Woohoo, it's Pi(e) Day Again!

Actually, I have to admit--the idea of eating pie (or anything) right now is making me feel mildly ill. You see, I have just come home from Choice Eats, and my main feeling is that I never want to eat anything again. I AM SO FULL PEOPLE! Well, by tomorrow morning maybe I'll feel differently. After all, is it ever a bad time to eat pie? (Yes, immediately after Choice Eats.) (P.S.--it's tomorrow morning now. Nope, still too full to eat pie. Maybe for dinner tonight.)

Of course, it isn't actually Pie Day. It's Pi Day (3/14, get it?)--but pie is round, so you know, it kind of all fits together.


I was kind of stuck on what kind of pie to make this year--I just knew I was tired of apples! I basically just browsed around for a while, and even created a board of possibilities on Pinterest. (Wow, what a timesuck Pinterest is! Fun!) In the end, I went with Concord grape, since I still had a bag of them in my freezer, leftover from the CSA last summer. Path of least resistance, that's me.


The crust was my good old standby super flaky crust, except that I used white whole wheat flour instead of all purpose. The filling is really simple; about 5 cups of Concord grapes, 3/4 cup of sugar, nutmeg, and about 2 tablespoons of tapioca for thickening. (This was the first time using tapioca as a thickener, actually, but I liked the texture it gave the filling.) The most labor-intensive part of the process is getting the grapes ready; for some reason, all the recipes I've ever seen have you pinch the skins off the grapes and then cook the pulp separately. The pulp sure makes for an amazing color though!


Ah, pies in the afternoon sunshine. Is there a happier sight? Even if you are still stuffed from Choice Eats? Happy Pi Day!

Pi Day

I must congratulate myself, this is the first year ever (I'm pretty sure) that I remembered Pi Day ahead of time, instead of midway through it. I guess I'm not senile yet. Is it possible for your memory to improve as you get older? I mean, usually it seems to go the other way. Well, I better not get carried away, this is only one thing I've remembered, no doubt I've forgotten at least 5 crucial things...(obviously rambling is still a problem I have!)


I had conducted a quick poll on Facebook for suggestions of pie, but in the end, took the lazy way out of making do with what I had on hand. (Hey, I was busy cleaning! I didn't feel like putting on actual pants and going to the store!) I had just bought a couple of mangoes the day before, and thought they would go nicely with some candied ginger (which I have a HUGE stash of). So I chopped up a mango, tossed it with chopped candied ginger, cinnamon, and a bit of cornstarch, and then realized that I only had enough for two tiny pies (well, one tiny pie and one tiny tart). Whoops! I could have frozen the rest of the pie crust (I'm still working on my pie crust recipe, but this one was flaky enough--and the real secret to pie crust is laziness. Yes, be lazy, leave chunks of butter in!) but, well, there's no room left in my freezer...


So I made a simple jam tart, just filled with storebought strawberry preserves, and topped with a disc of pie crust. And why a bunny cutout? Well, why not! It's cute, it lets you see the filling...and well, I had to justify the fact that I bought about 100 cutters at Daiso when I was in Vancouver. The remaining pie dough and scraps got rolled out into a circle and filled with plum slices for a free form, very simple galette (top photo).


A closer look at the lattice top; lattice is really easy when you are only using 4 strips of dough. :) Actually, I suppose technically I only made one pie for Pi Day...and 3 tarts. Is a tart a type of pie, or does it belong in its own family? Well, whatever--pies and tarts are both happy things. And I hope that you are going to have some pie on Pi Day too...and when you're done, test yourself and see how many places you can recite pi to. I won't tell you my number, it's too embarrassing....


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I'm sure everyone has been watching the coverage of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. The images are unbelievable, like something out of a movie, except this is actually happening. I'm thankful that everyone I know in Japan is safe, but there are still thousands missing, the risk of nuclear meltdowns, severe damage to the infrastructure...it's going to be a long road. The New York Times has put together a list of ways to help; if you can, please consider donating.