WELCOME to Nest by Tamara blog

WELCOME to Nest by Tamara blog
Hi- It's Tamara. I'm happy you've stopped by, and since 2010 I've been sharing my passion for interior design, history, art, entertaining, travel & fashion. I am an interior designer, textile designer and writer living and working in New York City and East Hampton, Long Island. My musings have taken me to international design, art, antique and epicurean events and I have lots to share. I'm grateful to have been listed as the #1 top design blog, blogs to watch, top design blogs and named and awarded Rising Star of Design by the IFDA NY industry organization. Please feel free to reach out to our team for an interior design consultation at NestbyTamara.com -Tamara

RECIPE SHARE: Tamara's Pecan Pie with Bourbon, Chocolate & Agave

California Dreaming & Pie Baking,
A Delicious "Wing-It" Pecan Pie with 
Chocolate, Agave & Kentucky Bourbon

  1. we set our Thanksgiving table with root cellar designs' linens, and our great grandmother's antique plates.





we served our Thanksgiving meal on Lucia's beautiful, Mexican Terra-cotta bowls and platters.


  1. It was Thanksgiving
  2. and we traveled to California, and decided to help our hosts by cooking the meal with lots of fun and chaos ensuing.  To me, this holiday is all about being with our loved ones, and because my brother and sister-in-law live on the opposite coast we were happy to travel to be with them and their little ones.  It wasn't my own kitchen, so I was winging it a bit, but we pulled the meal together with a team effort.  I have never made a pecan pie before, and I was a little unsure about baking one with all the other dishes we were preparing.  We had a stuffed turkey and still had all the fixings to contend with.  I realized we lacked some of the ingredients for the pie, but with the nice big bag of beautiful, California pecans on hand, I was determined.  We created this delicious pie by adding a really good Bourbon & German chocolate chips.  Most recipes call for corn syrup, which we did not have nor do I like, so we replaced it with agave, which gave it a lovely light, honey-like flavor.  I used brown sugar instead of half sugar and half brown sugar like some of the recipes called for, and I only slightly crushed the pecans in my hand after toasting them because it's nice to bite into a big piece of pecan.  I also added one whole cup of extra pecans to my recipe from the others I read because I dislike the jelly-like consistency of cheap pecan pies.  It was really, really good and very flavorful so please enjoy...
  3. Happy Holidays!
  4. Happy Nesting
  5. XO Tamara
  6. Tamara's Pecan Pie
  7. Ingredients:
  8. Pie Filling
  9. 1 cup of brown sugar
  10. 3 large eggs
  11. 1 cup of Agave
  12. 3 cups of toasted pecans, slighting crumbled 
  13. (but mostly whole)
  14. 1 stick melted butter
  15. 2 pinches of kosher salt
  16. 1/2 cup of semi-sweet dark chocolate chips 
  17. 2 Tablespoons Good Kentucky Bourbon

  18. Pie Crust:
  19. It was Thanksgiving, and I made the whole dinner 
  20. (don't judge me) so I bought a pre-made pie crust I found in the refrigerator section of the supermarket.  
  21. We simply rolled it out thin and filled a 9" glass pie pan, then crimped the edges (my daughter did this) and refrigerated it for 30 minutes before filling it.  

  22. Heat the oven to 350 degree.
  • start by spreading the pecans out on a cookie sheet and lightly toast them.  Let them cool.  
  • combine the melted butter with the brown sugar, agave, salt in a large mixing bowl and stir then whisk by hand until emulsified.
  • fold in the eggs, combine well by hand for a minute.
  • add the pecans and chocolate chips and then the Bourbon and stir until mixed thoroughly.  
fill the pie pan and bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour---keeping watch and until it looks firm and the crust is nice and caramel brown color.