Walmart produces more baked goods than any other company in the United States. I like going to Walmart and being able to buy a fresh loaf of sandwich bread for less than a dollar. I appreciate Walmart for making good, affordable bread, but a commercial bakery will never be able to bake a pecan or pumpkin pie like my mom does at Thanksgiving. Nothing embodies the taste of our holidays like pumpkin and pecan pies made from scratch, and I’m going to give you the recipes for both.

I didn’t know until a few years ago that pecan trees and hickory trees are in the same family. Pecan trees grow in Tennessee, but are not very common. Hickory trees, on the other hand, grow everywhere around here. It is hard to go anywhere around Murfreesboro without seeing a hickory tree if you know what you’re looking for. You can spot a shagbark hickory tree by the large strips of bark that peel away from the trunk, and this year the hickory trees are teeming with nuts. It is a bumper crop year for hickory nuts.

So why am I talking about hickory nuts in an article about pecan and pumpkin pies? It’s because I’m going to share a secret that, if you have lots of time on your hands or are just rather a bit eccentric like me, will let you produce the most incredible pecan pie you have ever tasted and will elevate you to pie-god status with anyone that tastes your creation.

If you haven’t guessed, the secret is to substitute hickory nuts for the pecans in a standard pecan pie recipe. Hickory nuts are so much like pecans that most people won’t be able to tell them apart in a pie. But the hickory nuts produce a richer buttery flavor that is to die for.

There is a catch, however . . . hickory nuts do NOT give up their flavor without a battle. This year the hickory trees are dropping bushels of nuts into our yards. I picked up six gallons of nuts in about two hours from under a big tree in my yard. That’s the easy part. The next part is cracking the shells. Forget about using any kind of wimpy nutcracker designed for pecans. The hickory nut will merely laugh at all such devices. Break out a hammer. Place the nuts on a concrete surface. Whack the nut with the hammer.

The technique needed to be successful takes a bit of practice. You should hit the nut hard enough to crack the shell, but not hard enough to smash the nut into mush. There is a fine line. You will probably sacrifice several nuts before you develop the perfect method.

And cracking them is still not even the worst part; now you have to separate the nuts from their shells. The only way I have found to accomplish this task is to get in that same frame of mind as when you do a big jigsaw puzzle or counted cross-stitch project. You have to convince yourself that your time is basically worthless. Then find a nutpick or some other sharp-pointed tool and carefully pick the meaty part of the nuts out of their shells. Stay diligent. If you mess up and allow some of the hickory nut shell to get into a pie you will send the unlucky recipient to the dentist with a cracked tooth.

Several tedious hours later, you will have enough nuts to create your pies. It only takes one cup of nuts to make one pie. So if you want to actually taste your Tennessee heritage and you have a hammer, the patience of Job, and a few hours to kill, you too can make a hickory nut pie that, when tasted, will validate all of your efforts.

Another trick to making great homemade pies is turning out a nice, flaky crust. I use the same crust for my pecan/hickory nut pies and my pumpkin pies. Here are the recipes for pie crust, pecan pie and pumpkin pie.

Pie Crust—Add 1 cup of Crisco shortening and 1 teaspoon salt to 2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour. Cut the shortening in with knives, and add 8 tablespoons of cold water as you blend it all together. I end up kneading the mixture together like pizza dough until it was all smooth. This gives you enough crust for two pies. Divide the dough into two parts, and roll them out—one at a time—into a circular shape at least one inch bigger than your pie pans. Dust your work surface and rolling pin with flour to keep the dough from sticking.

Place the crust in the pie plate and pinch off the excess dough around the edge of the pan.

Pecan/Hickory Pie—Beat 3 eggs by hand in a mixing bowl. Add ½ cup sugar, ¼ cup melted butter, 1 teaspoon corn meal, ½ teaspoon salt, 1 cup white corn syrup, and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Stir all of these ingredients together. Add 1 cup chopped pecans or hickory nuts. Pour mixture into pie pans and bake at 375 F for 35–40 minutes or until crust browns to personal preference. Let cool to room temperature before cutting.

Pumpkin Pie—Mix 1 cup sugar with 2 beaten eggs. Then add ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon ginger, ½ teaspoon nutmeg, 2 teaspoon cinnamon and ½ teaspoon allspice (or add 2 ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice). Then blend in 2 cups of canned pumpkin and 2 cups milk. Pour this soupy mixture into the pie crust and bake at 450 F for 15 minutes, then decrease temperature to 400 F and bake for 25 minutes or until firm.

If you haven’t ever tried making a homemade pie, give it a try. Your family will love it. If you want some hands-on experience, visit me at Cornerstone Cheesecakes and I will make a pie with you. I never need an excuse for throwing a pie together, and the ovens are always warm. Happy Holidays!