Many years ago when I was my kid’s age I lived in the coastal area of North Carolina and not that far away from our house lived my great grandparents. We would go to visit my great grandparent every so often. I remember their trailer nested between huge homes, The chain link fence and the towering pecan trees in the front yard. When we would visit we would sometimes walk down the boardwalk with my great grandpa or even go to the North Carolina Maritime Museum. There is one thing though that stick out with me more than anything about those visits, the pecans. My great grandma Freda corrected and taught us the proper way to say pecan. It was pronounced like puh-cahn not pee-can because a pee-can was something you kept next to your bed to pee in. There was something that stuck with me more than that gem, picking up pecans. Whenever we would go visit my great grandparents it was my sister, brother and my job to pick up all the pecans that we could. I have no clue how many buckets would end up other than it was a lot. We would always be sent home with pecans too. I remember a pecan pie a time or two also. The thing about pecans though is as a kid I absolutely hated them. I didn’t like pecan pie or cookies with pecans in them… if it had pecans it was not for me.
I don’t know what happened when I grew up but now I love pecans now. Pumpkin pecan ice cream, yes please! Pecans mixed in with the crumb of my sweet potato casserole,yum. Then there are pralines. Oh, sweet pralines! I have always wanted to make my own pralines but they were always a candy I was nervous about trying to make. One day though, I would and I did. They were absolutely perfect and like the pralines I had bought at the store all so many times in the past. I then got this crazy idea. Pralines and bacon, bacon and pralines. After all bacon makes everything better. There is candied bacon and bacon cupcakes and even bacon sundaes. So I made them and they were wonderful, glorious things. My oldest son immediately decided they were a new favorite and my husband wanted more. Needless to say Bacon Pralines have been added to my holiday candy list and I happily share them you for my 3rd day of Homemade Christmas.
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup white sugar
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 cups pecan halves
- 1 cup cooked bacon, chopped
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- In a saucepan over medium heat, combine brown sugar, white sugar, sea salt and heavy cream. Bring to a boil. Stir in butter, pecans, bacon and vanilla. Heat, without stirring, to 240 degrees F or until a small amount of syrup dropped into cold water forms a soft ball that flattens when removed from the water and placed on a flat surface. Remove from heat and let cool 5 minutes.
- Beat until thickened (careful not to over stir), then pour immediately onto cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and cool.
adapted from Allrecipes.com
