Effie's Pecan Pie

By PAMELA BARKER
Oct. 21, 2025

In my life I have been fortunate to experience many great foods by many great cooks. I mean cooks because that is exactly what they were. Yes, chefs have served up creations extraordinaire, too that's another story, for another time.

My mother cooked food steeped in the history of our country...chicken, beef, pork, potatoes and garden fresh vegetables when available. She could take a boneless rump roast and cut it into steaks to match any butcher. Her method was cutting against the grain with knives, kept their sharpest by my Father and his whet-rock. 

Her gravies were beyond compare and she worked magic with any sort of dough. She considered herself a basic cook, and she did not care to tarry in the kitchen. She simply got it done. Because of her culinary style, I did not cook with her, but watched her cook  with admiration. Teaching cooking was not what happened in our  kitchen. However, I did learn through observation. My job was to properly set the table, which I still do. Dinner was family style, with the food placed on the table and passed from one to the other. Table manners were taught and expected around our table. 

There is much I could write about food and my immediate family, but I will stop here and share my first recipe, one of my Mother's favorites, one she got from her mother-in-law, my paternal grandmother. This is a recipe I have never made and will never make, but I honor her, M. Patricia.


EFFIE'S PECAN PIE

Cream together:

1 Cup Karo Syrup
1 Cup Sugar
1/8 Pound Butter

ADD;

2 Slightly Beaten Eggs
1 Teaspoon Vanilla
1 Cup Chopped Pecans

Bake in unbaked pie shell at 200 degrees until done, approximately one hour.

Let cool before slicing.

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