This side dish features two kinds of cheese, nuts and vegetables baked together to tasty perfection.  It’s quick and easy to prepare with the help of cooked rice.

Caramelized Onion, Smoked Gouda and Pecan Rice Tart

2 Tablespoons butter

4 cups sliced sweet mild onion

3 cups cooked rice

3/4 cup Parmesan cheese

3 eggs

2 cups shredded smoked Gouda cheese

3/4 cup chopped pecans

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.  Heat butter in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add the sliced onion and saute for eight to 10 minutes, stirring periodically, until onions are browned and caramelized.  You can hasten the caramelizing by adding 2 Tablespoons of brown sugar to the onions just as they become translucent.

Meanwhile, combine rice, Parmesan cheese and eggs in a medium bowl.  Press the mixture into bottom of a 10-inch removable-bottom pan.  Distribute onion over crust and top with smoked Gouda and pecans.  Bake in preheated oven 12 to 15 minutes, until pecans are toasted.

Makes six servings.

Taken from Mid-South Farmer

The adult hickory shuckworm (Cydia caryana) is a small moth.  Before shell hardening, larvae tunnel into nuts, causing them to drop.  Entrance holes can often be detected by a white stain around the hole.  After pecan shells harden, larvae tunnel in the shucks and prevent kernels from developing properly.  Heavily infested nuts are likely to be poorly filled and mature later than pest-free nuts.  Injured portions of the shucks may stick to the nut shell interfering with processing and staining the shells.

Shuckworms overwinter as larvae in shucks on the ground or in trees.  Moths may begin to appear in mid-February but most moths may continue to appear well into summer.  Early in the spring, the shuckworm feeds primarily on native hickory and is often found in phylloxera galls on pecan trees.  Thus,  one of the most effective control strategies for hickory shuckworm is targeting of phylloxera galls in the spring.    Several generations of shuckworm occur each year.   Few pecan nuts become infested with shuckworms before June.  Pecans are most susceptible to damage from the shuckworm during the water through gel stages.

Until recently the standard tool for monitoring of shuckworm was a blacklight trap.  If using a blacklight trap, use at least two per orchard for sampling.  Operate traps at least three nights per week and check after each night’s operation, beginning in early June.  Apply shuckworm control when there is an increase in the number of shuckworm moths in blacklight catches for three consecutive trapping periods and when the number of captured moths reaches seven in any one blacklight trap;  or when four or more moths are caught in any blacklight trap for three trapping periods.  Pheromone traps are also available.  If pheromone traps are used, treat according to the guidelines provided for the traps.

If an orchard has a past history of high incidence of nut drop caused by hickory shuckworm prior to shell hardening , apply a shuckworm spray during June.  Monitor and continue sprays until pecans reach the half-shell hardening stage based on blacklight and or pheromone traps.

Taken from Bugwoodwiki

Natchitoches Pecans, Inc., one of Louisiana’s premier gourmet pecan orchards, is announcing the arrival of their new product: Coconut Praline Pecans. These fresh, delicious pecan candies are the perfect mix of sweet and salty glazed crunch. The bite-sized pieces make them great snacks for guests or just everyday treats that can be so addictive! The Coconut Praline Pecans are made with care from only the freshest ingredients and make an excellent gift idea for any occasion, especially during the holidays. Natchitoches Pecans creates custom corporate gourmet pecan gift orders all year around.

Natchitoches Pecans has both the online store for easy purchases from the comfort of your home or office, and the retail store. The retail store is located on their Little Eva Plantation orchard where visitors can browse all the amazing gifts and fresh, delicious gourmet pecan treats in person when visiting Natchitoches, Louisiana. Their featured products are the gourmet fancy pecan halves, the in-shell pecans, and the cracked pecans packaged in novelty burlap bags. The gourmet pecans, pecan candies, and a variety of pecan gifts are available online. Also available in their retail store are gifts including candles, Fleur De Lis themed items, an LSU corner, a New Orleans Saints corner, award winning cookbooks, and unique one-of-a-kind hand-made ornaments (some made from okra pods, some from cypress knees, some from pine cones, and even some from Louisiana oyster shells). Visitors will also find homemade jellies, honey, ribbon cane syrup, roasted pecan syrup, and even gourmet Cajun pickles. Special blends of gourmet coffee include Little Eva Blend and Southern Pecan.

Some of the gourmet pecan flavors Natchitoches Pecans offers are Grand Marnier chocolate pecans, milk chocolate pecans, rum pecans, cinnamon spice pecans, dark chocolate pecans, old fashion cane pecans, honey pecans (made with real honey), chocolate praline pecans, roasted salted pecans, yogurt pecans. Oh and let’s not forget creamy pralines, chewy pralines, divinity, pecan logs, and pecan pies. Sugar free pecans available in chocolate and cinnamon glazed. Sugar free roasted pecan flavored syrup is available also.

Join their Facebook page or visit their blog for up-to-date photos and information on what is happening at Natchitoches Pecans.

Just when we think it could not get any hotter it gets hotter!! Triple digits this week with heat index on up there. Mark is spraying again – fungicide for “scab” and miticide for mites. Aphids are showing up as it is easy to see the “honeydew” on the trees but aphid counts have not been high enough to justify treating them. Mark has been scouting the trees on “Juggs”. Juggs is the huge quarter horse gelding that we call the “gentle giant of the pecan orchard”. It is easy to ride him underneath the trees to inspect the leaves for pests. The nuts are sizing up nicely but with the heat as it has been for the last few days we will be in need of a good rain hopefully within the next 7 to 10 days. I will be posting info about the different pests that we scout for during the growing season so check back often to learn about our “nutty” business!

