Valdosta Pecans with Cranberries, Orange and Pepper

Good morning! I hope that you had a great weekend and enjoyed the Super Bowl. I read and played on the computer watching from the corner of my eye until the commercials and the half-time show came on.

Did you have a favorite commercial? I like the M&M commercial with Danny de Vito and the NFL commercial with Eli Manning dancing. I am sure there were others but I cannot remember them. 

Now onto the important question, what did you eat? Did you make anything good? Eat anything scrumptious at a gathering that you were at?

My husband made wings which he loves and we made brisket chili. I also made some scrumptious copycat Sahale Valdosta Pecans with Cranberries, Orange and Pepper. I had a bag of these around Christmas and I loved them, in fact I loved them so much I ate the entire bag in two days. So I decided to see if I could find a recipe online to make my own and voila, Chica & Jo recreated the recipe to a T.  These nuts have a hint of heat from the pepper but it is a great contrast to the sweetness from the cranberries and the orange. They are great for snacks or to give as gifts!

Sahale Valdosta Pecans Copycat Recipe

Recipe from Chica & Jo

2 cups pecans

1/2 cup dried cranberries

2 Tbsp. brown sugar

2 Tbsp. corn syrup

1 tsp. kosher salt

1/2 tsp/ freshly ground pepper

1 tsp. orange zest

Prepare a baking pan with a sheet of parchment paper and set aside. Preheat the oven to 250. 

In a non-stick skillet add the brown sugar, corn syrup, salt and pepper.  Stir and cook until the sugar melts and the mixture bubbles a little. Add the pecans and cook for 3 minutes, stir well and make sure  the nuts  are well coated with the sugar mixture. Turn off the heat and add the cranberries and the orange zest. Mix well.

Pour the nuts onto the baking sheet and separate as much as possible. Bake the nuts for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Remove from oven, let the pecans cool and enjoy. You can store them in an airtight container.

Speaking of good recipes, I am looking for an old fashioned chicken pot pie with a top and bottom crust but I do not want the crust to be made from puffed pastry. Do you have a favorite recipe to share? 

I hope that you have a wonderful day!