Pecan Valley Pecans

1 9-inch pie shell; unbaked
1½ cups granulated sugar
¼ cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cups fresh strawberries; chopped
1 cup Pecan Valley Pecan Pieces
1 tablespoon unsalted butter or margarine

1. Preheat oven to 375ºF.
2. In a bowl, combine sugar, flour, nutmeg and cinnamon. Add strawberries and pecans; toss gently. Line pie plate with bottom crust. Add filling; dot with butter. Top with a lattice crust.
3. Bake in a preheated oven for 50 minutes or until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly.

1 9-inch pie shell; unbaked
3 eggs
Dash sea salt
1 cup light brown sugar; firmly packed
1 teaspoon flour; heaping
1 cup Karo light corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla
Pecan Valley Pecan Halves
Whipped Cream

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF.
2. In a large mixing bowl combine eggs, salt, brown sugar, four, corn syrup, vanilla and pecans until smooth. Pour into pie crust. Top with whole pecan halves.
3. Bake in a preheated oven for 1 hour or until filling is almost set. (It should jiggle a little.) Cool completely before cutting. Serve with generous amounts of Whipped Cream.

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup unsalted butter; cooled
1 pinch sea salt
1 large egg

1. In a large bowl, combine the sugar, cooled butter and salt.
2. Add flour 1 cup at a time and mix.
3. Add 1 egg and mix well but do not overwork.
4. Divide the dough mixture into two portions two-thirds and one-third parts of the dough. Let the dough rest in a refrigerator for at least 2 hours, overnight if possible. Roll out the ⅔ portion of dough until its 13 inches in diameter. Place this layer in a buttered 10-inch pie plate. Leave any excess dough hanging over the edge of the plate. Place this dough in the refrigerator. Roll out the ⅓ portion of dough until its 11 inches in diameter. Refrigerate on waxed paper.

Yield: 1 10-inch pastry shell

2 cups flour
⅓ pound butter, at room temperature
2 egg yolks
2 tablespoons sugar
Grated rind of 1 lemon
Pinch of salt

1. Put the flour in a mixing bowl, make a well in the center and add the remaining ingredients.
2. Mix the center ingredients with the fingers of one hand or a pastry blender until blended. Quickly work in the flour. Add a small amount of ice water if neces­sary to moisten the dough so it can be gathered into a ball.
3. Wrap the dough in wax paper and chill 1 hour. Roll out the pastry, fit it into the plates and bake on the bottom shelf of a preheated 450ºF oven until brown, about 15 minutes.

Yield: 6 tart shells, or 2 9-inch pie shells

1 9-inch pie shell; unbaked
1 cup cooked sweet potatoes
3 eggs
½ cup dark brown sugar; firmly packed
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
¾ cups half and half
½ teaspoon ginger
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon sea salt
½ cup Pecan Valley Pecan Pieces
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
4 tablespoons brown sugar; firmly packed
Whipped Cream

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF.
2. Put the sweet potatoes through a vegetable ricer. Set aside.
3. Beat the eggs with the brown sugar, and butter until smooth and light.
Beat in the half and half, the sweet potatoes, ginger, cinnamon, salt and the pecans. Turn into the pastry shell.
4. Make the topping by beating 4 tablespoons butter, 4 tablespoons flour and 4 tablespoons brown sugar together. Sprinkle over pie filling.
5. Bake until the top is golden brown and the pie firm, about 40 minutes (a skewer inserted in the center of the pie should emerge clean.) Serve with slightly sweetened Whipped Cream.