Happy Pie Day
Posted by Adam
Tuesday July 5, 2011It’s what people are talking about.
To which others respond: “I thought March 14 was Pi Day…?”
Well, this is a different pie day. This one started with a simple Facebook event page and has grown to encompass almost 1,500 people, all cooking pies on the same day. That’s not to say that 1,500 people wouldn’t all be cooking pies on the same day at any given point in the year, but something about the concerted effort to find some of the most diverse and creative pies makes this internet event all the more special.
Created by Shauna Ahern of Gluten Free Girl and the Chef, and spread across Facebook and the wider web by many loyal pie supporters, this event is really meant to bring the love of pie into everyone’s kitchen. According to the Facebook event page, the proclamation of July 5 as Pie Day started quite simply:
“This happened spontaneously on Twitter and Facebook — talking about pie. A clutch of us talked about how much we like pie, making it, and how sad it makes us that people are too afraid of pie crust to make pie.
So we’re making pie. And we want you to join in.”
And so we did.
We at Harvard Common Press decided to throw our hat in the ring, with a grape and fig pie made by yours truly. This particular beauty comes from Ken Haedrich’s PIE, and everything about it is homemade. I should say that this pie is close to my heart because of the fact that it’s my first homemade pie, from the crust to the pie itself.
If you’ve never made a pie before, the experience itself is quite easy…I feel I’ve actually become a master crust maker, to the point where I feel I could whip one up in minutes. In celebration of the day itself, I’ve commemorated my first pie-making experience with the video below. It is meant to show how much fun pie-making can be, and also how simple it is, even in a small kitchen with a cook who has limited pie-making experience.
In the end, it was one darn good looking pie:
Perhaps the most telling of endorsements: a pie that was finished at 5pm on Monday, July 4 was completely devoured by 3 twenty-somethings by 10pm the same evening. And for someone like me, who (I must admit) has never been hugely over indulgent with pies, that’s quite a feat. From my hands to my mouth in under 5 hours. Wow.
Overall, a delicious way to spend the holiday weekend, and one that I would recommend to anyone trying to make an easy summer pie. As part of #pieday, there will be a lot of homemade pies flying around the internet, so to speak, these next few days, and I’m looking forward to seeing what others can whip up…in honor of this, post a comment below with a link to your own homemade pie for a chance to win a copy of Ken Haedrich’s PIE (we’ll be giving copies away to 3 lucky pie enthusiasts…).
I love that you didn’t use a rolling pin…so resourceful! I have never had cooked grapes, what a fun pie! I also love the video, great instruction.
here is my contribution to the Pie Party:
http://www.hungrygirlporvida.com/2011/07/recipe-nectarine-raspberry-hand-pies.html
Cheers!
Hi Cindy –
Thanks! Had to be a bit quick thinking in the kitchen (it was actually my cooking companion’s idea, he was offscreen so couldn’t take the credit). But so glad to see you made a pie as well for pie day, and thanks a bunch for sharing…simply love hand pies, so fun to make and eat!
Happy baking!
Adam