National Pie Day in Greater Alexandria and Mount Vernon

Pie lovers unite - today is National Pie Day.

Pie is the quintessential American dessert. Apple pie is the most popular variety in the U.S. with 36 million Americans saying it's their favorite type of pie.

Here are some fun history facts 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 12th 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 were 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.

We want to know: What's your favorite type of pie? Who makes the best pie in the Route 1 corridor? Tell us in the comments section below.