Happy Pi(e) Day!

I know it makes me a bit of a geek – ok, this and probably many other things – but on this day every year I cannot resist celebrating Pi Day. It’s “pi day” because today, March 14th, is written as 3/14 – the same as the number pi (3.14). Naturally, I choose to celebrate “pi” with its food equivalent: pie.

Today is a great opportunity to bake your own pie in celebration, too, even if you’ve never before baked a pie.

Start with the crust, either a graham cracker, whole wheat or double crust, depending on what type of pie you want to make. Graham cracker crusts are undoubtedly the easiest and can work with any single-crust pie recipe, whether it is a no-bake ice cream pie (essentially ice cream in a pie shell) or a baked fruit pie. I use them just as often as I use traditional pie crusts, although I will say that I love working with pie dough and the feeling of working butter into flour with my fingers wins me over every time I do it. Some of my favorites pie recipes are classics:

• Apple Crumble Pie
• Coconut Cream Pie
• Lemon Meringue Pie
• Key Lime Pie
• Traditional Apple Pie 
• Chocolate Silk Pie 

Just to name a handful of the many other pies out there, here are a couple other suggestions from some other baking bloggers:

• Raspberry Rhubarb Pie from Under the High Chair
• Savory Shepard’s Pie from Simply Recipes
• Rustic Blackberry Peach Pie from Everybody Likes Sandwiches
• Banana Cream Pie with Caramel from Tartelette
• Grasshopper Pie from Cookie Madness (how retro!)