Cajun Blackened Pecan Pie

It had been a hectic week. We were having our family Thanksgiving early so that my youngest son's children could attend. Shopping, baking, a medical emergency with my sister, and some minor surgery for me, all came together, leading to the creation of Cajun Blackened Pecan Pie.

I have been fighting breast cancer for the past 17 years, stage four for the past 5 years. The medication I take makes my white and red blood counts very low, causing me to tire easily. Grocery shopping has to be done in small spurts. Cooking is done interspersed with breaks to rest in my recliner.

On Monday, I shopped for a boneless turkey breast that I thought would be easier to cook than a whole turkey. This led to a treasure hunt through the store, with the help of two employees, for the allusive turkey breast that was advertised on sale. We bagged that turkey in the freezer section, near the chicken tenders. When returning home, I whipped up a meatloaf, with baked potatoes for supper, and baked up some pumpkin bread, to put in the freezer, for our Thanksgiving dinner.

Tuesday came and it was time for my sewing group to meet. We wouldn't be sewing this week, thanks be for small blessings, it was more a show-and-tell and gossip fest. This was followed by what I thought would be a quick trip for another boneless turkey breast, as I had decided one wouldn't be enough. No treasure hunt this time, I knew right where they were stored...except...the bin was empty. This meant a trip to another local grocery store. The turkey aisle was blocked by an employee with a cart filled with frozen turkeys, trying to refill the fast-emptying bin. A customer and her husband we digging through the boxes, trying to find the perfect turkey. Another employee was approaching.

“Mam, you can't do that, please stop!”

I tried to go around, but the area was completely blocked. OK, there was another store in town with the precious boneless turkey breasts on sale, though a dollar more than the first store. So off I went to another store in search of that elusive prey. My search seemed to no avail when something caught my eye way down on the bottom shelf. Yes, another boneless turkey breast bagged! I felt as proud as any hunter.

Wednesday dawned with me thinking this would be a little easier day, just a pumpkin and squash to bake, and the bathroom to clean. Yay, I had time to go online and check Facebook! There I found a desperate message from my sister, who had woken up to find she couldn't see out of one eye. Could I give her a ride to the eye doctor? I inquired as to the time of her appointment, but she couldn't tell me. Her phone was dead, she had to charge it up before calling for an appointment. I was afraid to throw the pumpkin or squash into the oven, for fear I would have to leave before it came out. I got dressed and awaited my call. When the call came, I had to leave immediately. I brought along a packet I had to fill out, for my doctor's appointment next Tuesday, always multi-tasking. I swear they wanted me to write a book, even though my sister's appointment last at least an hour, I wasn't finished when my sister came out. Off we went to the hospital, for blood tests. Back home, I baked the pumpkin and squash, then threw together a hamburger stroganoff, that I hoped would feed us for a couple of days.

Thursday came and my husband made the hour-long trip with me to have biopsies done on both breasts. Mammograms first, then an ultrasound, finally the doctor came to do the biopsies. I made the doctor nervous because I didn't shut my eyes while she was working so close to my face.

“What kind of lipstick or lip stain are you wearing, it doesn't seem to wear off,” she inquired.

“I'm not wearing any,” I informed her.

She went on to take four specimens from each breast. I got tagged, too! I sort of felt like an animal in the wild. Another hour-long trip home, leftovers, and sleep were up next.

Friday morning I quickly baked a pumpkin pie, using the pumpkin I had baked on Wednesday. Friday also meant my weekly visit with my granddaughter. She gets out of school early on Fridays, so I pick her up from school and take her out to eat. After eating, we stopped to pick up a few more things, that I had forgotten on previous trips. While picking up flour and sugar in the baking aisle, I saw that pecans were on sale. My son and his kids love pecan pie. That meant I would also need Karol syrup. I found a large economy bottle of Karol syrup, much larger than I needed (I only use it once a year), but they had no small bottles.

Next stop, home to drop groceries off. Turning right around, I drove my granddaughter home to meet her older brother. He wasn't home yet, so we sat in the car waiting. He was an hour later than usual.

Back at home again, I had to rest before making the pecan pie. Remembering I had an apple pie in the freezer that needed to be baked, I put that in the oven first. This gave me a chance to rest, and I dozed off, waking to the wonderful smell of apple pie baking, only to hear the timer go off. That meant it was time to make the pecan pie, and I still had to clean the bathroom before my son and grandchildren came.

I had problems with the store brand pre-made, but not pre-baked, pie crust. I had set the oven to 350 degrees that the recipe called for when I realized the pie crust should be partially baked before adding the filling. I put it in the oven for 5 minutes, only to find a shriveled up mess. Throwing that out, I tried again, resetting the oven to the 450 degrees suggested on the pie crust package. After cooking for 6 minutes, it looked slightly better than the first one. I poured my filling into the crust and returned it to the oven. Back in my comfy chair, thoroughly exhausted, I dozed off again, waking to the timer.

I just about died when I pulled that pie out of the oven! I had never seen a more burnt pie in my life, certainly one had never come out of my oven. No time to cry over burnt pie, I went to clean the bathroom. I covered the pie with foil after it cooled, at least I wouldn't have to look at it.

Saturday came, both sons, my daughter-in-law, and all the grandchildren were there for our Thanksgiving dinner. On the menu: Boneless turkey breast, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, coleslaw (prepared right before dinner), and pumpkin bread. The turkey breast was raved about, a big success, but the stuffing is always everyone's favorite, so I made a huge amount.

My sons and grandson played a game, while the little granddaughters played games together on their tablets, my husband, daughter-in-law, oldest granddaughter and I talked. My youngest granddaughter was the first to want dessert, that led to everyone else gathering around the table for pie. I warned everyone that the pecan pie was burnt, but I don't think they were ready to see how burnt.

My oldest son uncovered it, and said, “Oh, it is burnt!” but went ahead, sliced a piece and ate it.

“You want a piece of Cajun Blackened Pecan Pie,” he offered his brother.

So that is the story of how I came to create my famous Cajun Blackened Pecan Pie.

Cajun Blackened Pecan Pie

4 Eggs 2 cups Pecans
1 cup Light Corn Syrup Prepared Par baked Pie Crust
1/4 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 cup Sugar
1/2 cup Brown Sugar

1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Vanilla extract
1/2 cup Butter, melted

Preheat oven to 450 degrees
(Or if you prefer regular Pecan Pie 350 degrees)

Place pecans in a par-baked pie crust. Whisk together remaining ingredients and pour into pie crust. Bake 50 to 60 (65 minuted for extra blackened)

Reviews

[Diane]

That was awesome! I had to show it to Jim, cause he named the pie and all. haha

The first part is great writing but not awesome that all the bad stuff is happening.

[Wendy Seames Garner]

Thank you, Diane! Should we make the pie a yearly tradition?

[Diane]

it wouldn't bother me one bit lol