Ever heard of a tree shaker? I’ve learned it’s a John Deer tractor.
Fall is a very short season in Texas. You have to take advantage of any cool day. We are lucky enough to have family that lives in the country and has several pecan trees on their property. My cousin called and invited us to come up and pick pecans. It’s a great learning experience for the kids, practically a rite of passage in our family. I told stories about Grandmommy working on the farm as a young girl. I think they understand better what her childhood was like. I told the kids we were picking up the pecans on the halves meaning we would share half of what we gathered with my cousins. Pecans are a cash crop so they were really doing us a favor by letting us come and share in their crop. It was a beautiful day, about 65 degrees no wind. The kids worked really hard for about 2 hours then it became work. The rest of the time they were trying to knock pecans out of the trees with sticks and were climbing the trees. There were so many pecans we were crawling around on the ground on all fours. Dang, it hurts to land on one. I’m tired and sore.
Now the work will begin shelling the pecans and cleaning them.
We’ll see how the kids do helping with that chore. The kids are asking for pralines, pecan pies and ice cream sundaes! I hope they will appreciate the pecans more since they helped. See below for praline recipe. Let me know how your pralines turn out!
2 cups sugar (I use granulated sugar some recipes call for 1/2 granulated sugar and 1/2 brown sugar)
1 cup milk
2 T. butter
2 T. corn syrup
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. soda
1 cup pecans
1 tsp. vanilla
Mix all ingredients, except pecans and vanilla, in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. When the mixture comes to a boil, add pecans and cook until it reaches 234 degrees on a candy thermometer. Stir often and watch carefully because it will reach 234 before you know it. Off the stove add vanilla and beat until creamy. This takes several minutes. (Some recipes call for letting it sit about 10 minutes then stir.) When it's ready the mixture will lose it's glossy sheen. Working quickly, drop by spoonful onto waxed paper. Makes about 2 dozen.
Enjoy!!!