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May 13 is National Apple Pie Day!

May 13, 2023

|Recurring Event (See all)

An event every year that begins at 12:00 am on day 13 of May, repeating indefinitely

May 13 is National Apple Pie Day! So, is apple pie as “American as apple pie”? Well, not exactly. 🍎🥧🍎🥧🍎

Apples aren’t native to North America and apple pie traces its roots back to 1300s England. The first recorded recipe included not just apples, but pears, figs, and raisins as well.

So how did apple pie become so ubiquitously American? We’re not completely sure, but early Americans (including Johnny Appleseed) planted apple trees far and wide. The plantings did very well in an American climate and were at first most frequently used for cidermaking.

Apple pie soon became a popular dish – with common, affordable ingredients, nearly anyone could whip one up and America’s first cookbook, American Cookery (1796) featured not one, but two recipes for apple pie.

References to “American as apple pie” entered popular language in the 1900s.

 

Still Life with Apples, John F. Francis, 1858

-Written by Anna Zemaitaitis, Communications and Design Officer