While National Pie Day is January 23rd, March 14th, 3.14, is National Pi Day.

The date format 3.14 is the same as the first three digits of pi. The first 10 digits are 3.1415926535.

There are many more: Pi has been calculated to more than one trillion digits beyond its decimal point.

Some people are obsessed with memorizing as many digits of pi as possible. The Guinness Book Of World Records names the record holder as a man named Lu Chao.

He set the record in November 2005 at Northwest A & F University in the Shaanxi province of China. It took him 24 hours and 4 minutes to recite the 67,890th decimal place of pi without a mistake.

(Want to try it? Start here.)

It’s a great achievement, but we’d prefer to eat pie than to memorize pi. For March 14th, bakers and mathematicians alike have fun baking pi-themed pies.
 
 
WHAT IS 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 pi symbol is the Greek mathematical symbol that represents the ratio.

Because pies are round, it’s particularly fitting to have one today.
 
 
CELEBRATE PI WITH PIE

We use Pi Day as an excuse to have a different type of pie each year. Almost any pie can be decorated for the occasion, from apple or other fruit (photos #2 and #3) to Key lime to pecan or pumpkin (photo #1).

You have enough lead time to have a Pi Day dessert party. Eight people can share one pie.

For a larger event, invite friends to bring their favorite pies.

If you don’t have time to bake, pick up a pie and the garnishes to create the pi symbol (berries, marzipan, mascarpone, etc.).

To see some different creative approaches to decorating the pies, search for “Pi Day pie” on Google and Pinterest.
 
 
THE HISTORY OF PI DAY

Pi Day was founded in 1988 by Larry Shaw, a physicist at the San Francisco Exploratorium. On that first day, both staff and visitors celebrated by marching in a circle, and then eating fruit pie.

On March 12, 2009, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a non-binding resolution (111 H. Res. 224) recognizing March 14, 2009 as National Pi Day.

The tradition expanded across the globe among countries that use the month-day format (i.e., 3.14). Who on this earth doesn’t want a reason to eat pie?

Some bakers make a pastry cut-out of the pi symbol to decorate the top crust (photo #1). Some actually decorate the rim of the pie with the first 31 digits of pi (or however many fit—photo #3). You do it with cookie cutters in the shape of numbers.
 
 
OR, HAVE A PIZZA PIE

If you go for savory rather than sweet, a pizza pie fits right in.

[1] A simple pie pie: A single crust pie with the pi symbol cut from the rest of the dough (photo courtesy From The Mixed Up Files).

[2] Get cookie cutter numbers to create the formula (photo courtesy King Arthur Flour).

[3] We wish we had the patience to apply all these decimals of pi (photo courtesy Great Minds Of Science | Tumblr).

[4] If you’d rather have a pizza pie, it counts. This one is decorated with pepperoni (photo courtesy Real Life At Home).

We conclude with one of our favorite pie quotes, from Yogi Berra:

“I cut my pie into four pieces. I didn’t think I could eat eight.”

[1] It’s National Cheez Doodle Day. Dig in (photo © The Foodie Patootie)!

[2] Why use a bowl: Eat from the bag! (photo © Wise Snacks)

Some brands are regional. Some start out that way and become so popular they get national distribution.

Such is the case with Cheez Doodles from East Coast manufacturer King Kone, vs. Cheetos from Dallas-based Frito-Lay.

Both are puffed, cheese-flavored cornmeal snacks. Both began as regional brands, and became national powerhouses.

March 5th is National Cheese Doodle Day. You’ll find online that some small sites claim March 5th is National Cheetos Day, but it isn’t.

Even though they are more than 10 years older, Cheetos needs to establish its own holiday. (The history of Cheetos is below).
 
 
HOW CHEEZ DOODLES CAME TO BE

The Cheez Doodles brand was originally developed and manufactured by King Kone Corporation of the Bronx. Melt-in-your-mouth and very cheddary, it became the prevalent cheese puff snack on the East Coast.

