Don't Knock it 'til You Try it Buttermilk Pie

I know what you're thinking, "This sounds gross. Next recipe." Everyone has always been skeptical about this pie for some reason; I never was, I guess because I grew up eating this on very cold winter days. I guess we ate this in the winter doldrums, because there aren't any fresh or seasonal ingredients ingredients it depends on. Whatever reason behind the timing, I didn't care; I was just happily surprised whenever mom made it. She doesn't even know how long it has been in the family recipe tin, whether it's only been a few generations or several, it will be in there when I pass it along.

My dad has come to regularly request this pie; it has joined the ranks of his chosen desserts: chocolate chip cookies fresh out of the oven, our family's boiled custard and pound cake, and plain old ice cream. Aside from the aforementioned favorites, he would rather feast on steak than think about eating a slice of cake (I am somehow coded the exact opposite).


So fast forward form my childhood winters to the office birthday party for my super-southern co-worker (the SYMG co-worker). We celebrated her fortieth birthday with sweet potato pie--see, super-southern. She's a pie girl tried and true, and she loves buttermilk pie--I had never met anyone who has had it before, so I knew I had to make one for her belated present. FYI/P.S.- Presents from me are ALWAYS belated and they never come with cards.

**Funny side note: her husband decorated her office in black and placed a Styrofoam tombstone with black roses and a gold rotary dial phone glued to it that read "JESUS CALLED."

Make this pie. Just do it. It is divine--it's just sweet enough and has a smooth, custard-like filling.  The hardest part is waiting for it to cool completely. It keeps in the refrigerator until it is gone...which will not be that long. This pie is fairly hard to mess up...unless you over bake it. Take it out as soon as it looks like it is set, not a moment later.

3 eggs
1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
1 cup sugar
2 T flour
1 t vanilla
1 cup buttermilk*
pie crust

Preheat oven to 325. Don't let the egg roll off the counter while you do this. Roll out the pie crust and fit in the pie dish (or take the one you bought from the grocery out of the freezer). I used a fork to make little decorative marks on the crust. We got a late arrival to work the morning I made this, so I figured, why rush?





Scramble the eggs. Add the melted
butter, sugar, and flour. Add the vanilla and buttermilk.



Pour filling into the pie dish and bake for about an hour--JUST until the pie is set. Cool completely before serving.

When you make it, place the shell on a cookie sheet
before you pour the filling. It gets very full!

Like this.

*In general, when a recipe calls for buttermilk, you may substitute with regular milk and vinegar. Add one tablespoon of vinegar to one cup, less one tablespoon of milk and let set for a few minutes. I would advise against this here, just because this is BUTTERMILK pie...it's the star of the dish.