Pi Day Pie Party

Image Source: neatorama.com

Pi Day is coming up!  Last year on March 14 at 1:59pm (3.14159) we had a Pi Day Pie Party.  Since St Patrick's Day is a few days later, I ended up giving it an Irish theme.  

The Menu:

Cheese and Crackers

Rueben Hand Pies

Chicken Pot Pie

Shepherd's Pie

Irish Soda Bread

Cherry Pie (my first pie)

Apple Pie (Mike's first pie)

Grasshopper Ice Cream Pie

Guinness

Smithwick's

Black & Tans

Green Vodka Lemonade (for the non-beer drinkers)

         

Rueben Hand Pies:  I was looking for a pie that could be an appetizer.   When I found these ham and cheese bites, I knew I had to turn them into baby ruebens.  I made extra dough when I made the chicken pot pie, so I used that instead of store bought.  Instead of the ham and cheddar, I used corned beef swiss cheese.  I also drained some sauerkraut really well and added some of that also.  It's not a rueben without the sauerkraut right?  I made some Thousand Island dressing for a dipping sauce because it wasn't worth buying a whole bottle just for these apps. 

Chicken Pot Pie:  I used a recipe from an episode of Jacques and Julia.  On the TV version they use only a smidge of cream, but in the cookbook for that show they used a lot more.  I've tried making it both ways and it's definitely better with only a smidge of cream.  The additional cream drowns out the delicious flavor of the concentrated chicken stock.

 

Shepherd's Pie:  I used a mish-mash of shepherd's pie recipes that I found online.  I plan on making it again, and when I do I'll share the final recipe.  I created some texture on the potatoes to encourage browning.
   

 

Irish Soda Bread:  After looking at a bunch of recipes, I noticed some had raisins, currants and caraway seeds.  I didn't want any of that so I went with this recipe from Taste and Tell.

Cherry Pie:  This was is the first fruit pie I've ever made!  I used my Aunt Ginny's recipe for the crust and filling which I will reveal in the next blog post (found here).

 

Apple Pie:  Our friend Mike wanted to contribute so he made his first pie also.  He made an apple pie decorated with pi's equation for an area of a circle and pi's number up to the first 10 decimals.  Not only did it look good, but it was really tasty too!  It was everything an apple should be: flaky crust with a warm mix of apple and cinnamon flavor.

   

   

Grasshopper Ice Cream Pie:  Here's a quick and dirty recipe for you:

Crush about 2 sleeves of Oreos and mix with a bit of melted butter (~5 Tbsp) then smush into a pie pan or spring-form pan.  Make or buy mint chocolate chip ice cream (1.5-2 qts) or Mint Ting a Ling if you're in Perry's country.  Give it a chance to soften a bit, then spread it evenly into pan.  Cover tightly with plastic wrap and foil, then set it in the freezer for a few hours to harden and set up.  Make or buy your favorite fudge sauce.  When it's time to serve, cut the pie with a hot knife, then spread the hot fudge over each slice.  Dollop with whipped cream if desired.