My mom likes to say that “in another life” she owned and operated a bed and breakfast. At the beginning of her foray into the world of B&Bs (when the fad was at its highest), she had a partner but it soon turned into a solo gig.
The Homestead on the Oklahoma prairie, circa 1995.
Mom persevered for another year or two before she sold her log cabin inn along with the family farm.
A later picture after a bit of landscaping was done.
When I think of her time as an innkeeper, I am a bit nostalgic. When The Hubs (then fiance) and I would visit, we always hoped there was room for us to stay in the B&B. Sometimes there was and sometimes we were relegated to the “old” house. I think mom truly enjoyed her time as a host because she is truly a people person. She can have a conversation with anyone. I know of at least one lasting friendship she forged with a guest that booked the inn for an extended business stay.
The upkeep of both the farm and the inn became a bit too taxing for her and soon after she sold the properties, she found herself doing full time grandma duties in Iowa.
Mom, as a former home economics teacher, was always a great cook and I know this talent only added to the popularity of her bed & breakfast.
While she was here on Thanksgiving, we pulled out an old standby from the inn, The Homestead Pecan Pie. In fact, we created a new recipe because I did not have any corn syrup in the house and we used all honey. I think I like it better that way.
Homestead Pecan Pie
The absolute favorite dessert recipe from the Homestead B&B. The hostess always uses local Oklahoma pecans.1/2 c. butter
1 c. local honey
3 large farm fresh eggs
1/8 t. salt
1 c. sugar
1 t. pure vanilla
1 c. pecans
9″ unbaked pie shellPreheat oven to 425 F. In a saucepan, melt butter. Let it brown without stirring, but watch it carefully. In a blender, combine all ingredients except pecans. Carefully add hot butter while blender is still running.
Layer pecans on bottom of pie shell. Carefully pour mixture over pecans.
Bake at 425 F for 10 minutes. Then, reduce temperature to 325 F for 40 minutes.
Although the Homestead is no longer, the pie remains. Instead of using an entire cup of honey, you can substitute 1/4 c. honey and 3/4 c. corn syrup. I advocate for all honey. It gives the pie a truly homemade quality. The browned butter is also the key to this recipe.
This pie does not last long.
I actually like the version with honey more…the pie must have tasted wonderful.
I think we did, too, Angie.
Those are great photos of the old log cabin. Your mom is an entrepreneur and what a cool lady! That’s a nice looking pie too but I had to comment on the old homestead, what a great time in her life.
The “old” cabin was built in the mid-90s. 🙂 Mom is definitely not afraid to try new things. She has done many, many things!
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Sounds amazing. I love recipes like this with fun histories!
Thanks, Chris. Mom is a great recipe maker!
This pecan pie looks delicious and i love how it has such a beautiful story behind it!
Thank you. I love heritage recipes, don’t you two?
Using honey in place of corn syrup makes this a much more friendly recipe for me — I almost always have honey! Sounds very delicious.
best… mae at maefood.blogspot.com
I’m glad it’s friendly for you! It is delicious for me! 🙂
Nothing better than mom’s pecan pie! Your mom’s recipe looks a lot like mine mom’s except for one major difference – honey! That sounds much better than Karo! thanks so much for sharing this cherished recipe!
The flavor of this pie might not appeal to the traditionalists out there, but I love the honey flavor.
I always want to own a B&B, but now that I’m older and actually know what goes into just keeping up a house with three people in it, there’s no way. No way. The pie, on the other hand; I could easily handle a couple of slices of that. 🙂
The shine wore off soon with me. Every time we visited, it seems like we had to be “on” entertaining and not able to visit with the folks. It was a lot of work. I think if mom could still play the hostess, she would love it, though.
Ooohh – Honey! I’ve never made one with honey but I’ve been asked to make one for the Land of Old Christmas party so I am using your recipe! The B&B looks great but I’m sure it always does on the outside – everything is WAY more work than it looks………but it is gorgeous!
I hope your guests like the pie. It still stands today but as a family home for someone.
I made my mom’s pecan pie for the first time ever this Thanksgiving. Man was it good. With all the hub-bub I didn’t get a photo. Darn! I’ll have to make it again for the blog. 🙂 I like this version with honey, my mom’s called for corn syrup.
Moms’ recipes are always the best. As you can see, I barely got a photo myself.
I have been making your Mom’s pecan pie for many years, I got the recipe from an article in a magazine about her B&B along time ago, I don’t remember what magazine it was. The only thing I changed is that I substitute 1/4 cup of pure maple syrup for some of the corn syrup, but I do use fresh Oklahoma pecans. It is the best pecan pie I have ever eaten! My family loves it.