A slice of an apple pie

A pie is a baked dish which is usually made of a pastry dough casing that covers or completely contains a filling of various sweet or savoury ingredients.

Pies are defined by their crusts. A filled pie (also single-crust or bottom-crust), has pastry lining the baking dish, and the filling is placed on top of the pastry, but left open. A top-crust pie, which may also be called a cobbler, has the filling in the bottom of the dish and the filling covered with a pastry or other covering before baking. A two-crust pie has the filling completely enclosed in the pastry shell. Flaky pastry is a typical kind of pastry used for pie crusts, but many things can be used, including baking powder biscuits, mashed potatoes, and crumbs.

Pies can be a variety of sizes, ranging from bite-size to ones designed for multiple servings.

History[link]

Homemade meat pie with beef and vegetables.

A slice of pecan pie

A 19th-century pie crimper made of ivory, in the collection of The Children's Museum of Indianapolis

Jeûne Genevois plum pie

A chicken pie with a traditional pie bird

The need for nutritious, easy-to-store, easy-to-carry, and long-lasting foods on long journeys, in particular at sea, was initially solved by taking live food along with a butcher or cook. However, this took up additional space on what were either horse-powered treks or small ships, reducing the time of travel before additional food was required. This resulted in early armies adopting the style of hunter-foraging.

The introduction of the baking of processed cereals including the creation of flour, provided a more reliable source of food. Egyptian sailors carried a flat brittle bread loaf of millet bread called dhourra cake, while the Romans had a biscuit called buccellum.^[1]

The first pies appeared around 9500 BC, in the Egyptian Neolithic period or New Stone Age, when the use of stone tools shaped by polishing or grinding became common, the domestication of plants and animals, the establishment of permanent villages, and the practice of crafts such as pottery and weaving. Early pies were in the form of galettes wrapping honey as a treat inside a cover of ground oats, wheat, rye or barley. These galettes developed into a form of early sweet pastry or desserts, evidence of which can be found on the tomb walls of the Pharaoh Ramesses II, who ruled from 1304 to 1237 BC, located in the Valley of the Kings.^[2] Sometime before 2000 BC, a recipe for chicken pie was written on a tablet in Sumer.^[3]

With the knowledge transferred to the Ancient Greeks, historians believe that the Greeks originated pie pastry. Then a flour-water paste (add fat, and it becomes pastry),^[4] wrapped around meat, served to: cook the meat; seal in the juices; and provide a lightweight sealed holder for long sea journeys. This transferred the knowledge to the Romans who, having conquered parts of Northern Europe and southern Spain were far more adept at using salt and spices to preserve and flavour their meat.^[2]

The 1st century Roman cookbook Apicius make various mention of various recipes which involve a pie case.^[5] By 160 BC, Roman statesman Marcus Porcius Cato (234-149 BC) who wrote De Agri Cultura, notes the recipe for the most popular pie/cake called Placenta. Also called libum by the Romans, it was more like a modern day cheesecake on a pastry base, often used as an offering to the gods. With the development of the Roman Empire and its efficient road transport, pie cooking spread throughout Europe.^[2]

Pies remained as a core staple of diet of traveling and working peoples in the colder northern European countries, with regional variations based on both the locally grown and available meats, as well as the locally farmed cereal crop. The Cornish pasty is an excellent adaptation of the pie to a working man's daily food needs.^[2]

Medieval cooks were often restricted in cooking forms they were able to use, having restricted access to ovens due to their costs of construction and need for abundant supplies of fuel. Pies could be easily cooked over an open fire, while partnering with a baker allowed them to cook the filling inside their own locally defined casing. The earliest pie-like recipes refer to coffyns (the word actually used for a basket or box), with straight sealed sides and a top; open top pies were referred to as traps. This may also be the reason why early recipes focus on the filling over the surrounding case, with the partnership development leading to the use of reusable earthenware pie cases which reduced the use of expensive flour.^[6]

