Courtland Buttermilk Pecan Pie

Many years ago, a friend rehabbed the old railroad hotel, The Courtland, in our little town as a bed and breakfast. When it was up and running, she decided to turn the hotel dining room into a restaurant -- first serving lunch and then adding dinner.

She had a signature dessert -- Buttermilk Pecan Pie. It was not her recipe, but rather one that she found in Midwest Living magazine. It was a good pie -- tart and sweet with the crunch of pecans. And although her food were very good, the pie was the reason to lunch there!

And although it had appeared in the magazine, I couldn't find the recipe and I did beg for it but she would not part with it. It was their signature pie!!!

Several years later, she was forced to close the restaurant as well as the bed and breakfast. The day after she closed, she called and gave me the recipe for the pie. I renamed the pie The Courtland Buttermilk Pecan Pie in her honor.

But there is more to the story.

The pie was not a Midwest Living invention. Rather, as legend has it, the pie was originally created for President Harry S. Truman. President Truman was scheduled to come aboard the USS Missouri. The visit also included lunch. The cook on the Missouri knew that President Truman liked chess pie and so he took the familiar pie, changed the milk to buttermilk and added pecans.

Rumor has it that Truman pronounced the pie "delicious"!!!!

And it is!!! It is often served at Linderhof when we have guests for lunch. And in our little town on the prairie, oftentimes restaurants will have it on the menu. Always called The Courtland Buttermilk Pecan Pie. Paying homage to the woman who reopened The Courtland and made this pie the signature pie of her restaurant.

We make it so often at Linderhof, that often when asked to bring dessert for a crowd, it is our dessert of choice. Making three of them is as easy as making one!!!!

COURTLAND BUTTERMILK PECAN PIE

1/2 c. butter

2 c. sugar

2 t. vanilla

3 eggs

3 T. flour

1/4 t. salt

1 c. buttermilk

1/4 c. chopped pecans

1 9" unbaked pie shell

Preheat oven to 300

Cream butter and sugar. Blend in vanilla. Stir in eggs one at a time. Combine flour and salt and add. Stir in buttermilk. Pour mixture into unbaked pie shell. Sprinkle pecans on top. Bake 1 hour and 30 minutes until pie is set.

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