March 14: Pi(e) Day, Bake a Pie Day, National Potato Chip Day, Registered Dietitian Day

Wow, talk about a day with identity issues.  Today is Pi(e) Day and Potato Chip Day while this week, the 2nd week in March, is Chocolate Chip Cookie Week.  Contrast that to the fact that today is also Registered Dietitian Day and March is National Nutrition Month.  Meh...let's enjoy the day anyways!


Pi(e) Day/Bake a Pie Day

I think this may be the only geeky food-related holiday on the calendar.  I've known this day for a few years as Pi(e) Day, but I've also seen it called Bake a Pie Day.  This is entirely different than National Pie Day, which is January 23.  (Although, I suppose any reason to eat pie is welcomed.)  Today got the honor of being Pi(e) Day because the mathematical number pi is often shortened to 3.14 and if you take today's date in numerical form - 3/14.  Wikipedia has a surprisingly decent amount of information about Pi Day.  (At least, I found it surprising because I didn't think there'd be that much information about Pi Day.) I found it most interesting to note that it's also Albert Einsteins birthday.  The geeky qualities of this day just keep piling up!

The pie, pre-baking, with filling all the way to the top

So in honor of today being Pi(e) Day (and possibly Bake a Pie Day) I picked up Pie: 300 Tried and True Recipes for Delicious Homemade Pie.  I flipped through and found a recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie.  Since this week is Chocolate Chip Cookie Week, I decided I had found my pie. 

It's a very easy recipe and its basically one giant cookie.  Again, short on time, I opted to use a store-bought crust.  The book made note to purchase a deep dish crust if using store-bought, so I made sure I did that.  And boy was I glad that I followed the directions!  The filling that resulted from the recipe was enough to reach to the very top of the crust and while baking, it rose up above the crust.  Thankfully, it didn't bubble over - it just went up.

The pie, right out of the oven.  Unlike real chocolate chip cookies,
this is best enjoyed after it's cooled. 

The book also suggested to enjoy this pie not right out of the oven, not after it's been chilled for a long time, but after it's cooled a bit, so that the flavors are more enjoyable.  I think it would probably pair really well with vanilla ice cream, or maybe even banana ice cream.  Is that even available?

I like the book for it's huge collection of recipes.  The only thing I don't like about the book is the lack of pictures.  I really like having pictures in cookbooks.  As for the pie?  Well, it's pretty tasty- I'll probably make it again.



National Potato Chip Day

I think most people are familiar with potato chips.  They almost seem to be a requirement for parties.  Traditional potato chips are thinly sliced potatoes, fried in oil, and seasoned with a little salt.  Chips come in many flavors and are great for dipping.  Fooducate did a great job of rounding up ten things you might not know about potato chips.  I certainly didn't know about the history of potato chiips.  I really like the potato chip invention story.