting older, and there is nothing I can do to stop it.  At six o’clock this morning, Grandma Ahlden was dressed up and sitting on her porch waiting to be picked up by a friend.  Grams had either imagined a story in her mind, or misinterpreted something said that led her to believe that she had plans for a day out with a friend.  She had dressed herself in a nice outfit and carefully curled her hair.  She was cheery and excited about the fun day she thought was taking place.  My mom had to gently explain to Grams that she was incorrect or confused and didn’t have plans to go out with a friend today.  My mom felt bad having to see Grams in this state, and Grams felt silly that she had made a mistake then sad that she wasn’t going to have company.  It just broke everyone’s heart a little bit.  So, this whole ordeal called for an Amber/Grams day, or more specifically a Pecan Chocolate Chip Pie day!

          Last Christmas I decided to make a pecan pie from scratch.  Pecan is my brother’s favorite type of pie, and I thought it would be a nice welcome back to Illinois treat for him.  Boy, I had no idea what I was getting into!  Making pie crust from scratch is a heck of a lot of work.  I swear it wanted me to do something different with it every half hour all day.  My brother’s pie turned out delicious, and now I can say that I have made a pie and pie crust from scratch, but I don’t intend to do that again any time in the near future (Sorry, Adam).  It did make me feel very Susie Homemaker for a day though.  Because of this all day baking experience, I had put off making any of the pie recipes in the Ahlden Cookbook that had the word ‘pie’ in the title.  Luckily for me, Stacy Connor also doesn’t want to spend the entire day making dough, and shared a recipe that instructs to BUY an unbaked pie crust.  The sly part is that no one who eats your pie has to know whether or not you made your crust or bought your crust.  Buying a pie crust reduces the time it takes to prepare the pie, and allows more time for eating and enjoying your pie.  

           Personally, I have always been a fan of the classic pumpkin pie, no cool whip required.  Grandma Ahlden prefers cream pies.  She mostly enjoys digging into a slice of coconut cream or banana cream pie.  She was also pretty impressed by the modern invention of the store bought pie crust.  We talked for a while about making dough for breads and pies.  Grams remembers her mom, my Great-Grandma Manssen, making homemade bread.  Grams said that her mom’s fresh, warm bread is one of the most delicious things she has ever tasted.  Taking it out of the oven and eating it soon enough that the butter melts across the bread is like a slice of heaven in a country kitchen.  For most of us, our version of “homemade bread” is a store-bought dough mix that is placed into a bread maker.  More homemade than a loaf of bread picked up at the grocery store, but certainly not as homemade, or mouth-watering as the bread that came out of Great-Grandma Manssen’s oven.

          As a lover of chocolate and a fan of pecan pie, I think these two make a perfect pair.  If you like to eat chocolate turtles, you will LOVE this pie.   It literally tastes like a turtle in the pie form.  My mom, being truly dedicated to desserts, decided to put a dollop of vanilla ice cream on her pie.  She called it the Turtle Pie Ala  mode.  What a brilliant woman!  I was avoiding all recipes with the word ‘pie’ in them, but this pie was actually simple.  It was easy, fast, and still tasted scrumptious.  I think preparation time only took about seven minutes.  Another hit for the Ahlden Cookbook!   Now that Grams and I have eaten our mid-afternoon dessert, we are going to take a shopping trip to The Gathering.  I am sure we will come home with a new treasure and an appetite for another piece of pie.  Sometimes a girl just needs a fun day out with her friend, and apparently today was that day for Grams.  

Pecan Chocolate Chip Pie—Stacy Ahlden Connor

3 eggs

1 cup light corn syrup

1 cup sugar

2 Tbs. margarine, melted

1 t. vanilla extract

1/8 t. salt

1 cup pecan halves

½ cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 unbaked pastry shell

Beat eggs slightly in a medium bowl; blend in corn syrup, sugar, margarine, vanilla, and salt.

Stir in pecan halves and chocolate chips, pour into pastry shell.

Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.

Reduce temperate to 350 degrees, bake for 25 to 30 minutes more or until browned and puffed across top.

Cool; garnish with whipped cream and pecan halves.

Note from Stacy: This pie is totally delicious!  However, usually there is more than enough filling for one pie, so don’t be surprised when it does not all fit into the pastry shell.  Also, I bake on a cookie sheet so if any boils over, you don’t have a mess in the oven.