The first reference to "pyes" as food items appeared in England (in a Latin context) as early as the 12th century, but no unequivocal reference to the item with which the article is concerned is attested until the 14th century (Oxford English Dictionary sb pie).^[2]

Song birds at the time were a fine delicacy, and protected by Royal Law. At the coronation of eight-year old English King Henry VI (1422–1461) in 1429, "Partryche and Pecock enhackyll" pie was served, consisting of cooked peacock mounted in its skin on a peacock filled pie. Cooked birds were frequently placed by European royal cooks on top of a large pie to identify its contents, leading to its later adaptation in pre-Victorian times as a porcelain ornament to release of steam and identify a good pie.^[2]

The Pilgrim fathers and early settlers brought their pie recipes with them to America, adapting to the ingredients and techniques available to them in the New World. Their first pies were based on berries and fruits pointed out to them by the Native North Americans.^[2] Pies allowed colonial cooks to stretch ingredients and also used round shallow pans to literally "cut corners," and create a regional variation of shallow pie.^[7]

Regional variations[link]

Apple pie crust

Meat pies with fillings such as steak, cheese, steak and kidney, minced beef, or chicken and mushroom are popular in the United Kingdom,^[8] Australia and New Zealand as take-away snacks. They are also served with chips as an alternative to fish and chips at British chip shops.

Pot pies with a flaky crust and bottom are also a popular American dish, typically with a filling of meat (particularly beef, chicken or turkey), gravy, and mixed vegetables (potatoes, carrots and peas). Frozen pot pies are often sold in individual serving size.

Fruit pies may be served with a scoop of ice cream, a style known in North America as pie à la mode. Many sweet pies are served this way. Apple pie is a traditional choice, though any pie with sweet fillings may be served à la mode. This combination, and possibly the name as well, is thought to have been popularized in the mid-1890s in the United States.^[9]

Pie throwing[link]

Cream filled or topped pies are favorite props for humor. Throwing a pie in a person's face has been a staple of film comedy since Ben Turpin received one in Mr. Flip in 1909.^[10] More recently, pieing has also become a political act.

Types of pies[link]

Savory pies[link]

Sweet pies[link]

Some of these pies are pies in name only, such as the Boston cream pie, which is a cake. Many fruit and berry pies are very similar, varying only the fruit used in filling. Fillings for sweet or fruity are often mixed, such as strawberry rhubarb pie.

See also[link]

Food portal

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Pie

Look up pie in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikibooks Cookbook has a recipe/module on Pie

• A Tale of Two Tarts by Monica Gaudio (contains info that can be added into article with references)
• Food Timeline, History Notes: Pie & Pastry
• The American Pie Council
• A Wide Variety of Pie Recipes at recipeforpie.com

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2010)

Modern graham crackers

The graham cracker ( /ˈɡræm/, /ˈɡreɪm/, or /ˈɡreɪ.əm/; also graham wafer) was developed in 1829 in Bound Brook, New Jersey, by Presbyterian minister Sylvester Graham. The true graham cracker is made with graham flour, a combination of finely-ground unbleached-wheat flour with the wheat bran and germ coarsely-ground and added back in providing nutrition and flavor. While graham crackers started out as a mild food, unsweetened or mildly sweetened, they are more commonly known as a sugar and/or honey sweetened baked good that approaches a cookie (or the British English term biscuit).

History[link]

The Graham cracker was originally conceived of as a health food as part of the Graham Diet, a regimen to suppress what he considered unhealthy carnal urges, the source of many maladies according to Graham. Reverend Graham would often lecture on "self-abuse" as it was commonly called at the time.^[1] One of his many theories was that one could curb one's sexual appetite by eating bland foods. Another man who held this belief was Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, the inventor of the corn flakes cereal.^[2]

Modern version[link]

Detail of a graham cracker, showing its perforation marks, allowing it to be snapped apart into four sections

Some modern "graham crackers" are made mainly of the refined, bleached white flour to which the Rev. Graham was implacably opposed, and others are made with blends that use the better, unbleached, white flour as a base. Graham crackers have remained popular in North America as a snack food and breakfast cereal despite, or perhaps because of the greater amounts of refined sugar (often mixed with honey) than in the original versions which may have been unsweetened, and far less graham flour, possibily without all the parts of the wheat included at all.

