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Today’s Nibbles celebrates Boulder’s lesser-known claims to fame. This is the city where National Pie Day, Jan. 23, and the National Pie Championships were born. That other day, March 14? It obliges brain-straining math, not palate-pleasing desserts. Plus: reader mail, a soulful tasting event and a gut-punching statistic.
Send comments and information about Boulder County restaurants, food classes, events, tastings and tours to nibbles@boulderreportinglab.org.
— John Lehndorff
I wanted to be an astronaut or a scientist or a writer when I was a kid. I liked pie … a lot, but I certainly did not dream about becoming an American pie expert. (Google “Lehndorff pie.” It goes on for pages.)
My pie hobby began when I met Charlie Papazian, who was teaching homebrewing classes in Boulder. We bonded over beer, food and pie.
Charlie was a former nuclear engineer who had spent some time teaching at a Boulder elementary school. When the kids learned that Jan. 23 was his birthday, they wanted to bake him a cake.
Charlie told his class: “Thanks, but I don’t like cake. I like birthday pie.”
As a class project, Charlie declared Jan. 23 “National Pie Day” and officially registered it with Chase’s Calendar of Events under the auspices of the fictional Boulder-based American Pie Council, using his home phone number.
That’s why National Pie Day is now celebrated across the United States on Jan. 23 and in pie-loving nations across the globe. For several years, Charlie traveled the world on brewing expeditions in January. He asked me to be the National Pie Day spokesperson. We later presented the Great American Pie Festival and the National Pie Championships in Boulder. Over the decades, I’ve judged dozens of pie contests and bitten many underbaked bottom crusts.
Charlie went on to be a best-selling author, the “godfather of homebrewing,” co-founder of the Great American Beer Festival, and a leader in America’s craft brewing renaissance. He’s part of the reason Colorado is America’s craft brew epicenter, and his beer tools are enshrined at the Smithsonian Institution. Charlie still enjoys a wedge of simple fruit pie on his birthday. It’s “the triangle that rounds out a square meal,” he says.
Boulder County’s 150-year pie history will be celebrated at the Museum of Boulder from 10 a.m. to noon on Jan. 25. This hometown National Pie Day celebration will feature pie-making demos, pie artifacts, pie tastings and a pie-cutting ceremony. An array of pies will be served courtesy of Hinman Pie, Cherry’s Cheesecakes and Delights, Walnut Café, Louisville’s Sweet Diplomacy bakery and Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts. Tickets here.
Through my decades of talking and writing about pie, teaching pie classes and judging pie contests, I’ve learned that pie can be much more than just dessert. It carries powerful emotional memories.
I’ve mainly found that you can uplift someone’s life simply by showing up at their door with a warm pie you baked for them.
As we approach Valentine’s Day, I’ll leave you with my five love language suggestions.
- When receiving gifts: “Thank you so much for this double-crusted wild blueberry pie.”
- Reserving quality time: “Let’s eat some double-crusted wild blueberry pie together soon.”
- Offering words of affirmation: “You are as wonderful as a slice of double-crusted wild blueberry pie à la mode with a dollop of vanilla bean gelato.”
- Acts of service: “I left this double-crusted wild blueberry pie on your doorstep. Feel better.”
- Physical touch: “Please kiss me the way you consumed that slice of double-crusted wild blueberry pie à la mode with a dollop of vanilla bean gelato.”
‘Use By’ dates related to taste
The Jan. 6 Nibbles newsletter focused on saving money on food, including this note on food labels.
“Best Before,” “Sell-By” and “Use-By” dates have nothing to do with food safety, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Food marked with those dates in sale and markdown bins is perfectly fine to eat.
Nibbles reader Cathryn Olchowy wrote to us with a commentary and clarification:
“It definitely is true that many times the ‘use by’ date is not about safety, it’s about taste. At Kraft, we did taste tests on our products to decide at what point the product taste or texture had deteriorated to an unacceptable level and used that to determine the ‘use by’ date. It was not an arbitrary date. Also, products that are fresh have expiration dates that are very important and could lead to illness.”
Louisville eatery offers 6-pound veggie challenge
Social media is often full of gigantic food consumption challenges that almost always cater to carnivores. What about the non-meaty big eaters? Louisville’s Mile High Pho has come to the rescue with a vegetarian food challenge. Contenders are confronted by a gigantic bowl filled with three pounds of noodles, three pounds of plant-based toppings and vegetables, and a bucket of broth. They get one hour to finish it.
Just because the farmers market season is over until April doesn’t mean you can’t keep sourcing fresh produce and foods. The Boulder County Farmers Market offers a year-round market. Order online with weekly pickup locations in Longmont, Boulder and Lafayette. The menu currently includes Rough and Ready Farm watermelon radishes, Lazy Acres bratwurst, Havenly GF raisin loaf, Hazel Dell shiitakes, Aspen Moon fingerlings, Buckner ground lamb, Little House of Tempeh smoked tempeh, Croft Family eggs, Boulder Broth beef bone broth and Bibamba chocolate. Check it out here.
Opening
Cavatappi in seven-cheese sauce topped with grilled sirloin and shrimp and truffled herb butter is on the menu at The Longmonter. The eatery opened at 218 Coffman St. in Longmont, the former longtime Tortugas Restaurant location.
Coming attraction
Longmont’s award-winning Biscuit Mike’s food truck will add a brick-and-mortar location at 900 Coffman St.
Nibbles Index: Sad sign o’ the times
According to GoFundMe in its “Year in Giving” report, fundraising for basic needs like food increased 20% in 2025.
Tasting Boulder’s soulful culinary legacy
African American and African-born chefs and cooks have had a significant impact on Boulder’s culinary history. On Jan. 26 at the Museum of Boulder, Denver author Adrian Miller will tell their stories. The talk will be followed by a tasting. Tickets here.
“They are really extravagant. They buy meat four or five days in the week. They even indulge in pie, which is no kind of food to be enjoyed by working people and does them no good.” — A letter-writer to the Daily Camera complaining about certain Boulder residents in 1896
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As grocery stores take over wine, Boulder’s Hazel’s pivots with food, coffee and nonalcoholic drinks
The longtime Boulder retailer is expanding into groceries and specialty drinks as Prop 125 opens wine sales to grocery stores and upends Colorado’s liquor market. Continue reading…
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