Mema's Pecan Pie

Sam Steed

My family has always had one family tradition that has always stuck: a get-together on Christmas Eve. The party has always been held at my house, so my mom stresses out the whole week.

Since my family is made up of all boys, we can really make a house dirty while we are all home. She always yells at us to pick up our rooms, help around the house, and sometimes it comes down to her telling us to go do something so she can clean the house. We only have the whole family over once a year, so it's a big deal for my mom.

My grandma, or Mema, as everyone called her, died about four years ago. She used to make pecan every year. After she passed away, my mother started to make the pie. I'm not sure how our recipe is different from everyone else's pecan pie, but we have always used the same one. My mom has never been a big baker, but she does always stick to this recipe.

On Christmas Eve, my family comes over around seven so we can eat dinner together. There are usually around twenty people at the house, and everyone brings some type of food to the party. We don't really sit down as one to eat; we lay out all the food on the kitchen table and let everyone eat as they please.

Our family will save the pecan pie until the Christmas Day. After we open up presents, our close family comes over again, and then we eat as a family. What we eat for lunch changes sometimes, but the dessert is always the same: Mema's Pecan Pie.