Thanksgiving Desserts a la Cousin Tammy

Hi all! It is a sincere pleasure to be able to post on CCA's ever impressive blog. I am in awe of the time, effort and commitment that have gone into this project. My cousins are amazing!

So, my go-to recipe for potluck/dinner desserts is an old family recipe -- Buttermilk Pie. If I'm not mistaken, my mom actually got this recipe off of the back of a box of Bisquick when I was very young. Since it is so cheap and easy to make, it was a regular at my house growing up in Oklahoma. We passed the recipe around a bit and it eventually became a staple at holidays and special events back home. I realized when I moved to California that no one had ever heard of this gem of sweetness, so I began sharing the recipe with friends in college and have always gotten rave reviews. Fast forward to this Thanksgiving where I was graciously invited over for the big event. I mentioned to CCA that I might bring my favorite dessert and she informed me that they weren't familiar with it at all! I guess the family recipe didn't quite extend to the whole family.

So the Buttermilk Pie was my primary dessert, but I always fear that people will not love the rich flavors. I usually compare it to cheesecake, as it is the closest thing I can think of, and I know not everyone loves cheesecake like I do. So....to be safe, I also included a second dessert (from the old arsenal of Bisquick recipes passed down from Mom) that I love -- Peach Cobbler. I love fruit cobblers, but I generally don't love the labor intensive cooking and making crusts, etc. The beauty of both of these recipes is that you mix a few simple ingredients and throw them in the oven and you have beautiful, tasty desserts with minimal effort (or expense). As CCA mentioned, I also brought some sliced strawberries for the Buttermilk Pie...it isn't in the recipe, but I have learned over the years that a lot of people enjoy the combination of the fruit with the sweet/sour of the pie.

Overall, I think the desserts were a success. I had a bit of a snafu with the cobbler, as I mistakenly mixed the sugar in with the rest of the batter mix, rather than the peaches, so it made it a bit more doughy than I had hoped. (I have been making these recipes for so many years, I only have the ingredients written down, not the instructions...I only remembered how it was supposed to go AFTER I had mixed all of the ingredients together.) Otherwise, it all worked out well and EASY. Here are the recipes for you to enjoy!

Buttermilk Pie

1 ½ Cup Sugar
½ Cup Bisquick® Mix
1 Cup Buttermilk
1 Stick Butter (Melted)
3 Eggs
1 Teaspoon Vanilla

Preheat oven to 350°. Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Beat until smooth. Pour into a 9” pie plate (lightly greased around the sides for non-stick). Bake at 350° for 40 minutes or until golden and firm on top. Serve warm or room temperature for best results.

Peach Cobbler

1 Cup Bisquick® Mix
1 Cup Milk
1 Cup Sugar
½ Cup Butter (Melted)
½ Teaspoon Ground Nutmeg
1 29 Oz Can Sliced Peaches (Drained)

Preheat oven to 375°. Mix Bisquick, milk and nutmeg together in a bowl, beat until smooth. Stir in butter until blended. Pour into ungreased 8” square baking dish (double the recipe for full 9”x13” baking dish). Stir together the sugar and peaches in a bowl, then spoon over mixture in baking dish, distributing evenly to sides/corners. Bake 50 minutes or until golden and firm on top.

Many thanks to the cousins for including me in their holiday! It was great to hang out with Baby J...I don't see him nearly enough and he's growing up so fast. I couldn't have had a better Thanksgiving and enjoyed being with my favorite cousins and their loving friends. It was a fantastic day. I am truly blessed!