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My boss is the county judge. I also work closely with the four commissioners none of whom have clerical/secretarial help. I take messages, process their mail, etc.

This year I gave them each a coupon good for one "Sweet Thing"...one cake, one pie, one batch of cookies, or one batch of candy. (I gave da judge four coupons...sssh...don't tell the commishes.) Wouldn't you know it...the bachelor among them cashed in his coupon this week! LOL A buttermilk pie:

Sherry, OK cough up the recipe looks good. Sie

It looks good! I've never tasted it, is it like a custard?

What a great idea, get to bake and not have to have it calling you until it's all gone. I love it and I'm sure they do as well.

Yes, a buttermilk pie is like a custard pie...a really decadent custard pie! The recipe calls for 2 cups of sugar, but I've been cutting it down to 1 1/4 or 1 1/2 cups...it's still rich. I've also reduced the butter. But hey...the original recipe is just so good!

Here's the original recipe:

2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter
3 rounded tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla
dash nutmeg

Cream butter and sugar. Add flour and eggs. Beat well. Add buttermilk and vanilla. Pour into a 9-inch unbaked pie shell. Sprinkled nutmeg on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes. (I start checking at 35 minutes. The middle may still be shakey, but a knife inserted in the center will come out clean.

If you haven't tried whole nutmeg and grated it yourself, you are missing a whole new depth of taste!

Speaking of unbaked pie shell, I have a new recipe! I had a good recipe but every once in a while the dough would not pull together and I'd have to add more water...which makes a tougher crust. When I got my food processor last year, I got a new recipe. This makes THE flakiest crust ever! 3 tablespoons of water for one crust instead of 5!! It's amazing...

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt

Put cover on and pulse a time or two to just blend together

1/4 pound lard cold (1/2 cup) Yep...lard. A friend is trying this with Crisco...I will report back

Cut lard into a 5-6 pieces and scatter over flour. Lid on. Pulse 3 times or so until it looks coarse with pea-sized pieces.

3 tablespoons ice cold water

Turn processor on while quickly drizzling ice water through feed tube over mixture. Turn the processor off as soon as it starts coming together. Pour out onto a piece of plastic wrap and gather together in a disc. Wrap with plastic wrap and put in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes...or over night. I have heard you can make dough in advance and freeze it, but I've never done this.

This is so flakey and melts in your mouth. I gather the scraps, smoosh them together and roll into a rectangle. Cover with softened butter and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Roll up. Cut like mini cinnamon rolls and bake until done.

And...I don't drink buttermilk. Nasty stuff. But it's one of the best things to bake/cook with...buttermilk pie, buttermilk cornbread, buttermilk gravy. Many cakes call for buttermilk. I think my waffle recipe calls for buttermilk.

Looks good!!! I'll have to save this recipe. I like a small sip of buttermilk when I have it (which is rarely) Has anyone ever tried buttermilk mash potatoes?
Great idea of giving "coupons" for when they want to use them. I know the holidays around here are just overflowing with goodies and it'd be nice to have some of those throughout the year instead of all at once.

I agree about buttermilk being nasty stuff. Yuck. But I have several recipes that call for it, which I make with 1 Tb distilled vinegar plus milk to the 1 c measurement. I'm sure the real stuff would be much better for the recipes, but I don't want to waste the rest of the quart that no one here will drink.

I just might have to get me some lard (I've never worked with it in my entire life) and try your recipe. Is it stored in the stores along with Crisco? I prefer making Wesson oil crusts because it's so easy and clean to roll out the crusts between waxpaper rather than having to deal with all that flour mess on the counter when you use butter/crisco/lard in the recipe.

A lot of my friends buy those frozen pie crusts or packaged mixes in the stores, but the taste is so much better if you make your own crust. Probably cheaper, too.

I have a microplane and agree that my freshly ground nutmeg has a much better flavor than that bottled stuff.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: CA Lori,

In my store the lard is on the bottom shelf. It comes in small plastic bucket of 3 pounds I think...and like butter in a 1 pound block box. This brand has Lard on one side and Manteca (Spanish) on the other.

I did the oil crust for a very long time. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. (We lived out of town with a few acres. Once DH and his brother were working on a vehicle. I jerked the sliding patio door opened, stepped to the edge of the porch and hurled a wad of dough that just wouldn't roll out without cracking across the yard. It hit the top strand of barb wire and flipped from one strand to the other all the way down. The guys just looked at me. DH told his brother, Better not to say a word. And they ducked back under the hood of the pickup. LOL)

The oil also didn't make a very flakey crust either (not mine anyway).

You can still try rolling the crust between plastic wrap or wax paper...see how it handles.

Da Judge redeemed one of her coupons this week. She requested oatmeal cookies with chocolate chips instead of raisins.