Little did I know this buttermilk pie would take me through one of Spinach Tiger’s most difficult times. Last Friday, at approximately 3:55 p.m eastern time, I went to do a blog post, but I couldn’t connect to the server. Not panicking because this had happened before, I went out for the evening and forgot about it. I found out on Saturday morning that the company hosting my website suffered a catastrophic failure explained here. I wasn’t the only one. And, what made this even worse was the the second drive that was supposed to act as the backup protection had also failed. I still didn’t understand everything, even though I read their report over and over again. Saturday I was in a state of panic. Sunday, I felt depressed. I had everything backed up prior to going with Word Press in October but would have to reinsert every photo and then redo every post for the last three months. On Monday, the hosting company found the data and my blog was restored as explained in this nerve racking thread here.  I was dark from Friday afternoon until Monday night. It felt like a blog kidnapping. I was never so happy to see Spinach Tiger go live, and I never want to live this out again. The only thing I can be proud of during that dark weekend is that I held my temper, I stayed cool, and I immediately started looking for a solution to rebuilding if this was true. It made me stop and realize how much a part of me this blog is and to what ends I’ll go to maintain it.

But, the question remains, where was my backup? Having moved my blog to wordpress in September, I thought I had a backup in place.

A Word about Backing Up a Blog

What would happen if your hosting company had a catastrophic failure? It has happened to even the coolest, smartest bloggers. (Not me, I’m only semi-cool, and half smart).

Having a blog is like having a child. You think you know enough to keep growing. You think you have all protections in place. And then something like this happens. In a way it was a good thing because it has forced me to go above and beyond with a back up plan.

We all have our individual reasons for blogging. A large part of it is being connected. We are connected to a community and readers we will never meet. When the plug is suddenly pulled and the connection goes dark, it’s more than unsettling.  Our worst blogging nightmare is to go dark and be told our blog can’t be retrieved. Most of us think we are backed up and secure.

If you have a blog, tell me how is it backed up? Do you have just your content backed up? Or do you have the all data, photos and plug-ins backed up? I am putting a plan in place that will give Spinach Tiger that extra peace of mind. I’ve talked to a few bloggers since this happened. Surprisingly, many are not really sure how well backed up they are. Some back up content. But, what does that mean? How quickly could they get their blog put back together.

I am putting my security in place today, and I will share my plan with you. I would love to hear from you. How secure do you feel about the back up you have in place? What advice would you give someone? Have you ever been caught blind sighted and lost your blog? How would you feel if your blog went dark and you were unsure it could be restored?

The Pie

How much pie would you find yourself eating in the second day of blog darkness? I nearly finished this pie that dark weekend, as it became my comfort food. It was the only thing I ate because I was too upset to cook. The buttermilk creamy part of the pie was soothing to my soul as was the pastry crust which came out just perfect. I had made the pie on Thursday, but it got better each day and it was finished off on Monday morning. Lucky for me, I lost weight, so it never got the best of me, but I certainly got the best of this pie.

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Vanila Buttermilk Pie with Pears

I combined two recipes to make this southern style pie, made with whole buttermilk and pears. Inspired from Desserts from the Loveless Cafe.

Servings 6 -8

Ingredients

• pie shell or tart shell partially baked see my recipe in notes
• 1 cup thinly sliced pears
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 vanilla bean halved lengthwise
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk

Instructions

• Combine sugar, butter, flour and inside of vanilla bean in food processor. Add in eggs one at at time. Once incorporated, stream in buttermilk.
• Pour into pie shell. Top with sliced pears.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until top is golden brown and custard is set.
• Refrigerate for several hours prior to serving. Best made a day ahead.

Notes

Pie Crust Recipe

1 1/4 cup all purpose flour ( plus 1 teaspoon for later)
1/2 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
4 tablespoons iced cold water
1 teaspoon sugar

Mix salt and flour together. Cut butter into small pieces. Freeze both for a 15 minutes minutes, as butter softens immediately upon cutting. If using food processor, put flour mixture in bowl and freeze blade. Lay small pieces of butter evenly over flour and mix for 20 seconds at a time, stopping as soon as dough is shaggy. Stream in cold water. If using kitchen aid type mixer, use paddle attachment on low setting for one minute max.

Stream in cold water on sides of bowl. Mix on low, just until incorporated. Form into disc , wrap in plastic at least one hour. I rest my dough overnight, but this is not a must.
Take dough out 30 minutes before rolling to soften.
Roll out dough, evenly, not too thick, less than 1/4” thick and in all directions to make a circle. In this tart pan, it was a rectangle. Do not stretch dough, because it will shrink back. Patch any cracks or holes. Use fork to make indentations.
Partially bake: Cover with parchment and use pie weights or dry beans and bake at 325 for twenty minutes.

If you love the idea of creamy buttermilk desserts, jump over to Alexandra Cooks for her buttermilk panna cotta and some good information for purchasing vanilla beans.

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