Chris Coward

This month's recipe is for pecan pie. But not just any pecan pie. It's a generations-old recipe from family who lived in Texas—and Texans know their pecans.

I confess I was not a particular fan of pecan pie—until I tasted this one. This recipe uses Karo syrup rather than molasses, which imparts just the right amount of sweetness without the heavy cloying quality that some pies have. It's this lightness that makes this pie a great (and easy) choice all year long.

The pie is beyond easy. Just make sure you use good quality pecans and don't overcook—the pie continues to set after you remove it from the oven.

Kara's Stellar Pecan Pie

Ingredients

·         Uncooked 9 inch pie crust (homemade or store bought)

·         4 eggs

·         1 c sugar

·         1 c light Karo syrup

·         Scant 2 T cornstarch

·         ½ t vanilla

·         1 c pecan pieces

Directions
 

1.      Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2.      Break eggs into large bowl and lightly beat.

3.      Add remaining ingredients, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.

4.      Pour into prepared uncooked crust. Bake 1 hour at 350 degrees; cover crust when it begins to brown.

Serve with whipped cream or ice cream, if desired.

Kara says: This recipe goes back generations. Get the best pecans you can find; using Karo syrup instead of the more traditional molasses lets the flavor of the nut shine through.

An awesome event yesterday at Eckerd College culminating in a panel discussion on writing and publishing. Panelists are pictured: Arielle Haughee, JC Gatlin, Dr. Chrissy Jackson (moderator), and Chris Coward. Many thanks to Chrissy for the invitation. Wonderful to see everyone!

Do you like to cook? Do you like to eat? Maybe you prefer pondering what our universe really is.

Cooking and exploring the fabric of our universe are two of the subjects in this blog series. In this first post, we're taking a glimpse at both.

Cooking!
It is my pleasure to begin this blog on a fun note: eating! Sounds like a strange topic for a speculative fiction author to tackle, but if you've read Perpendicular Women, you know that Kara, one of the characters, cooks. Well! Readers have asked about the dishes she prepares. You ask. I deliver.

Above is the first installment of the "starter pack" of four recipes. All of "Kara's" dishes are healthy, easy, and time-tested. I'll send out three more in the coming days.

On a related topic, beginning March 1, "Kara" will launch a recipe newsletter. If you'd like printable recipes delivered to your inbox once a month, let me know through the Contact tab on this site. (I do not share my contact list.)

Geeking out (a little)
The subtitle of Perpendicular Women is "Adventures in the Multiverse." Way back in 2010 when I wrote the story that would become PW, most people hadn't even heard of the multiverse, and many who had considered the hypothesis to be "out there." They'd say, oh, what a fun thought, how convenient for storytellers, but really?

No more. With Willow, the multiverse hypothesis is hot. Willow is a new quantum chip from Google. A super, super, incomprehensibly powerful quantum chip. According to Google, in a test, Willow did a computation that would have taken the world's fastest supercomputers some ten septillion years to complete. (Willow reportedly did it in under five minutes.)

The question is: how? Some physicists propose that the chip may be tapping into the multiverse by interacting with other parallel/perpendicular universes. Others propose alternative theories. Speculation rages, and if the needle on this debate moves, I'll let you know, right here.

And now, back to cooking. Enjoy this recipe and more to come.

Till the next post, may your universe treat you kindly,
Chris