Welcome to the Pecan Store Blog. As you know we are passionate about nuts. In fact our philosophy is simple: we go nuts for pecans! Southern Arizona’s warm days and cool nights combined with excellent soil and water quality are the best ingredients for the world’s best nuts. Whether you’re baking a traditional pie, adding a little extra zest to your salad dressing or giving your diet a much-needed health boost, The Pecan Store always has the freshest, highest-quality products available, every time you need them.
Memorial Day weekend festivities are right around the corner but are you ready? Here is an easy checklist you can use to make sure your celebrations are a success:
1. Check your grill’s propane tank to insure it’s full or buy a sufficient amount of charcoal. The Pecan Store sells pecan shell charcoal for $2.50/5lb bag, and can be purchased in store only.
2. Plan out your menu ahead of time. Don’t even attempt to do this at the last minute with whatever items are in your pantry or freezer. Grilled meats taste best when they’ve been marinated and The Pecan Store carries Arizona Rub in four flavors: Original, Chipotle, Rattlesnake and Pistol Whip. These delicious rubs would be perfect on a variety of different meats! And to accompany your perfectly seasoned meat, don’t overlook the barbeque sauce. The Pecan Store also sells Green Valley Pecan Company barbeque sauce and hot sauce that include pecans. They would be a tangy, savory addition to your grilling menu.
3. Drinks, drinks and more drinks! Especially in our hot desert weather, insuring your party guests are adequately hydrated is important. Put out some aluminum party tubs or ice chests and fill them with all the necessary beverages that make a party great. But most importantly, make sure everything is iced before your guests arrive because who wants to drink a warm beer? Also, set up a Do It Yourself Drink Bar so your guests can pour their own concoctions. Make sure you included Prickly Pear margaritas, which are made with Prickly Pear Syrup from Cheri’s Desert Harvest. You can purchase a bottle, which comes with a complimentary recipe, at the Pecan Store website or in the Store.
4. Decorations can make any backyard gathering into an over the top production, so don’t be shy about spreading the party theme around the occasion. However, just because you want to be festive doesn’t mean you have to spend an arm and a leg to fund it. Instead of star spangled cups, plates and napkins, opt for the more affordable solid red, white and blue cups and plates and mix and match them to your heart’s content. Delicious fruit salads containing blueberries, raspberries, strawberries and pecans combined with whipped cream would make an attractive trifle centerpiece. Another great idea would be wrap pecan trays from the Pecan Store in red, white and blue ribbons. They would do double duty as attractive centerpieces and gifts for your guests. You’re only limited by your imagination!
While you pull all the elements of your bash together, don’t forget about the music! Music is a key element to setting the mood at any great party, so have your IPod ready to crank out jams that will get your party guests out of their seats and grooving to the rhythm. Play a mix of various music genres to appeal to as many party guests as possible, and keep in mind that Memorial Day weekend, July 4th and Labor Day weekend are the only acceptable times to play “American Pie” by Don McLean more than once, which may still be pushing it for some! Have fun and be safe!
Last night, while I relaxed and watched television, I caught the end of Paula’s Home Cooking. I heard her mention in passing her recipe for Bacon Wrapped Pecan Stuffed Dates and it immediately caught my attention because: 1. it contains pecans and 2. I love bacon. I found the recipe online and it’s quite simple; it would be perfect for a summer night appetizer or a toasty fall meal. I’ve made pancetta wrapped gorgonzola stuffed dates before that were amazing, so I’m thrilled to try this spin on the recipe. I think I’ll use it to start a dinner featuring a pork roast with fruit compote and a healthy spinach salad. And of course a glass of a nice Cabernet Sauvignon would be a great complement. Perhaps I’ll make this tonight to start my weekend off in gourmet fashion!
Summer may technically be more than a month away, but today it feels warm and toasty. When it gets hot outside, I like to surround myself with cool things; sun tea, fresh salad and sorbet! So while my mind turns to these things, I want to share my favorite warm weather recipe featuring pecans. It partners perfectly with a glass of crisp Sauvignon Blanc!
Baby Spinach Salad with Roasted Red Onions, Pecans, Dried Cranberries, Crumbled Goat Cheese and Citrus Dressing
Courtesy: The Food Network
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
1 medium red onion
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
Citrus Dressing, recipe follows
8 cups baby spinach
1/2 cup pecans, toasted and chopped
1/3 cup crumbled goat cheese
1/2 cup dried cranberries
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Slice the onion into thin wedges, through the root end. Toss with the olive oil, season with salt, to taste, and spread out on a baking sheet. Roast until just soft and brown, about 20 minutes. Set aside to cool.
Put the spinach and onions in a large bowl. Drizzle with some of the dressing and toss. Add more dressing as needed; spinach should just be lightly coated. Divide salad among 4 chilled plates. Top with pecans, goat cheese, and dried cranberries. Serve immediately.