But King Kone? Where did that name come from for a cheese puff producer?

The company was originally a manufacturer of food machinery. In the early 1950s, they decided to manufacture foods instead of just selling the machinery. Their first product was making food ice cream cones.

One of their machines could extrude cornmeal under pressure through a narrow hole, which was then cut into three-inch lengths by a blade.

Baked with orange cheddar cheese and flavorings, the product was dubbed Cheez Doodles by company’s co-owner, as he was sitting a table with other employees sampling different alternatives for the cheese flavor.

Cheese puffs, cheese curls, cheese balls and cheesy puffs are all names for a puffed corn snack, coated with a mixture of cheese or cheese-flavored powders. They are manufactured by extruding heated corn dough through a die that forms a particular shape.

Cheez Doodles fanatics have used them as an ingredient in other foods, as well.

In 1960, King Cone Corporation was renamed as Old London Foods. In 1965, the company was bought by Borden, which made Cracker Jack and Drake’s cakes. It has been sold several times since.
 
 
OTHER USES FOR CHEEZ DOODLES

Most people snack out of the bag or a bowl. But we found these 10 additional uses for Cheez Doodles that include Cheez Doodle Pie, Cheez Doodle macarons, Cheez Doodle Snickerdoodles, chocolate-dipped Cheez Doodles, Peanut Butter & Cheez Doodle Sandwich.

This article has similar ideas for Cheetos: top the cheese on a cheeseburger or grilled cheese sandwich, Cheetos nachos (instead of tortilla chips), mac and Cheetos and Cheetos sushi.

We’ve even seen crushed Cheez Doodles/Cheetos for breading chicken, a garnish for corn on the cob, and Cheetos Marshmallow Krispie Treats.

We don’t pass judgment on what other people eat, but if we had to use Cheez Doodles beyond snack food, our idea would be as croutons on salads, for a “cheese and salad course.”

 
FOOD HISTORY: CHEETOS ARRIVED FIRST

Cheetos were invented in 1948 by Charles Elmer Doolin, who created Fritos corn chips in Dallas, in 1932.

The snack sold briskly, but Doolin did not have the capacity to produce and distribute the snacks nationwide. In order to expand, he subsequently partnered with potato chip producer Herman W. Lay to market and distribute Cheetos.

The success of Cheetos prompted Doolin and Lay to merge their two companies in 1961, forming Frito-Lay Inc. (In the never-ending cycle of mergers and acquisitions, Frito-Lay merged with the Pepsi-Cola Company in 1965 to form PepsiCo.)

While Cheetos was the first cheesy snack puff, other major U.S. brands include Herr’s Cheese Curls, Wise Cheez Doodles and Utz Cheese Curls. As of 2010, Cheetos was the top-selling cheese puff in America.

A crêpe is a type of very thin pancake, that can be served unfilled, with only a sprinkling of confectioners sugar, or with sweet or savoury filling.

 
In their native region of Brittany, France, crêpes are made with wheat flour. Those made with buckwheat flour (photo #2) are called galettes*. In the U.S., you can use either term.

Buckwheat crêpes are a gluten-free alternative to a traditional crêpe. A common galette filling in France is ham and cheese with a sunny-side-up egg on top.

Play with the ingredients and make yourself a breakfast galette filled with the types of eggs, cheese and breakfast meat you prefer. You can also use combinations of:

 
Galettes are just one type of buckwheat pancake. Blini are smaller and thicker, buckwheat pancakes, often served with caviar and sour cream. Here’s a photo.
 
 
RECIPE: BUCKWHEAT CRÊPES (GALETTES)

This recipe for galettes is from King Arthur Flour. Prep time is 20-35 minutes, cook time is 20-25 minutes.

You can halve the recipe if you need five or fewer servings.

