Nuts for Pecans

I've recently realized the pecans are not common nuts. To those who've never heard the word said, there's two ways: 'pee-cans' and 'peh/puh-cahns'. Yeah, I use the second one.

A pecan is an oblong nut, with a pointy tip on the dark brown, striated shell. It's fairly easy to crack, revealing the treat inside. Pecans kind of look like two ax-head shaped spaceships glued together; I suggest you look it up for a better image. It's easily to crumble or snap a piece off and pop into your mouth, and it also freezes well.

This nut is special in that most of the time, it has an innate sweetness. Good in pies, cookies, brownies, fudge, on ice cream or just on its own, the pecan is a versatile nut.

You heard me right - nut pies. A pecan pie is special, and also a little odd. It involves an egg-and-corn-syrup caramel gel, with the top usually completely covered in nuts. There are a variety of ways to bake it, depending on crust, depth of gel, etc. etc., but one thing for sure is that those who dislike sweets should only get a small piece. But if you've never had one, it's definitely worth a try.