January 23rd is National Pie Day. If you have free time today, bake a pie. It can be sweet or savory (pot pie, shepherd’s pie, vegetable pie, etc.)

February 23rd is National Pie Day, an annual celebration of pies launched in the mid-1970s by Charlie Papazian, a nuclear engineer, brewer and teacher from Boulder, Colorado.

He also founded the Association of Brewers and the Great American Beer Festival, and wrote The Complete Joy of Home Brewing.

He must have been a major pie enthusiast as well, since he declared his birthday, January 23rd, to be National Pie Day.

Papazian is currently 70 years old, and we hope he enjoys slices of his favorite pies today.

News of the “holiday” spread (in those pre-social media days). Since 1986, National Pie Day has been sponsored by the American Pie Council, which holds its National Pie Championships every spring. The competition is open to amateur, professional and commercial bakers.

The American Pie Council is an organization committed to “preserving America’s pie heritage and promoting America’s love affair with pies.” Membership in America’s only purely pie-focused national organization is open to all.
 
 
WHAT ABOUT PI DAY?

Pi Day is celebrated on March 14th, a date that corresponds to the first numbers of the mathematical constant, pi.

If you’ve forgotten high school math, pi is the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. The number is constant, no matter what the size of the circle.

The first 10 digits of pi are 3.1415926535. Pi has been calculated to over one trillion digits beyond its decimal point.

For March 14th, bakers and mathematicians alike have fun baking pi-themed pies (photo #3).
 
 
TREAT YOURSELF TO A VIEW OF PIE AS ART

For a dazzling view of the most impressive pie art, take a look at the work of Jessica Leigh Clark-Bojin, also known as The Pieous.

Check out her website, Pies Are Awesome (photos #1 and #2).
 
 
THE HISTORY OF PIE

Who created the first pies? Here’s the scoop.
 
 
FIND ALL THE TYPES OF PIES IN OUR PIE GLOSSARY.
 
THE HISTORY OF PIE

AMERICA’S FAVORITE PIES

HAVE FUN DECORATING PIES

[1] The Eiffel Tower pie.

[2] A pie portrait of Betty White (both photos by The Pieous | Pies Are Awesome).

[3] For Pi Day, March 14th, bakers have fun riffing on the pi symbol (center of pie). The first 10 digits of pi are 3.1415926535. Here’s the recipe from The Instructables.