Pecans, Yummy Texas Pecans

The Pecan Tree is the State Tree of Texas and for the first time in about 50 years, I find myself without a Pecan tree in picking proximity!  At my last home, in Austin, we had numerous huge Pecans in the back yard, watched a rogue seedling grow to a towering tree in the 13 years we lived there, built a tree house for our now-teen in that same tree, had to cull a dying tree from a ginormous stand of three that must have been there when the house was built in the early 70's...just lots of history with Pecan trees.

Photo Source: Google Images

The nut is tasty and I can recall days from my childhood, up to days just 3 years ago, sitting on a front porch shelling and eating pecans.  We usually kept a bucket of pecans next to the front porch glider and nothing was nicer than swinging and cracking, picking the nut and eating it, on a nice Fall day.  I love pecans!

I stopped in Coastal Mail today (in the little strip of shops out in front of Wal-Mart on Hwy 100) to get, and mail, a Priority envelope and while Mike was kindly preparing a label for me (that's why I stop at Coastal Mail...that friendly personalized service - just love it), I noticed a pile of bags filled with nice looking pecan halves.  I hollered over to Mike "hey, how much are these?"  He replied, $10.  They were marked as a fundraiser benefiting the Port Isabel Merchants Committee.  I grabbed a bag, hefted it to get a feel of how much might be in there...I estimated almost a pound...and took my bag to the counter.  I asked Mike if these were local pecans (I know they aren't TOO local unless someone is hiding the pecan trees) and he said they had to drive up to Edinburg to pick them up, where they were packaged, but they were local to a "general area" here.  They were labeled Texas Premium Sweet Pecans, and that was good enough for me. 

Sorry the label is so poorly pictured - it is gold and highly reflective!

I weighed them up when I got home...14.3 ounces (good guess on the weight, huh?) and I put these to the side.  My hubby came home and eyeballed them as he walked by the counter.  "How are those sweetened?" he asks.  "Not sweetened, just SWEET honey...after all, they ARE Texas Pecans!"...I knew that would garner a big groan from his old Yankee self...and it did :-)  He routinely laments the grandiosity of Texans who think everything is bigger and better in Texas.  <grin>  Now, whenever he digs at me about it, I burst out into a full rendition of Texas Our Texas...and I've noticed the slurs have dissipated a bit. <bigger grin>  He doesn't just dislike the song...he hates it.  Full of grandiosity.  Well, yeah!

Anyway, I like roasted pecans, pecans in caramel, some pecans in candies, not particularly in baked goods...but mostly I just like them raw, the nuts cracked together in my hands, and picked out and eaten raw.  Yum.  This bag will have to do me since I have not seen a single Pecan Tree since moving to the Texas Gulf Coast!

So, locals...if you are looking for some tasty pecans - stop by Coastal Mail (or likely many other Port Isabel Merchants) and pick up a bag of Texas Premium Sweet Pecans!  Shop LOCAL!!!

(Hey, they also have some of those cool Port Isabel tee shirts that turn colorful in the sun - sunshine activated shirts...how cool is that!)

Bon Appetit, Y'all!!!