It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood....

Actually, it's the third beautiful day in a row in the neighborhood - which is even better.

That's right - the incredible heat wave has finally broken, and life is ever so much better. I turned the A/C off for the first time in forever on Sunday, and haven't had to turn it back on since. And since I had a $400 A/C bill last month, being able to turn it off is making me quite, quite happy...

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Another thing that is making me happy about the cooler weather?

Starting to think about all our favorite "cool weather foods."

Applesauce; Chili; and Baking (oh my!) - pumpkin bread, cornbread, peanut butter cookies - and I know there are more that I'm just not thinking of yet....
I know that there's no reason I couldn't make these things year-round, but for some reason, they really only appear in the Fall here at the House That Crazy Built.

I thought I'd ease back into cooler-weather-cooking by making a pie.

And not just any pie. My new favorite pie, from my new favorite restaurant - the Hominy Grill.*

Over the Labor Day weekend, Bubba, Schecky and I spent the long weekend in Charleston. We were celebrating our 17th wedding anniversary. While there, we went to the Hominy Grill, and when I saw "buttermilk pie" on the menu, I knew I had to try it.

Now, I've been curious about buttermilk pie ever since Bekka of Potlikker wrote about it last year. Here's a supposed "Southern delicacy", and I'd never even heard of it???? I was intrigued.
I bookmarked Bekka's recipe - but, sadly, never did anything with it.

But back at the Hominy Grill, once I took my first bite of the stuff? I was hooked! Sweet Cracker Sandwich! Sweet Buttermilk Pie! Good, good stuff...

It's kind of hard to explain what it tastes like - it's got a custardy, slightly lemon-scented layer; topped with a more creamy layer that's somewhat akin to a cheescake flavor. It manages to be rich, and yet light, all at the same time.

I knew that I couldn't leave that taste behind - so I bought a copy of the restaurant's cookbook. (And believe me! - I'm really looking forward to exploring it in more depth in the upcoming months.)

But for now - I needed to recreate that pie!



I'm delighted to say that the at-home version lived up to my memories of the in-the-restaurant version. It was as every bit as good as I remembered it being, which is always gratifying.

And while I can't scan the recipe from the cookbook and post it here - as I am sure that violates all kinds of copyright laws - I've got some good news: you can read a much more eloquent description than mine, and see the recipe right here, in this nice little article written by the Brothers Lee.
Whom I also love....

Oh - and speaking of love? I found one more thing to love about this pie (As if being both delicious -AND- dead simple to make isn't enough...)

I got to use my egg separator. :)

And in doing so - I learned two very important things:

1. Autum is absolutely right - it totally looks like he's puking. Except he drools out the egg whites, not the yolks. Really, not his best look.
   
   
2. He's a really crappy egg separator - he left behind most of the white on the first egg, and broke the yoke on the second egg.

So I guess I'll just have to continue loving him for his pretty face...

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*I keep threatening to write a full blown post about this place, because it is my new favorite - but somehow while the desire is strong, my follow-thru is weak.