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Southern pecan pie
Cullen Harper photo
Chocolate pecan pie.
This recipe was entered in Tundra Telegraph's Great Alaskan Recipes contest. When I was 12 years old our family suffered the shocking loss of a loved one. It was a terrible time for my family but the community pulled together and helped us through the mourning process by bringing food over to our grandmother's house. I thought bringing comfort through visiting and food to a family after a loss was a "Southern thing," but after living in Alaska and learning of the potlatch traditions I discovered that this gesture probably spans across many cultures. One of the dishes brought to my grandmother's house was a chocolate pecan pie made by Laura Sutherland, my brother's Sunday school teacher. I don't remember the pie on that occasion but my mother will never forget it. After asking my mom about how she acquired the recipe, she recalls that it was brought over warm and was so delicious that she just had to get the recipe. Over the years this pie has managed to become a family favorite. As a a matter of fact, I cannot remember a Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner that did not end with chocolate pecan pie as the grand finale! Fast forward 15 years: As a fresh college graduate in need of a job and an adventure, I moved to Alaska in the year 2000. Late in the summer I began working at Alaska Children's Services as a treatment counselor. One would think that my biggest challenge on the job was supervising emotionally disturbed youngsters, but really I considered that the easy part of my job. The hardest part for me was cooking for a large group of people. I had never done that before and was terrified that the residents or my co-workers would not like what I had prepared. After many failures and successes in the kitchen I got over my anxiety and began to enjoy cooking for others. My first Thanksgiving away from home was soon approaching and I decided that I would attempt to make chocolate pecan pie to remind me of home. I just could not imagine my first Thanksgiving away from home without it! I had no experience baking pies but my mom assured me that it was just like the saying, "easy as pie." Surprisingly, it was just that easy. One bowl, hand mix, and pour it into pie shells. I was really excited to make my pie making debut at work but unfortunately it was lost in the sea of pies as everyone did their part to make sure there was plenty of food for the residents. It got eaten the next day or so but I never heard anything more about it. Luckily, I had been invited to a friend's house for Thanksgiving dinner that evening after I had worked my shift. I was determined to make a good impression, so I let them know that I would be there with homemade Southern chocolate pecan pie for dessert. Needless to say, it was well received and is now considered customary that when I attend a holiday dinner I provide the sweet ending to a great holiday. Directions: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix by hand in a large mixing bowl: 1 cup light Karo syrup Pour mixture evenly into two pre-made pieshells. Bake at 350 in oven for 45 minutes. I suggest that you cover the pies with foil until the last seven minutes or so. A good indication that they are done in the middle is when they begin cracking on the top. If you cut the pie to serve and it seems runny in the middle, you can serve it over vanilla ice cream as a topper. Live and learn! Cullen Harper, Anchorage
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