Yellow and black pecan aphids are small, soft bodied insects with piercing sucking mouthparts.  Yellow aphids are characteristically yellow in appearance.  Black aphids are a “dull” black in color.  During the process of feeding they excrete a clear sugary material called “honeydew”.  Honeydew is the substance that gives pecan trees a shiny glistening appearance during epidemic aphid infestations.  If you have parked a car under a pecan tree and noticed the car to have a sticky feel to it, then you know what honeydew is.  Honeydew serves as a food source for  sooty mold, which can cover the pecan leaves when humidity is high.  Sooty mold can reduce photosynthesis which in turn reduces the pecan tree’s ability for adequate carbohydrate production.

Yellow and black pecan aphids can significantly reduce pecan yields.  Both aphids suck photosynthates from leaves, excrete “honeydew’, and reduce the flow of nutrients to nuts.  Damaging infestations of yellow aphids can cause whole leaves to turn yellow and possibly shed.  Black aphid damage is characterized by small, chlorotic areas on the leaflets.  Heavy infestations cause rapid leaf shed.  Both aphids can cause premature leaf shed, reduced nut quality, and subsequent yield reductions the following season.

Consider treatment when infestations of yellow pecan aphids exceed 25 per compound leaf, indicating the onset of an outbreak.  Scouting the orchard on a 4 to 5 day schedule will determine if yellow pecan aphid numbers are increasing or decreasing and dictate the need for insecticide treatment.  The need for treatment should not be based on the amount of honeydew alone, as infestations often decline rapidly (“crash”) because of weather or physiological effects.  Black aphids usually do not require controls until late season.  After mid-July, black aphids should be treated when there are an average of two to three per compound leaf.

This nut bread has just the right taste of spice that makes it perfect for any season. It is great for an after-school snack for the kids or fancy enough for brunch.

Pineapple/Raisin Nut Bread

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup pecan oil (may substitute canola oil)
1 cup crushed pineapple, drained
3 eggs
1 teaspoon rum extract (may substitute vanilla extract)
1 cup chopped pecans
3/4 cup raisins

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugars, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cloves. In a small bowl, whisk the oil, pineapple, eggs and extract. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in pecans and raisins.

Spoon into two greased 8-in. x 4-in. loaf pans. Bake at 325 degrees for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from loaf pans. May be sprinkled with a touch a powdered sugar before serving.

Last week was spray time again in the pecan orchard. This spray application included fungicide to help control “scab”, and insecticide to help control nut curculio, pecan shuckworm, second generation casebearer, and mites. The two inches of rain earlier of last week was much needed. We could really use two to three inches more within the next few days. The nuts are really beginning to be easier to spot on the pecan trees from the ground as you pass by. The next few weeks should really see the pecans jump in size. Only about 12 weeks left before pecan harvest. Lots to get done before then — this nut farm is a work house!!!! Be checking out you tube as I will be posting video of the pecan sprayer spraying the trees.

Summertime is great for grilling or just hanging out with friends.  The following is delicious to top off that burger or spread on your choice of fresh bread (my favorite is sour dough).

Fruit & Pecan Pimiento Cheese

1 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup diced pimientos

1/3 cup finely chopped pecans

1/4 cup minced onion

1/4 cup dried cranberries, chopped

2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1/4 teaspoon ground paprika

1/4 teaspoon salt

Combine Cheddar cheese, cream cheese, pimientos, onion, cranberries, parsley, Worcestershire, paprika, and salt, mixing to blend.  Refrigerate until ready to use.  Pimiento cheese can be stored, covered in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Blueberries are at their peak and here is a tasty recipe that is so easy and of course pecans top it off!!

Blueberries Ramona
2 cups fresh blueberries
3 tablespoons sour cream
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 cup Coconut Praline Pecans
chopped
Whipped cream for topping
Mix the first three ingredients together. Place in serving dishes, top with whipped cream and then sprinkle chopped pecans on top. Mmmm – delicious!!

Well, summer is definitely here! Our temps are in the upper 90′s but with Louisiana’s humidity the heat index is well over 100 degrees. The orchard received 2 to 3 inches of rain last week. It was so dry before the rain that “cracks” were showing up on the orchard floor. We have had many days with lots of sunshine. Pollination appears to have been very good this pecan bloom season. The tiny nuts are really beginning to show up. Since the rain I swear it seems as if the tiny baby nutlets have doubled in size. Desirable variety looks to have a good nut set. Elliott variety is spotty. Most of Mark’s pecan tree grafts appear to have been successful. He was some upset last week because a squirrel had destroyed one of his grafts. The squirrel had torn through the aluminum foil and the parafilm that was supporting the graft and then shredded the already budded out shoot! I guess Mark will declare war on these pesky little varmits. Later this month Mark will be headed to the annual pecan meeting that is being held in Vicksburg, Mississippi. Fellow pecan growers will gather to discuss current issues concerning the pecan industry and then Ben Littlepage will give his famous pecan guesstimate for the 2010 pecan crop. This meeting has always been very informative.

We have a new flavor of Gourmet Pecans. It is Coconut Praline Pecans. The pecans are dry roasted and then glazed. The taste is sweet salty with a nice crunch. Customers that have tasted a sample quickly grab a bag to buy. If you are in the area our retail store is open on Fridays and Saturdays from 9 am to 5 pm. So be sure to stop by!! All for now — Julie Swanson