Some modern, commercial graham crackers could no longer be considered a health food. In fact some of these commercial "graham crackers" are more notable for being topped with a thick crust of cinnamon and sugar or having chocolate flavoring or coatings added. Technically, crackers are not really graham crackers unless they are made with graham flour, which is a hard (high protein) wheat flour in which the constituent bran, germ, and endosperm have been ground separately, the first two coarsely and the third finely.

Despite all of this, basic, modern graham crackers are common in America as a snack for young children, at home or at preschool, early elementary school, and other child care facilities sometimes accompanied with fruit juice or milk.

Pie crust[link]

A graham cracker crust is a style of pie crust made from crushed whole-wheat crackers made from Graham flour, usually flavored and held together with butter or vegetable oil. It is the most common crust for American cheesecakes. It is increasingly popular for use as a cream pie crust and is imitated by the Oreo-style crusts made from crushed black-cocoa cookies.^[3][4]

S'mores[link]

Graham crackers, along with marshmallows (roasted or unroasted) and plain milk chocolate bars, are used to make a simple dessert or treat that has come to be called "s'mores" in North America. S'mores are a popular camping food, often eaten around a campfire. They may also be made at home in a microwave.

See also[link]

• Graham Diet
• Graham bread
• Digestive biscuit A British equivalent baked good from 1851, though made with more processing
• Icebox cake
• Moon pie

References[link]

External links[link]

• "Is it true graham crackers were invented to cure the dread fever of lust?" on The Straight Dope website
• Information on Graham Flour and recipes
• Bound Brook - Home of the Graham Cracker (describing Rev. Graham as an "eccentric Presbyterian minister" who developed the Graham cracker "to cure the dread fever of lust.")

Jim Chapman
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas's 1st district
In office August 3, 1985 – January 3, 1997
Preceded by	Sam B. Hall
Succeeded by	Max Sandlin
Personal details
Born	(1945-03-08) March 8, 1945 (age 67) Washington, D.C.
Political party	Democratic
Religion	Methodist

James Louis "Jim" Chapman (born March 8, 1945 in Washington, D.C.) is an American business and political leader. From 1985 to 1997, he served as Democratic Congressman representing the Texas's 1st congressional district in the United States House of Representatives. His home town was Sulphur Springs.

Early life[link]

Chapman attended public schools in Sulphur Springs; he received an undergraduate degree in business administration from the University of Texas at Austin (1968) and a law degree from the Southern Methodist University School of Law in Dallas, Texas (1970).

After a stint in private practice, Chapman became the District Attorney for the Eighth Judicial District of Texas (1976–1985), during which time he achieved a 99 percent conviction record and a national reputation as a tough, law and order prosecutor. Chapman served in leadership roles with the Texas District and County Attorneys Association and the National District Attorneys Association. Later, he set up his own practice and was senior partner of the law firm of Chapman, Price, Hughes & Bauer. He also became chairman of a local community bank.

Congressional career[link]

Chapman was elected in 1985 as a Democrat in the 99th Congress during a highly visible special election to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of U.S. Representative Sam B. Hall. He defeated the Republican choice, Edd Hargett, a former professional football player. Chapman was reelected to the five succeeding Congresses (August 3, 1985–January 3, 1997). He was not a candidate for reelection to the One Hundred Fifth Congress in 1996, but was an unsuccessful candidate for nomination to the United States Senate.

While in Congress, Chapman served four years on the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee, which sets committee assignments and the legislative agenda for the caucus. He also served as chairman of the Texas Democratic congressional delegation and as a member of the Democratic Whip organization.