Ingredients For 10-12 Crêpes

 
For The Filling

 
Preparation

1. MAKE the crêpe batter: Combine all the ingredients except water in a blender, and blend until smooth.

2. COVER the batter and let it rest in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or overnight. When you’re ready to make the crêpes…

3. THIN the batter with water, using less water for thicker crêpes and more water for thinner ones.

4. PREHEAT a crêpe pan or non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Lightly grease the pan with butter, oil, or pan spray. Pour in enough batter to thinly coat the bottom of the pan. Swirling the pan as you pour the batter will help ensure an even coating.

5. COOK the crêpe for 1 to 2 minutes on the first side, until it’s golden and lifts from the pan easily. Flip it over and cook for another 1 to 2 minutes on the other side.

6. TOP with 2 tablespoons of grated Swiss cheese and a thin slice of ham. Cook until the cheese is melted and the underside is browned. In a separate pan, fry an egg to desired doneness. Place the egg in the center of the crêpe, sprinkle with herbs, then fold the edges towards the center to make a square.

[1] A breakfast crepe (photo and recipe courtesy King Arthur Flour).

[2] Plain crêpes with a sprinkle of confectioners sugar. Here’s the recipe from Lauren’s Latest.

[3] A rolled crêpe. Here’s the recipe from Let The Baking Begin.

While the crepês won’t keep—a stack of unfilled crêpes will start to adhere to each other—you can follow up the ham-and-egg crepes dessert crepes, filled with jam, fruit, ice cream, etc.
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*Two pastry types are also called galette. First is a crusty flat cake (an inch or two high), such as an Epiphany Cake (galette des rois). The term is also given to a French pastry similar to a tart or a pie. Created in the days when most people lacked pie pans, the pie filling is placed atop the pastry dough on a work surface, and the dough edges are turned up to create an edge. Here’s a photo.

[1] Cream cheese pound cake bundt from The Baker Chick.

[2] Vanilla beans (photo by Claire Freierman | The Nibble).

March 4th is National Pound Cake Day. The original cake was created in England in the 1700s. Here’s the history of pound cake.

Dense, buttery pound cake is one of our favorite cakes. This recipe is even richer, thanks to the added cream cheese.

The recipe was sent to us by one of our favorite bakers, The Baker Chick. Easily made in a bundt pan, the recipe has a glaze for drizzling.

We left off the glaze and enjoyed ours with ice cream, mascarpone and whipped cream (not all together!).
 
RECIPE: CREAM CHEESE POUND CAKE BUNDT

Ingredients

1. PREHEAT the oven to 325°F. Spray well or grease a 10-inch bundt cake pan.

2. CREAM together the butter, cream cheese and sugar for about 5 minutes or until very light and fluffy. Stir in the extract orr zest.

3. ADD the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the bowl as needed. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour slowly and gradually. Do not over-mix—you’ll get a tough cake.

4. POUR the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 65-75 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool. Meanwhile…

5. MAKE the glaze. If you start the glaze when the cake goes into the oven, it will be ready when the cake is cooled. Pour the milk into a glass measuring cup and scrape in the vanilla bean.

6. STEEP for an hour to give the milk mixture a strong vanilla flavor. Then add the powdered sugar and whisk with a fork until it’s thick and the right consistency for drizzling. Drizzle over the cooled cake.

March 4th is National Snack Day. Quick: Name your favorite snacks!

Now, take a look at these better-for-you snacks, and see how you measure up. (Note: November 6th is National Healthy Eating Day.)

Most are easily portable. To sweeten the snacks, consider a Splenda/cinnamon mix: a packet of Splenda with a dash of cinnamon.

In alphabetical order, we suggest:

[1] Grass-fed, non-GMO beef sticks from Chomps.

[2] Lots of protein: a real hunger quencher (photo © Pete & Gerry’s).

[3] Seasoned tuna pouches: protein and omega-3s (photo © StarKist).

[4] Flavored seaweed strips in a variety of flavors (photo © GimMe Health).

 
Your next step: Decide which of these to substitute for your less-than-good-for-you snacks.