Bill Text: TX HCR53 | 2013-2014 | 83rd Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Designating pecan pie as the official State Pie of Texas.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-04-04 - Referred to Administration [HCR53 Detail]
Download: Texas-2013-HCR53-Introduced.html
| 83R6099 JGH-D | ||
| By: Farney | H.C.R. No. 53 | |
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| WHEREAS, Of all the Lone Star State's unique culinary dishes, | ||
| perhaps none say "Texas" more sweetly than pecan pie; and | ||
| WHEREAS, The pecan tree, which was officially designated as | ||
| the State Tree in 1919, is indigenous to North America and native to | ||
| 152 counties in Texas, where it grows in river valleys; the State | ||
| Health Nut, the pecan is the state's only commercially grown nut, | ||
| and Texas pecan growers account for more than 20 percent of all the | ||
| pecans grown in the United States; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Though there are many ways to enjoy pecans, it is | ||
| practically a given among Texans that they belong, first and | ||
| foremost, in a pie; the earliest record of this distinctive dessert | ||
| dates to the late 19th century; the weekly humor magazine Texas | ||
| Siftings described it in February 1886 as being "not only | ||
| delicious" but "capable of being made into a 'real state pie,'" and | ||
| in March 1914, the Christian Science Monitor featured a recipe for | ||
| "Texas Pecan Pie" with a custard filling that called for a cup of | ||
| sweet milk, a cup of sugar, three well-beaten eggs, a tablespoon of | ||
| flour, and half a cup of "finely chopped pecan meats"; and | ||
| WHEREAS, It was around 1930 when the pie became the | ||
| syrup-based creation it is today; the wife of an executive at the | ||
| Karo Syrup company combined that product with pecans to make a pie, | ||
| and it proved to be an irresistible mixture; the pie subsequently | ||
| gained national recognition through advertisements forever linking | ||
| the syrup with pecans in the public's mind; recipes for pecan pie | ||
| began appearing in such popular cookbooks as The Joy of Cooking and | ||
| The Fannie Farmer Cookbook in the 1940s, and it became a staple in | ||
| restaurants across the state and nation; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Pecan pie recipes are varied and numerous, with | ||
| differences regarding the sugar-to-syrup ratio and the size and | ||
| consistency of the nuts, and are a matter of debate, strong opinion, | ||
| and deeply held family tradition; yet Texans generally agree on two | ||
| things: Texas pecan pies are, hands down, the best, especially when | ||
| made with Texas pecans by a Texan, and secondly, whether served hot | ||
| or cold, with a scoop of ice cream or without, pecan pie is indeed | ||
| the perfect ending to any meal; now, therefore, be it | ||
| RESOLVED, That the 83rd Legislature of the State of Texas | ||
| hereby designate pecan pie as the official State Pie of Texas. | ||
