Happy Pi Day!

Remember in math class when there was inevitably some student who raised his hand to ask, "When are we ever going to use this?" Well here it is:

Pi Day

For those of you who remember your geometry, Pi is the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. You probably used it lots in math class, but now you have an even better reason*

An excuse to eat ALL THE PIE

(*not really...math is very important)

Pi equals 3.1415926... I could go on, I suppose, since Pi continues forever, but I'm sure we all have better things to do with our day.

This kid does it better anyway (while balancing books on her head and solving a rubik's cube):

Anyways! March 14 (written as 3.14) is annually known as Pi day. Extra special is this year's Pi day, because today's date (3.14.15) represents the first 4 digits of Pi after the decimal. Extra extra special is 9:26 AM and PM because, well, see above.

In honor of Pi day, I will share with you one of my favorite "Pi"s...KEY LIME PIE! So good, so tart, so easy to make! This is a bonus recipe with a pie CRUST recipe and a pie filling recipe.

I totally think you should have some pie tonight. Around 9:26 if you want extra credit!

Graham Cracker Crust:

Crush one sleeve of graham crackers either by hand or in a food processor (it comes out more uniform in a food processor). Mix with 1/4 cup of brown sugar and a pinch of salt. Melt 3/4 of a stick of butter (6 tablespoons) in the microwave, then pour over the graham cracker mixture. Stir together, then press into a pie pan. Bake for 8 minutes at 350 degrees, then let the crust cool completely on a wire rack (think: at least 30 minutes).

For the pie

Ingredients

1 prepared graham cracker crust (above)

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1/2-2/3 cups key lime juice--fresh or bottled

            (the amount depends on how tart you want it...I almost always go 2/3 cups)

4 egg yolks

Process

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. In a mixer with a whisk attachment, whisk the egg yolks for about 2 minutes. 
3. Add the sweetened condensed milk and mix well (about 30 seconds).
4. While the mixer is running, add the lime juice in a slow and steady stream. When all is combined, turn the mixer off and let everything sit for 5 minutes. It should thicken slightly.
5. Pour the mixture into the crust and bake for 15 minutes. It should be set, but still jiggle a little
6. Cool pie to room temperature on a rack, then chill in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours. 
7. I strongly recommend serving this pie with whipped cream. You can buy it, or make your own by pouring 1 cup of cold heavy cream and 2 tbsps powdered sugar into the mixer and whipping it on medium high (about 1-2 minutes, until it makes peaks and is, well, whip cream-like)