Andrew Q. Gordon

Hello everyone! I am so excited to be here today and thanks so much to Andy for inviting me over to his blog!

My name is Jay and I run a m/m romance review blog called Joyfully Jay.  In my real life I am a suburban mom of two wonderful girls, ages 10 and 12 1/2.  Yes, we are right on the cusp of having teenagers, and let me tell you, the view is scary from over here!  But they really are fabulous and my husband and I are so lucky to have them in our lives.

Andy asked me to share my thoughts about kids and the holidays with you guys.  I love the traditions of the holidays, the way we reach back to things we have done time and again and can look forward to every year.  I enjoy teaching my kids about the meanings of the holidays, and why they are important to us. I think it helps them not only to appreciate our own celebrations, but also to build the foundations for their own holiday celebrations in the future.  I love the opportunity to see family, to have a break in our regular routine, and to have something exciting to anticipate.

But honestly, when it comes to holidays, I am all about the food.  Especially the winter holidays.  There is just something about the warm smells on a cold day, the hearty winter foods and the delicious spices, that really calls to me.  I spend a lot of time cooking and baking over the holidays, and now that my kids are bigger, it is something that they enjoy as well.  On Friday nights, we celebrate the Jewish sabbath by making challah.  My kids love to help knead and braid, and I’ll admit to a sense of pride when they tell me my challah is better than the one at the store.  On Chanukah I make homemade latkes and explain to the kids why latkes are a symbol of the holiday.  (And if you are interested, I posted my recipe on my blog a couple of weeks ago. They are delicious).  On Friday nights we also indulge in homemade desserts to help celebrate.  In the summer, my family’s favorite is strawberry shortcake.  But in the winter, it is definitely my chocolate chip pecan pie.

I am a total pie junkie, and I especially love this one.  Unlike most pecan pies, it is made with butter and brown sugar instead of corn syrup.  So it makes a nice yummy center, instead of that sort of gelatinous style of many pecan pies.  Also, I am not a huge nut fan, but this uses chopped pecans rather than whole ones. With the chocolate, brown sugar, butter, and nuts, it tastes a lot more like a warm, partially baked cookie with a chocolate/carmel flavor, than something super nutty.

So today I thought I’d share my recipe with you guys.  It is super easy to make (especially if you are like me and shortcut by buying your pie crust).  I hope you enjoy it if you try it out, and maybe you can make it part of your own holiday traditions.

Chocolate Chip Pecan Pie

Ingredients

• 2 eggs
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, melted and hot
• 1 TBSP flour
• 1 TBSP milk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/3 cup chocolate chips
• 1 1/2 cups chopped pecans
• pie crust

1. Beat the eggs until pale and frothy (I use a stand mixer for this, fwiw).

2. Add milk and vanilla and stir.

3. Add sugars and flour and stir.

4. Add hot, melted butter and pecans and stir.

5.  Sprinkle chocolate chips at the bottom of the pie crust.

Pour the mixture slowly on top to keep the chips from all scooting around.

6. Bake on 400 degrees F for 10 minutes, and then at 350 for 30-35 minutes more until set.  It is a good idea to put a pan underneath in case it overflows. Keep an eye on the crust edges because sometimes they start to brown before the pie is fully set and you may want to cover them.

You can see here my crust is sort of over baked and it cracked because I left it in a little too long.  But still delish.

This is best when cooled to room temperature.  It will need to sit a while after coming out of the oven so you don’t burn the heck out of yourself and also so it sets nicely and will slice.  But you can warm it a bit if you want before eating.

P.S. I got this recipe online from some big recipe site and sadly I don’t remember where or who created it. So I take no credit for this one and thanks tot he original chef!

Enjoy!
Jay runs a m/m romance review blog called Joyfully Jay.  We review tons of m/m romance books, as well as some other GBLT romance and romantic fiction.  We also frequently host authors for guest posts, interviews, giveaways, and excerpts. Stop by and visit at http://joyfullyjay.com.  Thanks!