National Pecan Sandies Day

Yet another food holiday -- I love it! Each day there is a reason to celebrate food, though some festivities -- like National Strawberry Shortcake Day -- are more fun than others (February 29: National Frog Legs Day).

Today is National Pecan Sandies Day: a tribute to those fabulous shortbread cookies which are rich with both butter and toasted nuts. Perfect with iced tea or milk or coffee, they really require no embellishment. And yet ....

It seemed a shame to just leave the cookies sitting on a plate, looking forlorn. Why not dress them up a bit for their big day? I debated whether to crush some to form the crust of a pie or cheesecake, but it seemed that this would hide them rather than letting them shine in the spotlight.

And so, I compromised: I crushed a few cookies to disperse them throughout a sundae, letting their crunch and flavor complement the simple beauty of a good quality vanilla ice cream, and letting their natural affinity for chocolate play a role, as well.

But then, for use as both garnish and dipper, I left a sandie intact for each serving. It is National Pecan Sandie Day, after all, not Cookie Crumb Celebration Day ....

Pecan Sandie Sundae

4 cups vanilla ice cream
1-1/3 cups Sanders milk chocolate hot fudge, slightly warmed
12 pecan sandies

Place half-cup ice cream into each of 4 serving dishes, then drizzle with a few tablespoons of hot fudge.

Reserve 4 cookies for garnish, then crush the remaining cookies. Divide half of the crumbs among the ice cream servings.

Divide the remaining ice cream among the serving dishes, then sprinkle the rest of the crumbs over it. Pour the remainder of the hot fudge sauce over the tops of the desserts, and garnish each with a whole cookie.

Serves 4.