In Celebration of Pi

For those out there less nerdy than me, Pi day was on Saturday.  (It was also Einstein’s birthday.)  To celebrate, I made meat pie!

Meat pie is something that my French-Canadian grandmother always makes on holidays.  It is very tasty – she usually has to make two to feed all of us pigs!  I’ve never made it before, and it always seemed a little tricky, according to my mom.  And then I found out why – there’s no actual recipe! It’s all stored in my grandmother’s head, and unfortunately I’m not telepathic.  I called her to ask her how long and what temperature to bake it at, and she said “until it’s done”.   Ahh, family recipes!

So, with some vague instructions, I made a meat pie.  And now I’m going to share with you how it’s done.  (I’m also sharing this with future me, so I can’t forget!)

Ingredients:

• 1 ¼ lb ground beef
• ¼ cup water
• 2-3 tbsp. flour
• cinnamon
• ground cloves
• ½ tsp. salt
• two pie shells
• one slightly beaten egg white

Directions:

1. Brown the beef, draining off about half of the fat when it is finished.
2. Add water, and then flour in small portions until a slight gravy is formed.
3. Add cinnamon (about 1 tsp) and cloves (about 2-3 tsp) – until it tastes good.
4. Add salt.
5. Put first pie shell into the pie dish.
6. Add meat to pie shell
7. Top with second pie shell, pinch closed and cut a few slits in the top.
8. Brush the top with the egg white.
9. Bake at 400 F for about 20-25 minutes, until the top is a nice golden brown.