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Celebrate APC's National Pie Day on January 23 Emile Henry Announces the Emile Henry Pie Contest "How Pretty is your Pie?" to Celebrate the Day

Winners will receive an Emile Henry Pie Dish and a Signed Garden County Pie Cookbook

New Castle, DE - December 2008 ? Emile Henry announces a Pie Contest "How pretty is your pie?" in honor of National Pie Day on January 23, 2009. Created by the American Pie Council®, National Pie Day is dedicated to the celebration of pie. As part of our American heritage, this day is a perfect opportunity to pass on the love and enjoyment of pie eating and pie making to future generations. So, heat up those ovens on a cold January morning and bake a pie. There is nothing more cozy and comforting then the aroma of a hot apple, pumpkin or other favorite pie.

To participate in the Emile Henry Pie Contest on National Pie Day, bakers need to submit a very brief explanation on how baking with an Emile Henry Pie Dish has improved their pie baking. It's that simple. Fill out the submission form online at www.emilehenryusa.com. Enter contest now through January 31st, 2009. The process takes a couple of minutes. 5 Winners will be chosen on February 1st to receive an Emile Henry Pie Dish in their choice of color and a signed Garden County Pie Cookbook. And there are lots of colors to choose from ranging from sophisticated urban shades to warm Mediterranean hues and include slate, sand, sky, figue purple, pink, azure blue, cerise red, citron yellow, vert green, noir and blanc.

The Emile Henry pie dish, like all Emile Henry oven-to-table-ware, is a natural product handcrafted from Burgundy clay in France. The dish is highly resistant to breakage and can go directly from the freezer to the oven. The dish will not craze or discolor. For more information on the Emile Henry Pie Contest, visit www.emilehenryusa.com. For more information on the American Pie Council (APC), National Pie Day and to learn more about the 2009 APC Crisco National Pie Championships and Great American Pie Festival, Orlando, Florida, April 24-26, 2009 visit www.piecouncil.org.

Pie History from the American Pie Council

* Pie has been around since the ancient Egyptians. The first pies were made by early Romans who may have learned about it through the Greeks. These pies were sometimes made in "reeds" which were used for the sole purpose of holding the filling and not for eating with the filling.

* The Romans must have spread the word about pies around Europe as the Oxford English Dictionary notes that the word pie was a popular word in the 14th century. The first pie recipe was published by the Romans and was for a rye-crusted goat cheese and honey pie.

* The early pies were predominately meat pies. Pyes (pies) originally appeared in England as early as the twelfth century. The crust of the pie was referred to as "coffyn". There was actually more crust than filling. Often these pies were made using fowl and the legs were left to hang over the side of the dish and used as handles. Fruit pies or tarts (pasties) where probably first made in the 1500s. English tradition credits making the first cherry pie to Queen Elizabeth I.

* Pie came to America with the first English settlers. The early colonists cooked their pies in long narrow pans calling them "coffins" like the crust in England. As in the Roman times, the early American pie crusts often were not eaten, but simply designed to hold the filling during baking. It was during the American Revolution that the term crust was used instead of coffyn.

* Over the years, pie has evolved to become what it is today "the most traditional American dessert". Pie has become so much a part of American culture throughout the years, that we now commonly use the term "as American as apple pie."