I love October!  It begins with my birthday (the 5th!), ends with Halloween, and it means the beginning of fall, with its wonderful cold and misty mornings.  Today is one of those days in L.A., gray and overcast and still.  My favorite!  Weather-wise, I'm sort of mismatched with this city for most of the year; I've lived in Southern California for 10 years (weird) and the only year that was rainy enough for my tastes was the year of El Nino.  I was living in the dorms at CalArts then, and our campus is on top of a hill.  I used to put on layers and big boots and walk around the hills that separated our campus from the Valencia suburbs in the rain.  If only I had knit back then!  Think of all the projects I could have made during all those hours spent backstage, or waiting at rehearsals, or napping studying in between classes at the library.

When the weather turns like this, I spend a lot more time in the kitchen.  I've always loved to cook; I have a big Southern family, with lots of great cooks on both sides... lucky me!  Every time I visit either of my grandmothers, I spend an afternoon at the kitchen table writing down recipes and listening to family stories; easily one of the best possible ways to pass the time, I think.  I bake a lot when the weather gets chilly.  One of my favorite desserts to make is a chess pie.  I've found that in California, people haven't really heard of chess pie.  It is a really simple, classic Southern pie. My family has at least five different "family" recipes for chess pie, each a little different.  The basic idea is always the same: lots of eggs, lots of sugar, a good amount of butter, and lots of heavy cream or buttermilk.  It's basically a sugar pie, honestly, so you know it tastes good.  It is very easy to improvise and add little touches of other ingredients to the custard mix (I often add rum, because I'm often baking chess pie on Thanksgiving or Christmas, and there is often rum on the counter for cider). I've been playing with a lemony chess pie lately, and I think the results are so creamy but light, I decided to pay attention while I baked on so that I could post the recipe here.  Especially if you've never made a chess pie, try it out!  A less-glowing and dreamy, more accurate photo can be found on my Flickr page.

Buttermilk Lemon Chess Pie

A light, fresh-tasting version of one of my family favorites.  Definitely a crowd-pleaser!  Feel free to use your very best pie crust recipe; I'll confess right off the bat that I use a (quality) frozen crust.  I always have one in the freezer in case the urge to bake a pie or quiche strikes.  You'll need a deep-dish pie crust for all this yummy filling!

Ingredients:

• 4 eggs
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 Tbsp. flour
• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) melted butter
• zest of 1 lemon (organic if possible)
• juice from 1 1/2 lemons
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 1 9-inch pie shell

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit, heating a baking sheet inside.  Prick the bottom of your pie crust with a fork.  If you have fancy pie weights to keep the crust from puffing up, use them!  I just keep an eye on it.  Place your crust on the warm baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes, just until the bottom is starting to get golden.  Remove pie crust and baking sheet from oven and let them rest.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs and sugar together until they are a fluffy light yellow.  Beat in the flour (no lumps!) and then the buttermilk.  Beat in the rest of the ingredients and stir until everything is well mixed.  Pour mixture into pie crust.  Carefully slide the baking sheet with the pie crust back into the oven (on the middle rack).  Bake for 25-30 minutes.  You can test the pie's done-ness by giving the baking sheet a slight shake.  The very middle of the pie will jiggle slightly, but set as it cools.  Let the pie cool to room temperature on a rack, then refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.  Enjoy!