Yummy Thanksgiving Pecan Pie

Pecan Pie is just divine, and a great dessert for your family's Thanksgiving dinner, along with pumpkin pie or a great cheesecake! Here is one of my favorite recipes (a bit of double work...you have to keep an eye on the pie crust while making the filling at the same time, but worth it!):

Ingredients:
9" pie shell
2 1/2 cups pecan halves
1/3 cup butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 tablespoon vanilla

Preparation:

Place 2 cups small pecan halves on a cookie sheet and toast at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes (shaking the pan once during baking time), until pecans are fragrant.

Let cool completely, then coarsely chop and put aside.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line pie crust with aluminum foil and bake until set, about 5 minutes. Remove the foil and and bake 2 minutes longer (until crust is just beginning to brown on the edges). Take pie crust out and decrease temperature to 300 degrees.

While pie crust is baking, melt butter in a medium saucepan, then remove from heat. Mix in brown and white sugars and salt with wire whisk until butter is absorbed. Beat in eggs (one at a time, constantly stirring), then beat in corn syrup and vanilla.

Place saucepan over very low heat. Cook and stir constantly with wire whisk until mixture is hot and looks shiny, about 6-7 minutes. Stir constantly so mixture cooks evenly and eggs don't scramble! Remove from heat and strain into a large bowl, then stir in the cooled, toasted pecans.

Pour pecan mixture into hot pie crust. Place rest of pecan halves on top of the filling in a pretty pattern.

Bake the pie until center feels set but soft when gently pressed, and moves slightly when gently jiggled, about 45-55 minutes. You may need to cover the edges or top of pie with aluminum foil to prevent over-browning. Transfer pie to wire rack and let cool completely, at least 4 hours.

This pie will serve about eight guests.