National Pie Day!

As many people know, Michael (and I) enjoy celebrating random holidays, such as: 

National Homemade Bread Day (November 17th)

Last year we made a grand total of 32 loaves of bread.

International Talk Like a Pirate Day (September 19th)

Krispy Kreme acknowledges this day by giving free doughnuts to people who dress up.  This year we went with our friends, the Jacobs, and came home with a dozen doughnuts.  EACH.  But the first time we celebrated this day as a married couple, I picked Michael up from school dressed as a pirate, we made tuna patties for dinner, and we watched Pirates of the Caribbean.  Awesome day.

National Men Make Dinner Day (November 6th)

(Check out this hilarious website dedicated to educating men about the rules of this holiday: http://www.menmakedinnerday.com/home/index.php)

Well, this past week Michael and I celebrated National Pie Day (not to be confused with Pi Day - no, no, this is the real deal).  This holiday has particular significance to us, as it provided an avenue for getting back in touch and eventually dating and getting married.  Here is what ensued on this holiday two years ago, in Michael's own words:

"About two years ago I was a single man, celebrating about one “national holiday” per week. In September I had celebrated Johnny Appleseed Day by teaching my FHE family to make apple pie. For National Pie Day I figured I would make several apple pies and take them around to friends who I hadn’t seen for some time. I had become good friends with Rachel and her roommates the previous year living in the same apartment complex. She and her roommates were all awesome girls whom most guys had wanted/attempted to go out with. However, they did a great job at staying single. So I took a pie to them just to say hi. The only girl home was Ashlee. She had been dating a friend of mine and invited me in to kind of “stall” and wait for Rachel and her other roommates to come home. She fed me some nice rotisserie chicken from Costco and mashed potatoes but after a while I figured nobody would be coming back soon and I decided to go deliver another pie. In the parking lot I ran into Rachel as she was getting back from the gym. We hadn’t seen each other for a few months so we caught up, exchanged numbers, and said we hoped to run into each other again soon. A few days later I called to ask her on a date. The rest is history..."

Hehe.  So there you go.  That's how National Pie Day gained an honored place in the Nelson household.  Last year unfortunately we forgot to celebrate.  But here's how we celebrated this year...

Pie in a Jar!!

What a brilliant idea, huh?  We probably would have made a big pie, but we kinda ran out of our food budget early this month.  Oops.  So we opted for the smaller, quicker, easier version instead.  This recipe was taken from our new cookbook, "Our Best Bites", by Sara Wells and Kate Jones.  We think it's a winner!  You can also find it on their blog, here: http://www.ourbestbites.com/2009/09/single-serving-pie-in-a-jar/

Just look at those marvelous hunks of butter...

Ta daaaaa!!

Delicious apple pie in less than two hours (that includes baking time).

We had a lot of fun with our celebration, and we look forward to satisfying all of our future pie cravings with this easy recipe!

How about you?  What's your favorite off-the-wall family tradition?