TGP - In A Nutshell ;)

The Gilded Pecan got its name from the pecan tree in my parents' yard. It's big.  No, seriously, y'all, it's gigantic. We don't know how old it is, but I've only seen pictures of pecan trees that are as large or larger (we've never taken measurements - probably should)! My guess is that it's well over 100 years old, and maybe closer to 200.  Lord only knows.

My parents bought a now century-old home and 4 1/2 acres in an adorable small town in Mississippi fortysomething years ago, and this lovely old tree has been the source of beauty, shade, and culinary goodness for us since the 1970s. She is the Grande Dame of the property (immediately behind my mother, of course, and yes I did "have" to say that), and one of the things that makes my childhood home truly HOME. I was maybe 3 or 4 when Daddy let me climb up into that tree with him, and it was awesome. Mama, on the ground, lamented this decision, but my heart soared higher than those branches to be up there. 

We've had family reunions underneath her, picked up myriad gallons of pecans from the ground underneath those massive branches, and played in the dappled shade beneath her (presently, there resides a playground set that my parents got for my own children). 

Over the years, my love of heights has diminished, but not my feelings for home and for that gigantic, lush tree. the memories, what she stands for in my heart, are irresolute. When I was naming this business, it was one of the first ideas that came to me, and I dared not think further. It's a nod to my family, to my parents who gifted us with an almost magical childhood by making a twenty-grand real estate purchase in 1972, and to the love and support they have given us over the years. 

In the same vein, I hope that what I create for you at The Gilded Pecan studio will give you your own precious memories upon which you can look back over the years with fondness, pride, and a happy smile!