Pecan Pie Day

Photo courtesy of Lane Southern Orchards, Ft. Valley, Georgia

Today was a pecan pie day though I didn't actually eat pecan pie.  Truthfully I didn't even see pecan pie, but it was still 

a pecan pie day.   

When I was growing up my favorite dessert was pecan pie.  We only had it once a year at Thanksgiving so I always looked forward to November.   When I was in second grade it just so happened that my elementary school had several large pecan trees on the grounds near where I waited for the school bus.  In October the pecans began to fall so while I waited for the bus I would pick up pecans.  My mother would get home from work and I would beg for a pecan pie.  She finally made a deal with me that if I could bring home enough pecans, crack and shell them, she would make a pie.   The next day the school bell rang and we were dismissed so I ran straight for the school yard to start picking up nuts.   It happened to be a cool and blustery day with overcast skies but no rain.  I won't ever forget it.  It was on that gray and windy day I was scrambling to fill my pockets with as many pecans as possible.  I wanted that pie.  Once home from school I squeezed a pair of the nuts together with all my might to crack one open in order to get to the nuts.  By the time my mother got home, my tiny hands had managed to shell enough pecans for a pie, plus some.   

So when the day is cloudy, windy and the temperatures start to fall like it was today, for me, it's just another pecan pie day.   Guess we'll be having pecan pie this week.