10 Life Lessons in Pie {Pi Day 2012}

Happy Pi Day! It's the day I celebrate 3.14 by creating culinary circumference: pie.

Hounds in the Kitchen has recipes for pie dough, mushroom pie, and spinach feta pie. I shared my lemon meringue pie failure and dozens of photos of pate en croute, my Charcuteplaooza pie. Like so many other food bloggers, I made peanut butter pie in remembrance of Jennifer Perillo's husband Mikey last August.

Today, Pi(e) Day 2012, I offer 10 Life Lessons in Pie:

1. Life is Messy - It's inevitable that a pie maker ends up with a little flour on her apron or the floor or both. No big deal - washing up is part of life.

2. Pretty is Nice - A pie with a perfectly tucked crust and carefully cut center is a truly beautiful thing.

3. But Pretty isn't Everything - Ugly pies can taste great and pretty pies might be unpalatable. It's best to taste every kind at the table to find your favorite.

4. Mistakes Happen - Making pie isn't particularly difficult, but sometimes the crust and filling elements don't come together just right. Most of the time you still end up with something tasty and if not, there's always another day to make another pie.

5. Mom's is Best - At least my mom's pie crust is best. I am not as exacting and will never make pie as precisely as she does. Enjoying Mom's pies for summer birthdays and winter holidays is a sacred family tradition.

6. Always Make New Traditions - Creating and curating rituals anchor our bonds to family members. We made a new family tradition in Valentine's tea which usually includes pie.

7. Think Out of the Box - Family traditions are key but great pies are made by thinking a little differently sometimes. Lil's entry to pie day (coming soon below) is all about the mini pumpkin pies she made. The individual desserts were a fun compliment to dinner one night this week.

8. Everything in Moderation - Pie is tasty but stuffing anything in a fatty crust is not usually the healthiest choice. We enjoy sweet pies on special occasions and savory pies not more than once a month.

9. Eat Close to Home - The best pie is made with the freshest ingredients. The freshest ingredients come from as close as your backyard garden. I have yet to make a 100% backyard pie but it is a dream of mine because I know the taste would be out of this world.

10. Math is Important - When weighing flour, calculating volume for garden soil and diving pie into fractional pieces, homesteaders are using math. Calculating totals at the farmers market, square footage of a garden bed, or expansion of a ratio preserve recipe all require a mastery of numbers. Practice math and you'll enjoy a more efficient DIY life.

How are you celebrating Pi Day 2012? Comment or link below!

Pi Day 2011

It's Pi Day 2011! Get it? 3.14 aka 3/14 aka March 14? Celebrate the transcendental constant π with Hounds in the Kitchen by including your favorite post about pi or pie in the Linky below. Feel free to link to a recipe, homeschool lesson on circles, or geometry related story. It's fine if the post is an older one - we want to read what you think about 3.14159265359...

I want to share how I decorated a very special pie exactly one month ago, on Valentine's Day.

This sour cherry pie was already going to be memorable because Lil, Alex, and I picked the cherries in July from a friend's neighbor's tree. Alex and I hand-pitted the cherries, froze them on sheet trays, sealed with the vacuum sealer and tucked them away in the deep freeze.

Fruits of such provenance, those we had patiently avoided until February 14, demanded an extraordinary preparation.

The cherries were mixed with sugar, flour and nutmeg and a bottom crust rolled out. Then, Lil and I cut dozens of hearts out of the top crust, reserving the cutouts. This process tested every bit of Lil's patience and mine, as she wanted to eat the raw dough and I wanted to crust to be beautiful. There's no re-rolling a crust in this house so we had but a single chance.

The Valentine's day treat was assembled including placing the heart cutouts around the outer edge. Our heart pie cooked, bubbling sweetened juices all over the oven.

Fully baked, it was a lovely centerpiece for our family afternoon tea. It tasted tangy and sweet, with the refreshing flavor of summer in the midst of winter.

What's your Pi Day story?

PS. Pi Day is an annual tradition on our homestead. Read about Pi Day 2010.

Pi Day Pies! Spinach Feta Pie Recipe

Today, 3.14, March fourteenth, is Pi Day.  Pi Day is to honor the beloved constant or 3.1415926535… or the ratio between the diameter and circumference of a circle. What better way to celebrate Pi than with pie?

One of my favorite vegetarian savory pie recipes, Spinach Feta Pie, is below.  Share your favorite with the Mr. Linky or in a comment!

[print_this]Spinach Feta Pie Makes: 8 servings Time: 30 minutes preparation, 30 minutes baking

1/4 cup olive oil, divided

1 large white onion, diced

3 garlic cloves, chopped

1 pound fresh spinach, chopped roughly

1 1/2 cup feta cheese

1/4 cup bread or cracker crumbs

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

2 tsp dried herbs (we like oregano and basil for this recipe, dill, tarragon or thyme would be good too)

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)

salt and pepper to taste

8 ounces frozen phyllo sheets, thawed and sliced into 1 inch squares  (can be reduced to 4 ounces if you want to lower empty calories)

1.Heat oven to 350 deg F.

2. Sweat onions and garlic in 2 tbsp olive oil until translucent.  Add spinach until wilted.  Allow to cool.

3.  Stir together feta cheese, eggs, bread crumbs, and spices.

4. In a separate bowl, stir phyllo and 2 tbsp olive oil together.

5. Optionally, line the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan with parchment for easy cleanup and no spills in the oven.  An easy way to do this is fold a piece of parchment into a square, then fold into a triangle twice holding the center of the paper as an endpoint.  Match endpoint to the middle of the spring form, cut a semi circle shape where the endpoint meets pan side, and open to reveal a circle like form.  You just approximated a radius (half a diameter)! Multiply the diameter times Pi and you have circumference!

6. Combine cooled onions, garlic and spinach with the feta mixture.  Press into prepared 9 inch springform pan.  Place pan on a cookie sheet.

7. Top pie with the phyllo dough pieces.  Drizzle a little more olive oil on top for extra crisp deliciousness.

8. Bake for 30 minutes or until top is golden brown.

Note: This pie is a great recipe to make double and freeze.  The frozen pie will take 1 hour 15 minutes to bake.

[/print_this]

I hope you enjoy some Pi Day pie today. Please share a pie recipe, memory about pie, or pie making tip in the comments!  If you participate in the blog round up, please let your readers know and link back to this page.

Pi Day Pies Announcement!

This Sunday is March fourteenth, 3.14, aka Pi Day.  Something about celebrating the Greek letter that represents a numerical constant appeals to my inner dork.

The obvious thing to do to celebrate Pi Day is to make pie!  Not only is pie delicious but its round shape is the perfect jumping off point to challenge children (or yourself) to practice geometry with π.

If you are a blogger and would like to participate, I am hosting a Pi Day Pies blog carinval on Sunday.  I will post a recipe with a Mr. Linky on 3.14 at 1:59 AM (first six digits of π are 3.14159) for you to add your recipe, story, or song about pies/pis.  Please join in the math geek fun!