My Grandmother's Pecan Pie

My Grandmother makes the best pecan pies!  I have grown up eating them, and watching my dad and granddaad tease each other over who gets the last slice of pie.  And when I say tease...they will even go so far as to hide the pie from each other.  It is quite a spectacle, and my holidays just would not be the same without it!  :0) 

So I thought this year, I would share my grandmother's famous recipe with you:

Ingredients:
1 unbaked 9" pastry shell (you can use store bought or make your own)
3 eggs
1 cup white corn syrup
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons butter--melted
1 teaspoon vanilla (use the real stuff not the imitation)
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup pecans
1/4 cup orange juice (fresh squeezed is best)

Directions:
Beat eggs slightly
Mix in corn syrup, sugar, butter, vanilla, salt, and orange juice
Fold in pecans (I prefer to grind some of my pecans into little pieces and then top the pie with whole pecans, but you can just leave them all whole if you prefer)
Pour into pastry shell
Bake at 400 for 15 minutes
Reduce heat to 350 and bake another 25 to 35 minutes
The filling should be slightly less set in the center than around the edges

**taste your filling after you add the orange juice.  If your oranges were tart, you might want to add a little more sugar to sweeten up the pie a bit**

Ha ha I hope this pie recipe brings the same kind of joy to your family that it has brought to mine!  It is something that I will always cherish, and be thankful for!