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Pie is one of the most delicious desserts ever created. It's so good, in fact, that it deserves its own day of celebration!
Did you know that January 23rd is National Pie Day? The day was created in the 1970s by Charlie Papazian, whose birthday just happened to fall on that date.
Today, people all over the country celebrate by eating pies and giving each other gifts of them much like Valentine's Day. However, unlike Valentine's Day where everyone participates in gifting romantic partners with cards or flowers, on National Pie Day it's perfectly acceptable for people to give pies as gifts and even eat them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner!
History of Pie
Pie is a food that dates back thousands of years, with the earliest recorded references being in ancient Egypt. The Greeks and Romans were also known for their love of pies; in fact, one of the first written records of them comes from Greece! Aristophanes, a playwright from the 5th century BC, mentions sweetmeats in his works including small pastries filled with fruits. As time went on, different cultures began adding their own styles to pies and making them more complex.
The word "pie" comes from the Latin word "pica," which means magpie. This is because the pie was originally made in a round dish, similar to a bird's nest, with a top crust that resembled the birds' beaks!
In the US, the first pies were brought over by European settlers. According to American Pie Council, the early colonists baked their pies in long narrow pans, which they called "coffins" like the crusts made in England. In early American cooking, pie crusts were often decorative and not meant to be eaten.
Pie has evolved from its humble beginnings to become the quintessential American dessert. Apple pie has become so closely associated with American culture that we now use the phrase "as American as apple pie" a term that describes something uniquely American.
How To Celebrate National Pie Day
Pie is a wonderful dessert and there's no denying that. It's easy to make and extremely versatile, so you can have a different kind every day of the week if you really wanted to.
So, how do you celebrate National Pie Day? Here are a few ideas:
Make a Pie!
If you're feeling ambitious, this is the perfect day to make a pie. There are plenty of websites that offer recipes for every kind of pie imaginable, so if you don't know where to start, just Google "pie recipe." You can make one of those traditional American pies. Apple pie is a classic, but there are others like pumpkin, cherry, and blueberry.
Read More: Exploring Regional Pie Recipes — Local Specialties from Across the U.S
Try Learning a New Pie Recipe
There are so many different kinds of pie out there, it's hard to choose just one. If you want to expand your repertoire, this is the perfect day to try a new recipe. Maybe you've always wanted to make an apple pie from scratch but have been afraid of messing up, or maybe you're looking for something new and interesting like pumpkin cheesecake or key lime. Point is, today is the perfect day to try something new.
Eat Pies!
This is one of the most obvious ways to celebrate National Pie Day — just eat pies! There's no better way to honor this food, after all. And don't just eat the pie. Try to find out what kind of pie it is and how it's made. If you're lucky, you might even be able to get a recipe for future reference!