Citrus Dressing
Yield: about 1/2 cup
1 teaspoon lemon zest
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon honey, plus more to taste
1/4 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, chopped
1/4 teaspoon fine salt
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Whisk the lemon zest, lemon juice, orange juice, Dijon, honey, thyme, and salt in a medium bowl until well combined. Gradually whisk in the oil, starting with a few drops and then adding the rest in a steady stream, to make a smooth, slightly thick dressing.
I can’t believe we’re wrapping up the first week of May; we’re almost half way through the year!Despite the fact that it’s still more than six months away, the Sahuarita Pecan Festival committee has been actively working to insure this year’s Festival is a big success! We learned a lot from last year’s festival and are incorporating new ideas and activities to make this year’s event even better! The goals for the 2010 event are to highlight the history, culture and products of the Santa Cruz Valley (especially our tasty pecans!), offer an affordable, family friendly event for our neighbors in Southern Arizona and to give back to the community by providing local non-profit organizations an opportunity to promote themselves and fundraise.
The festival committee has plans to expand the children’s area to include more games and activities, and the food area will be larger and offer a great assortment of pecan related items. There will also be a community-wide pecan recipe contest, as well as a healthy pecan recipe cooking contest with the culinary program students at Sahuarita High School. And you can bet the Pecan Store will have great deals to take advantage of, and just in time for the holidays! So save the date now: November 20th and 21st on the Farm. Two days means more nutty fun to be had! Visit www.sahuaritapecanfestival.com for more information.
Having been a resident of the great state of Arizona for most of my life, I’ve become quite adept at handling the intense summer heat.I like to joke that while the rest of the country hibernates, Arizonans play; when the rest of the country plays, Arizonans hibernate. It’s stifling hot! As a result of the heat, the Pecan Store does not ship chocolate or other heat sensitive items from the months of May through August (sometimes even September is too hot!).So I would encourage all you camelback and English Toffee addicts to stock up for the summer because the Pecan Store will cease chocolate shipments after May 9th! And to further entice you to place an order, the Pecan Store is offering 10% off all online orders when you use promotional code LSTCHANCE by May 9th. Doesn’t that sound like a great way to hibernate through the summer?!
The pecan is a time honored nut that deserves much celebration. These tasty little pecans are only native to North America and grow in and around lakes and river valleys. The Pecan can be dated as far back as the 16th century according to www.ilovepecans.org
Come and Celebrate National Pecan month by sharing the best recipes you can find. Don’t forget to stop by the Pecan Store and pick up the best tasting nuts in the world.
I have a huge weakness for dark chocolate. I’m not really a chocoholic, but dark chocolate gets me every time. Which is exactly why I’m posting this video.
Watch this short YouTube video below to see how these decadently delicious Dark Chocolate Pecan Squares come together. I love how it’s exactly like making a pecan pie, only simpler and quicker with a surprise layer of dark chocolate at the bottom.
My dog is definitely spoiled. He gets more treats, walks and belly rubs than he can handle in a day. But, I’ve never considered baking for my favorite furry friend until now.
I came across this video on YouTube for Banana Pecan Dog Cake. It seemed strange at first, but then I realized that animals, just like humans, have basic nutritional needs too. And, after the tainted dog food scare a couple of years back, I’ve always been left wondering what’s really in that bag I get from the store.
Check out the video here for Banana Pecan Dog Cake and let me know if your dog likes it. I can already tell you that mine will love it.
I realized lately that I go through the Starbucks drive-thru far too often. And as soon as I find a drink that I really love, they discontinue it. Thankfully, I’ve discovered Torani syrups.
For just $7.95 for a 750 ml bottle, I can now have Starbucks-like coffee without having to wait in line. My personal favorite is the English Toffee, but they also have a fantastic Butter Pecan flavor and pretty much any flavor you could think of, including sugar-free varieties.
I’ve seen them in stores like Cost Plus World Market and at smaller coffee shops, but you can also order them online. I highly recommend having it on hand for those days you need a little extra something to get going in the morning.
It’s the first post of a new year and after much internal debate, I’ve finally made my New Year’s Resolution: Meatless Monday.
What is Meatless Monday, exactly? I’m sure you’ve already guessed, but it’s an effort to go meat-free every Monday. There’s even an entire website dedicated to the cause and they feature some pretty tasty pecan dishes.
I happened upon the site because I have heard a couple of times now that pecans are a good substitute for meat and was searching for a recipe that could demonstrate how it’s done. Although I didn’t find exactly what I was looking for, I’m glad I have a new resolution for the year.
And interestingly enough, Meatless Monday is not a new phenomenon. It all started in World War I when the government asked citizens to observe “Meatless Monday” and “Wheatless Wednesday” in an effort to reduce consumption and aid the war effort.
Word spread and according to MeatlessMonday.com, “The effect was overwhelming…In November 1917, New York City hotels saved some 116 tons of meat over the course of just one week.” That’s pretty powerful stuff.
In addition to saving resources, going meat-free for just one day can have highly-beneficial effects on your overall health. The site features plenty of recipes that don’t feature meat, and I think I might have to start with the Sweet Potato Pecan Pancakes Check it out and let me know if you’re going meatless every Monday.