Chapman served on the House Appropriations Committee, working on numerous projects including restoration and development of an Army Corps of Engineers-maintained East Texas lake called Cooper Lake, located between Cooper and Sulphur Springs. In honor of his work, Congress later enacted legislation formally renaming the lake as "Jim Chapman Lake." Prior to his service on the Appropriations Committee, he served on the Public Works and Transportation Committee; Small Business Committee; and the Science, Space and Technology Committee.

Current work[link]

Chapman currently practices law in the Washington and Austin offices of the Houston-based law firm Bracewell & Giuliani. He helped organize, and is a partner in, the firm's Homeland Security Practice. His expertise includes appropriations and budget matters, taxation, healthcare, energy, environment, communications and high technology.

External links[link]

• National District Attorneys Association

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post

Lucy Liu
Lucy Liu at the 2011 Kung Fu Panda 2 premiere
Born	Lucy Liu (1968-12-02) December 2, 1968 (age 43) Queens, New York, United States
Alma mater	University of Michigan (B.A.)
Occupation	Actress, producer, singer
Years active	1989–present
Partner	Will McCormack (2004–present)

Lucy Alexis Liu (Chinese: 劉玉玲; pinyin: Liú Yùlíng; born December 2, 1968) is an American actress, singer and film producer. She became known for playing the role of the vicious and ill-mannered Ling Woo in the television series Ally McBeal (1998–2002), and has also appeared in several Hollywood films including Payback, Charlie's Angels, Chicago, Kill Bill, and Kung Fu Panda. In 2012, Liu joined the cast of the TNT original series Southland.

Personal life[link]

Liu was born in Jackson Heights, Queens, New York. In high school, she adopted her middle name "Alexis".^[1] She is the youngest of three children born to Cecilia, who worked as a biochemist, and Tom Liu, who was a civil engineer.^[2] Both of Liu's parents were immigrants from Taiwan of Chinese descent. Her grandparents were born and raised in China.^[3] She has an older brother, John,^[4][5][6][7] and an older sister, Jenny.^[8] Liu has stated that she grew up in a "diverse" neighborhood. She learned to speak Mandarin Chinese at home and began studying English when she was five years old.^[9]

Liu attended Joseph Pulitzer Middle School (I.S.145). She graduated from Stuyvesant High School in 1986.^[10] She enrolled at New York University and transferred to the University of Michigan, where she was a member of the Chi Omega sorority. Liu earned a bachelor's degree in Asian Languages and Cultures. In Michigan, Liu worked as a waitress.^[11]

In 2004, Liu was engaged to Zach Helm, whom she had met the year before. She called off the engagement and immediately began a relationship with Will McCormack.^[12] She lives with her brother John and his wife in New York.^[13]

Career[link]

1989–1999[link]

In 1989, Liu auditioned for the University of Michigan's production of Alice in Wonderland during her senior year of college. Although she had originally only tried out for a supporting part,^[14] Liu was cast in the lead role.

Liu had small roles in films and TV, marking her debut. She was cast in The X-Files in "Hell Money" and Hercules: The Legendary Journeys in "The March to Freedom" before landing a role on Ally McBeal. Liu originally auditioned for the role of 'Nelle Porter' (played by Portia de Rossi), and the character Ling Woo was later created specifically for her. Liu's part on the series was originally temporary, but high audience ratings secured Liu as a permanent cast member. Additionally, she earned an Emmy^[15] nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series and a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for Best Actress in a Comedy Series.^[14] In Payback (1999), Liu portrayed Pearl, a young woman who works for the Chinese mafia.

2000–2006[link]

Liu was cast as Alex Munday in the Charlie's Angels film with Drew Barrymore and Cameron Diaz. The film opened in November 2000 and was a hit, earning more than $125 million in the United States. Charlie's Angels earned a worldwide total of more than $264 million. The sequel, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, opened in June 2003 and was also ranked highly, earning more than $100 million in the U.S., and a worldwide total of more than $259 million. In contrast, Liu starred with Antonio Banderas in Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever, a critical and box office failure.

