pie - grace grits and gardening

Dear Sunday Letter friends,

This morning my heart is full of gratefulness, and I want to share it with you.

I just returned from a weekend nature-writing retreat at Rockvale Writers’ Colony in middle Tennessee. What a fabulous three days! I’ll probably write more about my experiences there, but for now I’ll just say I came home with a big dose of Vitamin N (Vitamin Nature). The owner of the colony referred to the experience as soul-keeping, and that’s exactly what it was, taking a little time to tend to myself, to immerse myself in nature, to just be.

You know, we go to the doctor to get our bodies tuned up. We try to eat right and get a little physical exercise, but how often do we do those things that really soothe our minds and souls?

Well, I intend to do a better job of it.

Now, as we approach Thanksgiving, I am ever-so-thankful for the way fall came on slowly this year, so slowly I worried we wouldn’t see fall color at all. And, as the leaves began to turn, they kept turning and turning until the landscape around our house truly became glorious. The color may even hang on until Thanksgiving.

This is my favorite buttermilk pie recipe. Actually, it’s the only one I’ve ever made, but why mess with something so incredibly delicious?

I’m just going to get right to the recipe. Thanksgiving is next week and no one has time for small talk.

Favorite Buttermilk Pie

Print Recipe

Ingredients

Favorite Pie Crust homemade or not
1 stick butter unsalted, melted, cooled
3 eggs room temperature
1/4 cup buttermilk
2 T flour all-purpose
1 3/4 cups sugar
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt

Instructions

First of all, read this entire recipe before you even think about cooking. This will eliminate surprises and ensure you allow enough time to assemble and bake this pie.
Secondly, gather all of your ingredients and measure them out beforehand. Yes, you will dirty more measuring cups and bowls, but you will know well in advance that you are out of vanilla or your flour has bugs in it, saving yourself a mad dash to the grocery store during mid-stir. Plus, you will feel like the Barefoot Contessa with all the little bowls sitting around pre-measured.
Be sure to melt your butter and then let it cool to room temperature. The eggs need to hang out for a bit as well. While your butter is cooling and your eggs are chillin', roll out your crust and press it into the pie pan. Press it into the corners, and try not to stretch the dough. Stretching causes shrinkage while baking. And we all know shrinkage is ugly. Trim the edges and try to make them look somewhat neatly crimped. But don't worry too much about this...a rustic-looking pie tastes better, and perfection is overrated. (I am assuming you are working with the pre-made Pillsbury pie crusts - the kind that you unroll. If you buy a pie shell, then just unwrap it.)
Once your crust is pressed into the pan and all trimmed, place it in the freezer for 30 minutes before baking. Trust me on this.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
In your KitchenAid or in a mixing bowl, mix the butter and eggs together until well combined. (Did you melt your butter and then let it come to room temperature? If not, guess what? You just made yourself some scrambled eggs. If so, stop right here, make a scrambled egg sandwich for sustenance and start over...)
Add the buttermilk and vanilla to the butter/egg mixture and mix well.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour, sugar and salt. Stir this dry mixture into your wet mixture a bit at a time until mixed. Don't over mix. At this point you may want to drink it like eggnog.
Pour the filling into the crust. If you want to add leaves or other decorations made from extra pie dough, now is the time.
Bake on the middle rack until set and lightly browned. About 45 minutes.
Cool to room temperature on a rack. Be patient.
Raspberries or other tart fruit sprinkled on top will help balance the sweetness. Don't put your raspberries on when the pie is warm. They will bleed.

See how it looks with raspberries? Very holiday-ish.

I forgot to mention… sometimes I make it in a pie pan, sometimes in a tart pan.

What’s your must-have dessert at Thanksgiving? Maybe pecan pie? I love it too. But seriously, add my favorite buttermilk pie to your dessert offerings. We need lots of sweet choices at Thanksgiving.

Grace Grits and Gardening
Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

This recipe was adapted from Central Market which adapted it from Southern Memories, by Nathalie Dupree.