61/365: National Banana Cream Pie Day

March 2nd we celebrate yet another pie. Two months into this challenge, and we are already feeling all pied out. But there are more to come! Lots more: there are 20 different pie holidays this year. This means 5% of the time, we’re celebrating pie. Fortunately, a bunch of those holidays overlap with other food days, ’cause no matter how you slice it – that’s a lot of pie. Today is one of my faves, though: banana cream pie!

And I am not alone. In 1951, the U.S. Armed Forces conducted a survey asking soldiers which pie was their favorite. The top answer had to be censored (damn soldiers and their one-track minds!), but the top non-dirty answer was banana cream pie. This led the government to conduct a top-secret study to determine if banana cream pie could be altered to create superhuman strength in the soldiers who ate it. Sheesh…too much Captain America on the brain for some people! What a waste of time. Everybody knows that it’s canned spinach that gives you strength.

Cream pies are also a favorite of comedians, who use them as a gimmick to throw in people’s faces. I always thought this was a waste of a good pie, until I read that most of these pies are really just tins filled with whipped cream or shaving cream.

What a waste of whipped cream and shaving cream!

For today’s challenge, we went to the ever-reliable Shari’s, which we are now officially renaming Pie Central. We bought, and shared, a slice of banana cream pie. As you might have guessed, it was heavenly! Those soldiers had the right idea.

Related articles

• My mom’s banana cream pie (theback40.org)
• Banana Cream Pie (meggieskitchen.wordpress.com)