Super Simple Dessert - Buttermilk Pie

Warning:  This post will most likely appeal to baby boomers and people who like to eat...so, read on!

Remember when Sunday dinners were special?  Maybe a nice pot roast with carrots and potatoes waiting in the crock pot after church.  Or, perhaps a late lunch, smelling that chicken frying in the kitchen and hearing your tummy growl. And, of course, there was dessert!!!  Even if it was just a Jello mold topped with whipped cream, there had to be dessert to finish off the meal and push us into the stupor resulting in that other tradition known as the Sunday afternoon nap!

Did we, as youth, even realize how hard our mothers or grandmothers worked to pull off a big meal like that?  Did we truly appreciate their efforts?!?!?!  Knowing what is involved in such a cooking endeavor, I am more than a little daunted by the traditional Sunday Dinner.

Now, I have to brag and say that we do cook and eat homemade at our house quite a bit.  We like to watch what we eat and keep the amount of highly processed and unhealthy foods down to a minimum.  We might have one meal out each week - more like a "date" than anything.  So, there is quite a bit of cooking that goes on at our casa, most of it pretty simple in nature.  Eddie Dale is way more creative and adventurous in the kitchen, whereas I am definitely one of those "the fewer the ingredients, the better" cooks.

With that in mind, let me just say that this pie recipe is the epitome of EASY and can make any simple meal special.  And, on top of being EASY, it is DELICIOUS!!!  Does it get any better?!?!?  (I know, I know...if someone else would just cook it for you......)

Buttermilk Pie 

8 Tbsp. butter, melted - do NOT use margarine, NEVER EVER! 

1/2 cup buttermilk

3 eggs, at room temperature 

1/4 cup flour 

1-1/2 cup sugar

1/2-1 tsp. vanilla extract

9-inch unbaked pie shell - doesn't require a deep dish, although I have used one with no problem

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Mix first six ingredients together in large mixing bowl; whisk until well blended.  Pour into the  uncooked pie shell.  Bake 38 - 45 minutes.  Top will brown nicely and the center will be just about "set" somewhere after the 38 minute mark - so keep an eye on it. As long as the middle isn't jiggling when you slide it out, you should be good.  

Helpful Hints - 

I use a store bought crust - either frozen, or refrigerated.  I have to admit that the Pillsbury refrigerated crust looks more like I made it from scratch, though; especially when I bake it in my Pyrex pie plate!

I have this terrific pie crust cover that I can put over the pie plate to to keep the edges of the crust from getting overcooked.  If you don't have one, you can easily rig some foil around the edges to protect the crusts during cooking.

Since we don't guzzle buttermilk around our place, I buy the smallest container of buttermilk I can find.  Typically this is a pint "chub" for less than $1; if I don't use it all, I don't feel guilty about washing it down the drain. 

We prefer salted butter for this recipe; I lean heavy on the vanilla extract, using a full teaspoon; 

and, I haven't experienced any difference in the results if I don't let the eggs come completely to room temperature.  Just sayin'....

My pie didn't turn out particularly pretty - mostly because I was using such a deep dish, so it sort of collapsed into itself.  But, gosh dang, it was delicious!!!

Oh, and by the way, why don't we have Jello molds anymore?  Those were pretty cool.....especially if there was fruit cocktail mixed in!  When was the last time you had that?!?!?  If you were a child of the 60's, even the 70's, you know exactly what I'm talking about.....

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