Celebrate National Pie Day!

The American Pie Council has announced that January 23, 2010 is National Pie Day.

If you love to make, eat, photograph, throw, blog, draw, invent, document, critique, improve, or discuss pie, you can celebrate with me on January 23rd.

I will be throwing, um, a Pie Night Party on January 23rd (1/23, or as close as I can get). You can, too. Easy as pie!

I am using the announcement of National Pie Day to kick off my blog, Sac Pie, because Sacramento is a great place to create a rich, deep (-dish) culture of all things Pie. We have an abundance of fresh fruit and vegetables to put in pie. We have a home-grown visual artist, Wayne Thiebaud, who obviously is a champion for pie. We enjoy a town full of creative bakers and chefs who can offer their pie-making talents.

What we don't have here in Sacramento is Pie Critical Mass. Maybe you have noticed this. Where can you go, of an evening, if you just want a nice piece of pie? And not just for dessert, for that matter, but for breakfast? The Real Pie Company was a valiant attempt to make Sacramento a pie lover's haven, but it was short-lived. Where can you get a fine, fresh pie to buy if you are too lazy or busy to make one yourself? Who will teach you how to make pie if you really want to learn? Who's making pies with healthy ingredients instead of partially hydrogenated vegetable shortening? Clearly, someone needs to take the cause of pie in this town seriously (but not too).

Here's what I'm proposing to do on this blog.

• remind you why pie is an ingredient for a happy life


• investigate and promote local Sacramento pie


• promote and gauge interest in a local Sacramento Pie Festival


• let you know what I'm baking each month


• encourage you to share all things pie.

As you can see, there is a lot of room for the development of a community pie culture. Do your part to stand up for pie!