National Pie Day

Celebrate National Pie Day with a savory ham and cheese hand held pie so hold the fruit!  

History of National Pie Day
National Pie Day was born in 1975 in Boulder, Colorado, thanks to a school teacher named Charlie Papazian. On January 23, his birthday, he declared that this day would be forever remembered as National Pie Day. Why did he do that, you ask? Well, for one good reason: Charlie really loved pie. In fact, he loved it so much he would have a “birthday pie” instead of a birthday cake. Since then, his idea for a National Pie Day has spread all over the United States.
Delicious Pie Facts

• Pumpkin Pie wasn’t served at the pilgrim’s first Thanksgiving in 1621
• Originally, fruit pies were a breakfast food in the United States
• 20% of Americans have admitted to eating a whole pie by themselves
• 186 million pies are sold just in supermarkets and grocery stores each year
• In Kansas, it used to be illegal to serve ice cream on cherry pie
• “American Pie” was the name of the plane Buddy Holly died on
• Key Lime Pie is the official pie of Florida
• Peach Custard Pie is the official pie of Delaware
• Pumpkin Pie is the official pie of Illinois
• Sugar Creme Pie is the official pie of Indiana

Ham and Swiss Cheese Hand Held Savory Pie

Cook's Notes:These savory pies have lots of possibilities. Change the meat, cheese or add a vegetarian filling to add variety to these hand held pies. When I say easy I really mean easy as it all came together in 15 minutes. I had to be a little creative to come up with the pie shape. I cut out a pattern and laid it right on the pie crust. I used a knife to go around the shape but a pizza cutter would work too. 
The paper pattern is 8 inches long and 4 inches wide. I folded it in half and rounded off the corners. Then lay pattern out flat  on the pie crust dough.  I used both piecrusts from this box which made 4 hand held pies. If you roll pie crust scraps you can eek out one more. 

Ingredients:

• 1 box Pillsbury Refrigerated Pie Crusts
• Ham slices
• Swiss Cheese slices
• Dark Brown Spicy Mustard

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Using the paper pattern trace out 2 pie shapes from each pie crust dough. Be sure the surface is lightly floured.

• Transfer to a baking sheet line with parchment paper or a silicone pad. 

• On lower half of pie dough spread mustard to 1/4 inch of edge. Along edges moisten with water. Add cheese slice and ham slice and fold top half down. Moisten pie crust with water and crimp edges with a fork. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. In middle of pie make an x for steam to escape.  
• Bake 18 minutes or until browned.