Buttermilk Pie and World Famous Hamburgers

Terry and I have the most amazing accountant. She not only crunches numbers for us and prepares difficult tax returns for the two businesses and two jobs the two of us have between us, she is a real friend. A personable accountant is a rare and wonderful find. We decided to prepare a meal for her and her business partner last Thursday night. Michelle T.'s Poppy Seed Chicken with rice, which is already a long time family favorite, Jill H.'s Fresh Spinach Salad, which has become a family favorite since I began blogging and Granny Rosie's Buttermilk Pie made the menu.

One Buttermilk Pie recipe makes two deep dish pies. When we arrived at our accountants downtown office we discovered she was not there. I thought maybe we had gotten the date wrong, but found out later she had to run an unexpected errand. While walking around the building looking for her car, we met a homeless man on the street corner. We offered the gentleman one of the pies, which he very humbly accepted. We noticed he retrieved a bag from the recycling center around the corner, then promptly went across the street to a pay phone and called his friend. We asked our accountant about the man and were told he was one of two homeless men that she helps out every now and then. You never know when God will give you the opportunity to be His hands and feet. It is always a blessing when He makes you aware of those privileged opportunities and equips you with the ability to minister to the ones He brings into your path. I pray when that gentleman took his first bite of that pie he thanked a God Who cares for him.

Granny Rosie has some amazing signature dishes. Most of them have not come from a recipe, but from years of experience. Although she can tell us the ingredients, the proportions are all to taste. And good taste it is. Thankfully, her Buttermilk Pie is one of those rare dishes she prepares from a recipe. It is a recipe we can make perfectly time after time. Family is important to Granny Rosie and most of the time when our family gathers we find ourselves around a table of delicious foods. One family tradition that has now entered its fifth generation, although Lily is too young to appreciate it just yet, is Saturday night hamburgers. Most Saturday nights you can find several family members and occasionally the fortunate invited friend enjoying Granny Rosie's world famous hamburgers. A word of fair warning to the blog reader who may find him or herself invited to a Saturday Burger Night, you will be subject to some crazy conversation and be forced to view at least one of three very popular family videos-the beach video when cousin Quinton keeps falling off the float, the summer dance video when baby Brittany's diaper is so full it is hanging down around her knees, or the video taken with the lens cap on of preschooler Benjamin singing "In the Garden."

Poppy Seed Chicken

4 boneless chicken breasts 2 T poppy seeds

2 cans cream of chicken soup 1 1/2 c sour cream

2 sleeves Ritz crackers 1 stick margarine

Boil chicken (I cooked mine in the crockpot while at work) and cut up into chunks. Mix cream of chicken soup and sour cream into a bowl. In another bowl, mix crushed crackers and poppy seed. Once crackers and poppy seed are combined, pour in the melted margarine. In a dish, layer 1/2 sauce, 1/2 chicken and 1/2 crackers. Once the first layer is completed repeat. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

Buttermilk Pie

6 eggs 1 t salt

1 c melted butter 1 c buttermilk

1/2 c sifted plain flour 1 t vanilla flavoring

3 1/2 c sugar 2 unbaked deep-dish pie shells

Beat eggs until fluffy. Add butter slowly to eggs. Beat in flour, sugar and salt. Add milk and vanilla. Pour into pie shells. Bake at 350 for 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes. Shake and if pie is firm, it is done.