Sharon, I just love pecans and am looking forward to trying your recipe. We have several native pecan trees on our property. Actually we have probably a couple dozen trees, but two are right by the house and easy to access...the one in the front yard drops pecans everywhere. The one on the edge of the woods drops them into tons of leaf litter and debris, so I have to search harder for those. Most of the other trees are way back in the woods and I usually leave their nuts for the wildlife. I grew up in a pecan-loving family. If the only thing I do is make batches of pecan pralines for family members for Christmas, they are just thrilled to death. They're even tickled pink if I just give them big zip-lock bags of pecans from our place. Our first year here there was a huge bumper crop of pecans in the front yard right at Thanksgiving. All my siblings, their spouses, my mom and dad, my nieces and nephews, my aunt, my cousin and her spouse and kids spent their Thanksgiving picking up Wal-Mart bags full of nuts. They even wanted to eat outside at the picnic table under the pecan tree. Apparently they allthought they were helping me out by picking up the pecans for me. When I told them to keep the pecans for themselves, LOL, they ran back outside and picked up more. I was rolling on the ground laughing at them! "Oh", they said delightedly, "You mean we can keep them? Let's go find more!" Clearly my family members know the value of a good sack of fresh pecans! I had the last laugh though. I was SO relieved thinking of them spending all THEIR time cracking and picking out the nutmeats, because I'd intended to do it myself and give the nuts to them for Christmas. Instead, they all got gifts from the store, and I didn't spend a month of evenings cracking pecans and picking out the nutmeats to give away. So, we all were happy! I still need to find and post my recipe for pecan cream pie like my aunts used to make. I haven't made one in ages and just thinking about it makes me want to make one right now. Dawn

Annie, Thanks for posting the recipe-I'm slow to react today. Here is another recipe: Pork with Fig Sauce Serves 4 8 1/3-inch-thick slices center-cut pork loin 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil1 tablespoon butter 1/4 cup minced shallots 3 tablespoons fig balsamic vinegar 1 cup chicken stock 6 fresh ripe figs, quartered 1/2 cup whipping cream 1 tablespoon minced parsley Preheat oven to 200F. Sprinkle pork with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 4 pork slices and saute until brown, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer pork to baking sheet. Add remaining 1/2 tablespoon oil to skillet. Repeat with remaining 4 pork slices. Transfer pork to oven to keep warm. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in same skillet over medium-high heat. Add shallots and saute until tender, about 2 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons vinegar. Simmer until vinegar evaporates, scraping up any browned bits on bottom of skillet, about 1 minute. Add chicken broth. Simmer until mixture is reduced by half, about 4 minutes. Add figs and whipping cream. Simmer until sauce thickens slightly, about 4 minutes. Add remaining 1 tablespoon vinegar and any accumulated juices from pork. Simmer until sauce thickens enough to coat spoon, about 2 minutes longer. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper. Arrange pork on plates. Spoon sauce over. Sprinkle with parsley and serve. **I used dried figs with success

Here's a recipe I saved but haven't tried yet, although I've made similar. It's from BBC Food (slightly revised): Shallot and Red Wine Sauce 1/2 pound shallots, sliced 2 tbsp olive oil 1 garlic clove, crushed 1 tsp fresh rosemary (1/2 tsp dried) 5 tbsp balsamic vinegar 1-1/2 cups red wine 1-1/2 cups beef stock 2 tbsp butter freshly ground black pepper Sauté the shallots in a medium saucepan with the oil, over high heat for 3 minutes until lightly brown. Stir them all the time and adjust heat if they start to get too brown. Season with ground black pepper and then add the garlic and rosemary. Continue cooking for 3 more minutes. Stir all the time and adjust the heat to keep from getting too brown. Pour in the vinegar and cook until it evaporates to a syrup, then pour in the wine and cook until reduced by 2/3. Pour in the stock and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat and simmer until reduced by 2/3 again, to around one cup. Remove the garlic and rosemary. Add a little salt if necessary. Finally whisk in the butter. Pour over grilled mushrooms before serving. I would probably use fresh thyme instead of rosemary, but that's my personal preference. I keep thyme in the yard at all times, but not rosemary. Lars

Linda stole my idea! LOL! I was going to suggest a lovely spinach salad with fresh strawberries and a drizzle of any of the flavored Balsamics. There is also a recipe I have filed somewhere for a orange and fennel salad, I think the fig would be fab with it. I also have a recipe for a brie and pear strudel that would be WONDERFUL with a drizzle of one of the sweet balsamics. Or those palmiers form the Silver Palate cookbook with proscuitto and a drizzle of fig balsamic Then there is always the following: Balsamic Glazed Cipolline Onions The sweet sharpness of both the orange juice and the balsamic vinegar combines with the natural sugars in the onions to create a delicious snack that's perfect to serve with cocktails, as an addition to an antipasto assortment, or as an accompaniment to roasted meats. 2 pounds fresh small cipolline onions or pearl onions 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil 3/4 cup fresh orange juice 3/4 cup balsamic vinegar Blanch onions in large pot of boiling salted water 15 seconds. Using slotted spoon, transfer to large bowl of ice water to cool. Trim root end if necessary, leaving core intact. Peel onions. Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over high heat. Add onions and sautuntil onions have deep golden brown spots, about 9 minutes. Add orange juice and vinegar; bring to boil, scraping up browned bits. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until onions are just tender when pierced with knife, about 8 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer onions to medium bowl. Boil juices in skillet until syrupy and reduced to 2/3 cup, about 3 minutes. Pour over onions. Serve warm or at room temperature. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill. Rewarm or bring to room temperature before serving.) Market Tip Cipolline onions are small, flat Italian onions. They can be found in the produce section of many supermarkets and Italian markets. Makes 6 to 8 servings. Bon Appétit May 2005 ************************************************************* Balsamic Glazed Vegetables Recipe courtesy Rachael Ray Recipe Summary Difficulty: Easy Prep Time: 5 minutes Cook Time: 10 minutes Yield: 4 to 6 servings User Rating: 1 1/2 to 2 pounds of your choice of the following, or any combination of: "baby" packaged fresh carrots, brussel sprouts, yellow squash (you can also use broccoli, cauliflower and zucchini) 1/2 cup water 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar 1 tablespoon butter Salt and freshly ground black pepper Chopped parsley leaves, for garnish Place veggies in a pan with water and vinegar. Bring to a boil and cover. Reduce heat to medium and cook 10 minutes. Remove lid and raise heat back up. Allow the water to boil away and the vinegar to reduce and glaze the veggies, about 5 to 7 minutes. When the vegetables are glazed, to a sweet, rich brown color add butter to the pan. Turn veggies to coat lightly with butter. Season with salt, pepper and serve. Garnish with parsley. For an optional glaze for the vegetables, substitute 1/4 melted butter and 1/4 cup honey for 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar. Follow method as listed. Episode#: TM1B58 Copyright © 2003 Television Food Network, G.P., All Rights Reserved ***********************************************************