Outside of my new apartment, there is a pecan tree:

Behold.

I actually had no idea this was a pecan tree until my room mate came inside one day and said “So it turns out that tree out there is a pecan tree!” and deposited a couple handfuls of pecans from her hoodie pockets onto the table.  I was surprised – both that a pecan tree existed in the city, and at the actual nut itself.  Some how I’d never actually seen a pecan in its shell before.  I’m not sure how it is I’ve been cooking my whole life and had never seen one:

Pecan in its shell, emerging from its outer casing.

Now, it turns out that pecans are super-expensive this year, we’re talking $12 per pound!  For me, this meant I wasn’t going to be making any pecan pie; $12 is just a little too steep of a price.  However, now that we have a pecan tree in such close quarters, my room mate and I now have it in our heads to collect pecans by hand from our tree and make a pecan pie, “au naturale”.

For the past week we’ve been poking around the tree’s base whenever we’re out with the dogs, collecting pecans by the handful.  We keep a bowl by the door to deposit our goods until we’ve collected enough for our pie.  Most recipes call for 1-2 cups, so I think we have our work cut out for us…but the tree is big, and we have plenty of time.  Besides, we can always make pie for Christmas if Thanksgiving doesn’t quite work out.

A modest supply so far.

Mary Gezo

Formerly of both n00bcakes and !Blog, the two magically become one on Spatialdrift; expect some lazy baking and serious nerditude. Also, I love semicolons.