In 2000, she hosted Saturday Night Live with Jay-Z. Liu starred as lawyer Grace Chin on Ugly Betty in the episodes "Derailed" and "Icing on the Cake". In a 2001 episode of Sex and the City entitled "Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda" she guest starred as herself, playing a new client of character Samantha Jones, who does public relations. She starred in the Sex and the City inspired TV show, Cashmere Mafia on ABC. Liu also made a cameo appearance on the animated shows Futurama (as herself and/or robot duplicates thereof in the episodes "I Dated a Robot" and "Love and Rocket") and The Simpsons (on the season sixteen episode "Goo Goo Gai Pan").

In 2002, Liu played Rita Foster in Vincenzo Natali's Brainstorm (aka Cypher). Soon thereafter, she appeared as O-Ren Ishii in Quentin Tarantino's 2003 film, Kill Bill. She won an MTV Award for "Best Movie Villain" for the part. Subsequently, Liu appeared on several episodes of Joey with Matt LeBlanc, who played her love interest in the Charlie's Angels films. She also had minor roles as Kitty Baxter in the film Chicago, and as a psychologist opposite Keira Knightley in the thriller Domino.

In Lucky Number Slevin, she played the leading love interest to Josh Hartnett. 3 Needles was released on December 1, 2006. Liu portrayed Jin Ping, an HIV-positive Taiwanese woman.^[16]

2007–present[link]

In 2007, Liu appeared in Code Name: The Cleaner, Rise, a supernatural thriller co-starring Michael Chiklis in which Liu plays an undead reporter^[9] (for which she was ranked #41 on "Top 50 Sexiest Vampires"),^[17] and Watching the Detectives, an independent romantic comedy co-starring Cillian Murphy. She made her producer debut and also starred in a remake of Charlie Chan, which had been planned as early as 2000.^[14] The film is still being worked on for a release in 2012 or 2013

In 2007, Empire named Liu #96 of their "100 Sexiest Movie Stars".^[18] The producers of Dirty Sexy Money created a role for Liu as a series regular. Liu played Nola Lyons, a powerful attorney who faced Nick George (played by Peter Krause).^[19] Liu voiced Silvermist in Disney Fairies and Viper in Kung Fu Panda.^[14]

In March 2010, Liu made her Broadway debut in the Tony Award-winning play God of Carnage as Annette on the second replacement cast alongside Jeff Daniels, Janet McTeer and Dylan Baker.^[20] In March 2012, she was cast as Joan Watson for Elementary. Elementary is a American Sherlock Holmes adaption, and the role Liu was offered is traditionally played by men.^[21] She is also doing the TNT TV show Southland playing Police Officer Jessica Tang.

Activism[link]

Liu speaking at the USAID Human Trafficking Symposium in September 2009

Liu, who is an artist in several media, has had three gallery shows showcasing her collage, paintings, and photography.^[22] She began doing collage mixed media when she was 16 years old, and became a photographer and painter.^[13] In September 2006, Liu held an art show and donated her share of the profits to UNICEF.^[13][23] She also had another show in 2008 in Munich. Liu has stated that she donated her share of the profits to UNICEF.^[13]

In 2001, Liu was the spokesperson for the Lee National Denim Day fundraiser which raises millions of dollars for breast cancer research and education.^{[citation needed]} In 2005, Liu was appointed an ambassador for U.S. Fund for UNICEF. She traveled to Pakistan and Lesotho, among several other countries.^[14] She also hosted an MTV documentary for the MTV EXIT campaign in 2007, produced to raise awareness of human trafficking in Asia.^{[citation needed]} Early in 2006, Liu received an "Asian Excellence Award" for Visibility.^{[citation needed]} Liu is a supporter of marriage equality for gays and lesbians, and she became a spokesperson in 2009.^[24]

Liu is also a singer for the musical group The Bullitts.

Filmography[link]

Television[link]

TV guest appearances[link]

Producer[link]

Video games[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Lucy Liu

• Lucy Liu at the Internet Movie Database
• Lucy Liu at Emmys.com