Happy Mother's Day! It's been a celebration weekend for sure - honoring friends with graduations, friends with birthdays and of course, my mom and those who have been like a mom to me. I'm now sitting on my sun porch enjoying the beautiful weather and the springtime chatter of the birds chirping, lawn mowers humming and kids laughing on the swingset.

One of the celebrations this weekend was for the birthday of a dear friend of mine. It has become tradition with us to meet at our favorite Greek restaurant whenever we get together for dinner. Since I was hosting at my house, I figured I would bring the Greek to us! On the menu was chicken souvlaki, homemade pita, Greek salad and baklava. None of which I had ever made before. The pressure was on!

First up to make was the baklava. I researched several recipes and settled on one by The Pioneer Woman. Baklava, if you've never had it, is comprised of layers of flaky phyllo dough and nuts tossed in cinnamon with a sticky honey syrup mixture poured all over top. Delicious!!

One of the main ingredients in baklava is nuts. I've seen recipes that use walnuts, pistachios or pecans or some combination. I chose to use equal amounts of pistachios and pecans, two of my favorite nuts. A quick note about nuts - I have a steadfast rule that I always toast my nuts before adding to pretty much any recipe (savory or sweet). Toasting brings out the flavor of the nut and also gives it a crispy texture. Trust me, it's worth the extra step.

So after the nuts are toasted, pour them into the bowl of a food processor and add in some cinnamon and pulse the nuts a few times until they are evenly chopped into small bits. Then set that aside.

Phyllo (FEE-loh) dough, which can be found in the frozen desserts section, comes in boxes with two packages of dough. You'll only need one package for the baklava. You'll also want to the thaw the dough in advance. Either place in the refrigerator the night before, or if you forget (like I did), you can let it thaw on the countertop for a couple of hours. A quick word on phyllo dough - it's a very thin and paper-like dough and dries out very quickly. It's important to keep any dough you're not working with, covered in plastic and then a damp cloth on top.

Before we start working with the phyllo, we need to melt some butter so we have it at the ready. Now that everything is in place, take two sheets of the phyllo dough and place on a clean surface. (Remember to cover the remaining dough with plastic and the damp cloth!) Brush the melted butter on top of the top layer of dough and then place in a greased 9x13 pan, buttered side down. Grab another two sheets of dough, butter the top layer and place in the pan, again, buttered side down. Repeat this process again; you'll now have six total layers of dough (three of them buttered).

Bring over that bowl of nuts and grab a good handful or two of nuts and sprinkle evenly over the phyllo dough. Take another two sheets of phyllo dough, butter the top layer, place in pan (buttered side down) and again sprinkle nuts over the top. Repeat this process until you've used up all the nuts. Then, just as we did in the beginning, top with six sheets of dough, adding in batches of two, with the top layer buttered. Brush a final coat of butter over the top.

Before we bake, we need to pre-cut the baklava with a sharp knife. Traditionally, baklava is cut on the diagonal to make diamond shaped pieces. If this is too fancy for you, you can always cut into traditional squares.

Bake the baklava in a 350 oven for 45 minutes or until a deep golden brown.

While the baklava is baking, we need to make the honey syrup-y nectar of the gods mixture. This is a crucial part of the baklava - it's the source of a lot of the flavor and all the sticky sweetness. In a saucepan, combine butter, honey, sugar, water and vanilla until it comes to a boil. Reduce to low and let simmer for about 10-15 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside until the baklava is done baking.

Once the baklava is done baking, drizzle the honey syrup all over the top and let it seep into all the nooks and crannies. Then comes the hardest step...waiting for it to cool! It's actually very important to let it sit uncovered for several hours so that the honey syrup can set and all the flavors meld together.

I was able to follow these directions and wait to dig into the baklava until my guests had arrived (but man, it was hard). During the evening, I learned that one of my friends had studied abroad in Greece and she said this baklava reminded her of the ones that her host mother would make. Wow....such high praise!

I ended up making a few modifications from the original recipe. First, I toasted the nuts. Second, I increased the cinnamon from 1 tsp to 1 Tbsp. Lastly, I reduced the amount of honey from 2 cups to about 1 1/2 cup (a 12 oz bottle). I think these changes allowed for each of the ingredients to distinctly shine through without overpowering the others. O-YUM-G!

Here's the full recipe:

BAKLAVA

For the nut/phyllo layers:

2 cups pistachios
2 cups pecans
1 Tbsp cinnamon
6 Tbsp butter, melted
1 package phyllo dough, thawed

For the honey syrup mixture:

1 stick of butter
12 oz bottle honey (approx. 1 1/3 cup)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1 Tbsp vanilla

Toast nuts and place in bowl of food processor with the cinnamon. Pulse a few times until evenly chopped into small bits. Set aside.

Melt the butter. Take two sheets of phyllo dough and place on a clean surface. (Remember to cover the remaining dough with plastic and the damp cloth!) Brush the melted butter on the top layer of dough and place in a greased 9x13 pan, buttered side down. Grab another two sheets of dough, butter the top layer and place in the pan, again, buttered side down. Repeat this process again; you'll now have six total layers of dough (three of them buttered).

Sprinkle a handful or two of nuts evenly over the phyllo dough. Take another two sheets of phyllo dough, butter the top layer, place in pan (buttered side down) and again sprinkle nuts over the top. Repeat until all the nuts are used. Top with six sheets of dough, adding in batches of two, with the top layer buttered. Brush a final coat of butter over the top.

Pre-cut the baklava with a sharp knife into either diamonds or squares

Bake the baklava in a 350 oven for 45 minutes or until a deep golden brown.

While the baklava is baking, combine butter, honey, sugar, water and vanilla in a saucepan until it comes to a boil. Reduce to low and let simmer for about 10-15 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside until the baklava is done baking.

Once the baklava is done baking, drizzle the honey syrup all over the top and let it seep into all the nooks and crannies. Let sit uncovered for several hours.

Yields 24 pieces.

Recipe adapted from The Pioneer Woman