WEEKLY MENU 03.10.24
Celebrating PI via Pie during the Weekly Menu 03.10.24 is the only way to go~
There’s a very special day falling during the Weekly Menu 03.10.24: PI Day falls on Thursday, March 14th (3.14). How are we celebrating? Primarily with PIES!!!
Every year on March 14—Albert Einstein’s birthday—number lovers can raise a piece of pie to Pi (π) Day, an international celebration of one of math’s most famous constants: the irrational, never-ending number π, pronounced pi (3.14159 . . .). Exploratorium physicist Larry Shaw invented the playful celebration in 1988, and Congress declared it an official U.S. national holiday in 2009.
Exploratorium
What’s the dealio with PI, anyway?
Succinctly, pi—which is written as the Greek letter for p, or π—is the ratio of the circumference of any circle to the diameter of that circle. Regardless of the circle’s size, this ratio will always equal pi. In decimal form, the value of pi is approximately 3.14. But pi is an irrational number, meaning that its decimal form neither ends (like 1/4 = 0.25) nor becomes repetitive (like 1/6 = 0.166666…)… Hence, it is useful to have shorthand for this ratio of circumference to diameter. According to Petr Beckmann’s A History of Pi, the Greek letter π was first used for this purpose by William Jones in 1706, probably as an abbreviation of periphery, and became standard mathematical notation roughly 30 years later.
Scientific American
In basic mathematics, Pi is used to find area and circumference of a circle. You might not use it yourself every day, but Pi is used in most calculations for building and construction, quantum physics, communications, music theory, medical procedures, air travel, and space flight, to name a few. NASA regularly uses Π to calculate trajectories of spacecraft. Other ways NASA uses Pi is to determine the size of craters and extrasolar planets, figuring out how much propellent a spacecraft has, and learning what an asteroid is made of.
Universe Today
Food is Science!
So of course, we’re going to celebrate PI Day with… Pies, Pies, Pies (and Pies). Sunday dinner is a very cost-effective pork loin roast (that happens to be delish) followed up by a trio of Mini-Skillet Pies. Lest you think I’m a glutton for punishment, I will admit that I will be buying premade pie shells from the freezer section. The “French Silk” Pie will be filled with a smooth chocolate (boxed) pudding filling. We’re using frozen blueberries to make sure the berries are perfect. We found a small batch Pecan Pie recipe – which is really the only way we can afford to make it anymore. Pecans are crazy expensive.
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Of course, we will top all of the above pies with either ice cream (my choice) or some Cool Whip. I like to use the Mini Cast Iron Skillets that I got for my birthday a few years ago, but if you don’t have them, stop into the Dollar Tree and get yourself some small foil pie pans. Or you could either make or buy a regular sized pie. Not as much fun (or as much variety) but it’ll get the job done.
On the actual day (Thursday, March 14th) we’re going savory with Cottage Pie. It’s classic Shepherds Pie made with beef instead of lamb, and it is comfort eating all day. Maybe we’ll even have some mini-pies left over from Sunday. Unlikely, but you never know…
WEEKLY MENU 03.10.24
