Happy Holidays! Enjoy two of our favorite recipes... tis the time of year.

Most of the time we eat pretty healthily, but we do love to indulge in sweets and creamy delights from time to time and especially over the holidays.  Having a mother from the south (Charleston, SC!) we grew up expecting and loving the calorie heavy holiday dishes.  One of our favorite "vegetables" for holiday dinners is creamed spinach.

Creamed Spinach

Ingredients:

sauce:

3 tblspns butter
3 tblspns flour
2 cups milk
1/2 cup parmesean cheese
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 shallot, chopped

spinach:

2 packages of frozen, chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
salt and pepper to taste

Combine flour and butter in saucepan over medium heat.  Heat and stir.  Add milk and cheese.

In another pot, saute onions, garlic and shallots in butter.  Add spinach.  Cook ten minutes or until hot and onions translucent.  Add white sauce.  Mix thoroughly.  Add salt and pepper and sprinkle with more parmesean cheese. 

From another Southern Belle, this one hailing from Texas, our friend Meredith Small's mother, Cherie, wowed us with this sinful creation while hosting and feeding a house full of college students (years ago...).  Since then we impress our friends and family with this delicious dessert.

Cherie's Buttermilk Pie

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter softened
2 cups sugar
3 tblspns All Purpose flour
3 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
1 (9 inch) deep dish pie crust

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar.  Beat in flour and salt.  Blend in eggs.  Stir in the buttermilk and vanilla.  Pour mixture into pie crust.

Bake in oven for 15 minutes. 

Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees and bake for 45 minutes or until filling is set.

Serve with vanilla ice cream.