Pi Day Celebrations

Can anyone really recite more than a few decimal points into the number Pi? I sure can't; however, I can make a pretty kick ass pie!

Pi day, March 14th, was originally created in celebration of mathematics but has simultaneously become a huge pie baking day. Petsi's Pies in Cambridge offers a free pie to anyone who can recite a certain number of decimal points into the number. I have never participated 1) because I am horrible at math (even as a musician) and 2) because I prefer to bake my own pies!

This year Tommy told me that he rarely eats pies and the only way he would eat a slice was al a mode or with loads of wiped cream.... Well I took that as a challenge.

On a short brake from packing for my birthday trip to visit my sister in Seattle, I went to Whole Foods to buy ingredients. Since I already had an organic gram cracker crumb crust in my pantry, making a home made butter crust was not necessary. I decided on apple cinnamon crumble filling. My Macintosh apples came from a local farm in Massachusetts, the butter was organic, and flour from King Arthur.

This was a brand new creation for me and a big hit with Tommy and his roommates. One bite and Tommy was hooked! He even went back for seconds. I hope you have the same success with this recipe, it is delicious! Tommy said "this is just like a crumble except in pie form!"

Cinnamon crumble apple pie:
One Graham cracker pie crust
Filling:
4-5 Macentosh apples peeled
1 Bosc pear peeled (optional)
1/3 cup sugar
2 Tbsp cinnamon
1 Tbsp ginger
1 Tbsp flour
1 Tbsp lemon juice
Crumble:
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup organic brown sugar
1/2 cup old fashioned oats
Pinch salt (optional)

1) preheat oven to 325 degrees farenheit.
2) peel all of your apples and pears, core, and slice into thin pieces.

3) in a medium bowl, toss the fruit with sugar, cinnamon, ginger, flour, and lemon juice.
4) pour into your crust. The filing should tower high over your pan (this will cook down, u want to over fill the crust).
5) using the same bowl as filling or a new medium bowl, mix together the crumble. I like to cut up the butter and use my hands to squeeze the mixture together until everything is well incorporated.

6) press crumble around the filling sealing off the top of the crust. You should have a nice shell around the mound of filling.
7) place pie on a cookie sheet and bake for one and a half hours turning every half hour. Start checking every 10-15 minutes after one hour.
8) let cool on rack while you wip up some wipping cream. I use a small amount of maple syrup to sweeten.

Enjoy! Seattle post coming soon!