The pecans in their husks on the tree. The nuts are ready when the green outer husks split open and the nuts in their shells inside can fall out to the ground with a vigorous shake.
Buzz the dry ingredients in your food processor until the butter is evenly distributed, then add the egg yolk (buzz,buzz), then the iced water. Buzz until it has come together in a ball. Or make it by hand. Crumble the butter and flour together with your fingertips until you have the mixture that looks like sand, and then pour in the egg yolk and water, and bring the mixture together with a rounded knife.
With you hands, knead the pastry together until you have a smooth ball. I then like to roll it out between two sheets of baking paper. Roll it out until it is slightly larger than your tin. Ease it into the tin, pressing it gently into the corners. Trim it up but keep the trimmings for later. Prick the floor of the pastry case with a fork. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Preheat your oven to 180°C/350F and place a large baking sheet in your oven.
When the pastry is chilled, remove it from the fridge and line it with a piece of used baking paper that you have crumpled up into a ball then smoothed out. Fill the case with baking beads (or rice or dried legumes). Place it on the hot baking sheet in the oven and bake it for about 30 mins, then remove the paper and beads, and put it back in the oven for about 10 mins, until it is golden brown.
Remove from oven and leave aside, still on the baking sheet. Use little bits of the pastry trimmings as polyfilla to fill in any cracks or gaps that have developed in your pastry shell.
Heat honey, sugar and butter together until melted, not boiling. Set aside to cool. Whisk together the sugar mixture with the chopped pecans, lemon juice and the eggs and pour into pastry case, without spilling the mixture over the edges. You don't want a soggy base. Place the perfect pecan halves around the edge of the tin. Bake at 180C until firm and caramel in colour (about 25 - 30 minutes). Serve warm or cold, with cream or ice cream.
The beginnings of a pecan pie. Spelt flour gives the pastry a lovely texture, colour and taste.
Early morning walk along the coast. Ebeltoft, Denmark.
How every birthday should begin. Sailing off Jutland, Denmark.
All aboard! Birthday lunch and drinks.
Upturned dingies above the high tide mark. Ebeltoft, Denmark.
Celebrated Danish gardener, Claus Dalby's garden. Aarhus, Denmark.
Claus' garden is laid out as as series of different rooms.
'A greenhouse for humans' is how Claus described his greenhouse to me. It even contains an open fire place and small kitchenette for entertaining.
Another of Claus' three greenhouses.
Green embassy, Aarhus. Providing information on sustainable living and urban gardening.
La Cabra coffee shop. This one's in the latin quarter, but there are so many lovely places to go in Aarhus.