Chocolate Pecan Pie

There's a bake off at work today. And I normally wouldn't enter anything because I'm not very experienced in the kitchen. I do love to bake way more than cook but my baking usually consists of emptying a box of brownie mix into a bowl and added an egg and the end! And not to mention there are a bunch of very experienced bakers and cooks up here at work that are always bringing something homemade, especially around the holidays. But when I got word that almost everyone was taking off today for whatever reason (it's Friday and people usually take off to have a long weekend or for a quick weekend trip out of town somewhere), I figured I might actually have a chance at this. The bake off judging starts at noon today and as far as I know, I'm the only entry so far...pretty good odds, huh? :)

I also wanted to take this opportunity to attempt my first ever pie. I chose to bake Paula Dean's Chocolate Pecan Pie from Kelly's Korner. And here it is:

I apologize for the iPhone pic but I was ready to go to bed! And looky there...I even bought a special pie plate for the occasion! They're judging on presentation too!

This actually wasn't my "first" pie ever...it was my second. I had to make a test one for David to try out before I attempted the one that was going to be judged!

The first one turned out really gooey and not done enough (but it actually looks better this morning and I brought it to work to share with everyone that isn't judging). But I'm afraid this one might be a little over done. Oh well, I tried and now I know how to do it. I'll let you know the results!