Recipe Box.......Pecan Tassies

My parents were wonderful cooks.   They took classes and they taught classes.  They threw wonderful parties and hosted wonderful holiday meals.

My father wrote a family cookbook while my mom used recipe cards.  You knew something was good if mom copied someone else's recipe in her own handwriting!  Mom was a recipe snob.  She would never take the time to re write a recipe she didn't think "worthy!"    In fact, many of the recipes in the boxes had "YUCK!" written on the back, along with the date she tried it!  Yuck was one of her favorite words and meant more than just one thing.  She used it to describe food, clothing, people....whatever it was meant for had a slightly different inflection to it.

After they passed, we went through the house, and after selecting many for ourselves, donated hundreds of cookbooks.  Literally hundreds, probably close to a thousand...and that is no exaggeration.  It was a very difficult thing to do, giving their cookbooks away...

Before we started all that, my sisters got my mom's recipe file boxes for me.   I went through them right away, looking for some specific recipes.  Some I found, others are lost to us.  I don't know HOW....but they are gone.  I guess it is simply that many good recipes are never actually written down.  

Recipe cards are like a dying art form....with pinterest and computers, people don't seem to use anymore.  But these cards are so much more than the actual recipe.  They have stains on them and notes on them.  She wanted to be sure she knew who gave her the recipe so she would know what it was.  Some had titles like "Bette Nan's Whatchamacallit" (I'm not sure I'm gonna try that one!)
While looking through the boxes, at my mom's and my grandmother's and my aunt's handwriting, I had a huge flush of emotions. So with that in mind, I decided to do a regular recipe box post as a sort of homage to them.  I think it might be fun....and it will be a great way to share.
But sorry, some recipes will stay in the box.  Like the jello mold with salad floating in it.  

Today is the first installment and I made  "Pecan Tassies."  The recipe was from one of my mom's dearest friends...Bette Nan.  But I called her Aunt Nutsy and she was SO MUCH FUN!  I have so many memories of her. 

These are so good .They are the best part of a pecan pie...that sweet spot between the crust and top of the pie!

Pecan Tassies

For the crusts:
3 oz softened cream cheese
1/2 cup softened butter or margarine
1 cup sifted all purpose flour

For the filling:
1 egg
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 teaspoons softened butter or margarine
dash salt
1/3 cup chopped pecans

Starting with the crust, blend the first 2 ingredients together and stir in the flour.  Form into a ball and chill for about an hour.  Roll into 48 little 1 inch balls and press them into a PAM sprayed mini muffin tin, shaping the edge up to the rim but not over.  Set aside.

*For the filling, beat all ingredients EXCEPT pecans together.
*Put some pecans in each cup and fill with the sugar filling. 

*I am lazy and just put everything together and fill each cup.  Sometimes I have to add a few more pecans doing it this way.

bake at 325 for about 25 minutes or until browned.  Remove and let cool.  Use a little spatula to run around the edges and pop them out to serve.  These go SUPER fast so double the recipe...you'll need to!

If you try these and enjoy these, remember where they came from and give thanks to Aunt Nutsy....