Alaska on my mind…

Today is my Grandpa’s birthday. I was always excited to celebrate with him. It meant there would be chocolate cake with pecans and black walnut ice cream or, if Grandma was being especially nice, raisin pecan pie. It was his favorite. I’m pretty sure he’s the reason I love pecans so much.

Grandpa’s birthday also meant that Thanksgiving was coming as well as another couple birthdays… It was party time!

Now, back to the raisin pecan pie.

It wasn’t like a pecan pie (my favorite pie) with raisins. No, it was like a funeral pie with pecans. I remember watching Grandma boil the raisins to plump them up. Prepare a double pie crust. Assembling and baking it in her cool old electric range with double upper ovens and a cook top that retracted when not in use.

Grandpa sure loved that pie. I haven’t made one in ages. Actually I’ve only ever made it once IIRC. It’s a lot of work and we’ll, if you’re not a raisin lover, I mean really love raisins, it’s gonna take a while to eat that whole pie by yourself. I don’t have Grandma’s recipe anymore, but here’s a close approximation. Just add a whole bunch of chopped (or halved) pecans.

So I’ll not be making his favorite pie today. Just reminiscing about The Old Codger and being thankful for having experienced life with him.

Rest peacefully Nicky Baby.