National Pie Day

Did you know that January 23rd is National Pie Day? It is supposed to be a day for all to bake or cook, and of course to eat your favorite pie.  Uh, maybe eat one piece, not the whole pie. People who study pie history say that pies have been around a long time. The first pies appeared around 9500 BC in the Egyptian Neolithic period or New Stone Age. I doubt that first pie resembled in any way what people like to eat now. Pie is one of the most versatile foods, with endless filling possibilities, but Pie Day is supposed to be as much about remembering famous "pie" moments in our lives and trying to make new ones.

I think my first remembrance of home made pie was my grandmother making lemon pies. She was from County Cork Ireland and brought the local recipe which used lard in the crust. Today, lard is on the food police list of forbidden products. I just use butter or shortening in my pie crusts. This grandmother made an exquisite filling for her luscious lard crust. The recipe, which I have and use ( without lard) from time to time uses  more lemons than should be allowed. It produces a tart and deep filling.  No one refuses my lemon pie, especially since I eschew meringue and go for fresh lightly sweetened whip cream as the topping for the tart filling.

Maybe you have a pie memory too. Perhaps you hate pie, But you'll never top a pie baker known on Instagram as@ThePieous. Pieous makes pies with celebrity portraits baked into the top, so-called “pietraits”.  Ms. pietrait has created  pies with a David Bowie and Prince image. Those would be fine. But who would want to eat a Hillary Clinton pie? Not I!

One oddity about pie day is that every January 23rd is also 'Measure Your Feet Day'. I never measure my feet and am not sure why anyone would. But I refuse to research that. I don't want to be convinced that I need to measure my feet. Someone may be watching and that may be the final straw that sends me to the nursing home. Luckily, we can eat all the pie we want and eat it any day we want. No one will send us to the nursing home for doing so.