Each year I look forward to getting out my Christmas decorations. While it’s not yet Thanksgiving, I am already looking forward to all of the favorite things I’ll unpack. Sometimes the anticipation is half the fun.
With ornaments, our Nativity, and all of the other holiday items, there’s something so special about adding festive touches to our homes.
This year I’m especially excited to get some fresh inspiration from our latest volume of Christmas with Southern Lady. This new coffee-table book has pages and pages of décor and entertaining ideas. I love seeing the beautiful ways that my fellow Southern women have decorated their homes, and I’m always inspired by the beautiful giftwrap ideas created by our editors.
I couldn’t resist sharing one of the creative ways that you can create a delicious treat to share with loved ones this year. They have a variety of “goodies to give” that all sound as fun to make as they would be to receive.
- 8 cups pecan halves
- 2 (12-ounce) bags semisweet chocolate morsels, melted
- 3 cups sugar
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 1½ cups light corn syrup
- Coarse kosher salt
- In a large bowl, combine pecan halves and melted chocolate, stirring to coat. Drop pecan mixture by rounded tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto parchment paper. Let stand for 1 hour, or until chocolate is set.
- In a large heavy-bottomed Dutch oven, combine sugar, cream, and corn syrup over medium-high heat. Stir constantly until sugar mixture registers 240° on a candy thermometer. Remove from heat, and let cool until sugar mixture registers 190°. Spoon mixture over top of each pecan cluster, and sprinkle with kosher salt. Let stand for 1 hour, or until completely cool. Store in an airtight container.