Come August, there is nowhere I'd rather NOT be than in Texas. Steamy, sultry, and hot, living in Texas in August is like trying to breathe in a tightly-covered pressure cooker.

But in November, I remember the joys of Texas. Cool breezes and balmy fall days refresh the senses and invite us outside once again. On streets and in parks, pecans are ripe for gathering and shelling.

Those of you who think pecans come in 6-ounce plastic supermarket packages have missed the true texture and flavor of a real Texas treat. Best of all are the small native pecans with shells like granite. But once you've cracked them, there are no better fall treats to be had.

With the holidays rapidly approaching, we want to share a couple of our favorite recipe Texas Pecan Treats Recipe

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Plum Good Apple Pie

by News Canada

Flaky Crust:

2 1/4 cups (550 ml) Five Roses Cake & Pastry Flour

1 tsp (5 ml) sugar

3/4 tsp (3 ml) salt

1/4 cup (50 ml) cold butter

1/2 cup (125 ml) shortening

1 egg

Ice water

Filling:

1 lb (500 g) red plums, stoned and sliced

3 large apple peeled, and chopped

1 tbsp (15 ml) lemon juice

3/4 cup (175 ml) granulated sugar

3 tbsp (45 ml) Five Roses All Purpose Flour

3/4 tsp (3 ml) cinnamon

1 egg yolk

1 tsp (5 ml) milk

granulated sugar

Crust: In a bowl mix flour, sugar and salt. Using pastry blender, cut in cold butter, then shortening until the size of peas. In a measuring cup, beat egg and stir in enough ice water to equal 1/2 cup (125 ml). Stir egg mixture, 1 tbsp (15 ml) at a tim Plum Good Apple Pie Recipe

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My Mother's Recipe Box

by Rachel Paxton

Remember the days when cookbooks weren't so readily available, and you or your mother relied on only one or two different cookbooks for cooking all of your family's meals? I still have my mother's old cookbooks, as well as my grandmother's. Each one is worn from age and use--if you flip through the tattered pages it is obvious which recipes were turned to time and time again. These cookbooks will always number among my most precious treasures.

When our mothers wanted to try new recipes, they most likely didn't run out and buy new cookbooks. They often didn't have the extra money to spend, and often there weren't very many to choose from. So where did they get new recipes? From each other.

When I was a child I remember my mother exchanging r My Mother's Recipe Box Recipe

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