Pi Day 2016 is right around the corner. If you're not a millennial or a math teacher, you may not yet know about this holiday, but you can still get ready for a global celebration of this beloved mathematical constant.
On March 14, number nerds and bakers join forces in the most delicious mathematical party of the year. The circumference of any circle? Pi times diameter. A circle's area? Pi times radius squared. Pie for breakfast? Yes please. The date March 14 is the first three digits of pi, although pi has over a trillion more calculated digits and goes on infinitely.
It's probably no surprise to you, dear readers, that Pi Day is one of my favorite holidays of the year. I look forward to it with more anticipation, more than my birthday or Christmas. So my request is that you celebrate Pi Day, Alaska style, and show off the bounty of our traditional, wild and locally grown foods: Salmonberry rhubarb pie, herring egg and sockeye salmon quiche, caribou shepherd's pie with Mat-Su carrots and potatoes. Blueberry pancakes with a drizzled pi sign in birch syrup, or barbecue duck pizza. Let's see your unique creations from every corner of the state. Send your photos to play@alaskadispatch.com or use the hashtag #AKPiDay on social media.
On Pi Day, let's set our differences aside and come together around the table. Because if the Alaska Legislature can't eat pie together, then how will we ever solve the fiscal crisis?
Ways to celebrate Pi Day
Make a pie (of course).
Support local businesses and buy a pie from your favorite diner, bakery or pizzeria.
Challenge your friends or family to eat only circle-shaped foods all day. Make pancakes, bagels or quiche for breakfast, pizza for lunch and pot pie for dinner. Add a pi symbol design on top of your pie creation for fun.
Teach kids math and baking skills by making a pie or pizza together.
Host a Pi Day party and play pi/pie trivia with your guests.
Bring a pie into work and spread the pi love.
Reach out to new neighbors and gift them with a pie and corny math joke.
Walk, run or bike 3.14 miles on the trails before eating pie.
Have a pi decimal reciting contest.
Send a letter to your legislator about why you value education and a local food system.
Shannon Kuhn lives in Anchorage, where she writes about food and culture. Reach her at play@alaskadispatch.com.