National Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Day

Today was National Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Day, and I celebrated by making three pies. Welcome, summer! Just in time for a heat wave here in the Northeast. Not maybe the best weather to have a 400-degree oven on for an entire evening, but once you've got the rhubarb and the strawberries, you're already on a dead set course and there is really no return.

Normally I would like to have experimented with each of the three pies and tried to make something different in each, but they were feeding a crowd so I just went with a tried and true recipe, with a little kick--adding some orange zest and orange juice to the filling gives it just the perfect balance to the tart rhubarb and the sweet strawberries.

Brushing the top of the pies with milk and sprinkling with sugar also helps give it that golden, sweet crust.