NATCHEZ &045; Curtis Moroney stumbled upon his Christmas tradition.

Moroney decided he wanted to have a homemade treat to put up for auction at the annual Rotary Club auction, about seven years later Moroney’s pralines bring in between $50 and $75 a can at the auction and are earning quite a name around town.

&uot;I was fascinated by some of the things we sold at the auction and how much people would pay,&uot; the Rotary Club member said. &uot;I was not a fan of pralines and I’d never made them before, but the first time I made them they came out great.&uot;

Moroney gathered recipes from friends and family and adjusted them to create his own. The recipe he used on the first batch is more or less the same one he uses today.

&uot;I’d heard how much trouble they were to make,&uot; he said. &uot;But I took them to a church Christmas party, and everybody just loved them. That kind of strokes the old ego.&uot;

Once Moroney realized he had his signature item for the auction, he made samples to hand out for free and several cans to auction off.

Since then the pralines have become gifts for his children’s teachers, gifts for friends and party treats.

At this year’s auction, held in the first week of December, Moroney’s pralines brought in $300 to be used for local charities.

His recipe isn’t written down anywhere and he said he eyeballs the ingredients, but he is passing the tradition on to his 10-year-old son Andrew.

&uot;He knows the secrets,&uot; said Moroney, who admitted his wife knows the basics.

During the holidays the workload increases with the auction and gift deliveries to friends.

&uot;I can make a batch on my lunch break,&uot; he said. &uot;I start making them as soon as I go home, and I’m eating lunch at the same time, but I can finish them by the end.&uot;

Though he said he never had trouble with the praline horror stories he’d heard from other cooks, he did say the timing does have to be just about perfect to get the best batch.

He’s never kept track of how much money he puts into a praline can, but said the biggest expense was the pecans at about $8 a pound right now. Each batch uses about half a pound of pecans.