Happy Thanksgiving, with Butter Pecan Tartlets

Recipe from "Land O Lakes, Treasury of Country Recipes"

Makes 3 dozen (I only got 2 dozen, but I wanted to make sure the shells were thick enough and wouldn't break on removal)

Tart Shells:
1/2c butter, softened
1/2c sugar
1 egg
1 tsp almond extract
1 3/4 c flour

Preheat oven to 400. Combine tart shell ingredients, beat at med speed till crumbly (2-3 min). Press 1 Tbsp of the mixture into mini muffin pans and form shells. Bake for 7-10 min or until very lightly browned. Remove from oven. Reduce temp to 350.

Meanwhile...
Filling:
1 c. powdered sugar
1/2 c. butter
1/3 c. dark corn syrup
1 c. chopped pecans
(I also added 1/4 tsp of vanilla and a dollop of bourbon)

pecan halves to top

Combine everything except the nuts of the filling ingredients in a saucepan. Cook over med heat, stirring occasionally till comes to full boil (4-5 min). Remove from heat, stir in chopped pecans. Spoon into baked shells. Top with pecan half. Bake for 5 min. Cool and remove.

Challah

I've written enough about my favorite bread book "Artisan Bread in 5 min a Day" so let's talk about the honey that's in the bread. A while back I had heard that local honey was supposed to help with allergies (at least the pollen and the raw variety). Whether or not that's true, I decided to support some local beekeepers this summer by buying some NYC Rooftop Honey at the greenmarket. Pretty pricey, even for the smallest bottle, but hey, those bees worked hard and it'll take me almost a year to finish this bottle.

On a side note, slathering a slab with Nutella for breakfast is going to make this Monday morning even better.