Thibb’s Pecan Cottage brings tasty treats and wonderful memories
Published 7:00 pm Thursday, December 21, 2017
LONGVILLE — “Families are like fudge … mostly sweet with a few nuts.”
That’s among the signs welcoming visitors to Thibb’s Pecan Cottage, 12220 U.S. 171 just north of South Beauregard Elementary School.
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Among the vast array of pecan candies and treats for sale are pralines, divinity, pecan brittle, turtles, chocolate pecans, praline-glazed pecans, sugarglazed pecans, dark chocolate pecans, honey-toasted pecans, chocolate toffee pecans, milk chocolate macadamia nuts, English toffee, chocolate raisins, milk chocolate pretzels, pecan crunch, turtle tops, mud pies, pecan clusters and a variety of fudge flavors.
Another reads “Inside me lives a thin person. But I keep her sedated with chocolate.” That sign is by the fudge display.
{{tncms-inline content=”<div class="Content"> <p class="indent">I&rsquo;ll be making a few more trips over the next few months to this wonderful shop that brought back so many wonderful memories of my grandmother.</p> </div> <div class="Lead">&nbsp;</div>” id=”7f3ce1c9-0941-45e7-a8ad-ddbea54dcdb7″ style-type=”quote” title=”Pull Quote” type=”relcontent”}}
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I couldn’t help but chuckle out loud when I read that one because that is something my late grandmother would have said. In fact I’m pretty sure she probably did say it at one time or another.
Walking inside Thibb’s Pecan Cottage, with it’s vast array of pecan displays and selections, brought back a wealth of memories of my mother and grandmother Christmas baking.
Every year, about a week before Christmas, Mom would pack up my two sisters and me in our light blue minivan and drive to Bossier City where my grandparents lived. We’d pick Grandma up and go to a nearby park that had, in my young eyes, the largest most expansive row of pecan trees just past the slides. Grandma would give each kid a plastic grocery bag and we would make a game out of picking up as many pecans as our bags could hold.
Thibb’s Pecan Cottage’s chocolate covered almonds.
We would never even use the playground equipment because we had too much fun racing to fill the bags.
When the bags were full, we would drive back to Grandma’s house and watch John Wayne movies with Grandpa while Mom and Grandma made pecan pies, pecan sandies, pecan fudge and turtles. Since I was the oldest of the three girls, Grandma would let me operate the nut cracker and my sisters would take turns turning the handle of the nut chopper.
Thibb’s Pecan Cottage’s fudge.
When the treats were complete, Grandma and Mom would fill Christmas tins to the brim and deliver them to the workers at the post office, credit union and school board and its bus drivers.
It’s not the Christmas tree or the glowing lights on my house in December that makes it feel like the holidays.
I love those things and relish this time of year, but none of that brings back the memories of the Christmases I experienced as a child as much as the taste of pecans.
I am not an expert baker. I’m not even that good of a cook. But when it comes to the holidays, I want my kids to grow up eating the same kinds of treats I relished as a child so I loaded them up Wednesday morning and we drove to Thibb’s.
Thibb’s Pecan Cottage sale a variety of candied and covered pecan.
Among the vast array of pecan candies and treats for sale are pralines, divinity, pecan brittle, turtles, chocolate pecans, praline-glazed pecans, sugar-glazed pecans, dark chocolate pecans, honey-toasted pecans, chocolate toffee pecans, milk chocolate macadamia nuts, English toffee, chocolate raisins, milk chocolate pretzels, pecan crunch, turtle tops, mud pies, pecan clusters and a variety of fudge flavors.
With a bag of chocolate-covered pecans and almonds, shelled pecans, three pecan clusters and a square of pecan fudge in tow, we headed home to start some new traditions with my old favorites.
Typically, Thibb’s is open October through December but the kind lady behind the counter told me this year they have decided to expand their hours through February.
Thibb’s Pecan Cottage’s chocolate covered pecan clusters.
That means I’ll be making a few more trips over the next few months to this wonderful shop that brought back so many wonderful memories of my grandmother.
I’ll be making a few more trips over the next few months to this wonderful shop that brought back so many wonderful memories of my grandmother.
Thibb’s Pecan Cottage is open Monday – Saturday 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. and Sunday 1 – 6 p.m.
