No Matter How You Cut It

All country homemakers know that, traditionally, an eight-inch pie cuts 4 to 6 wedges, a nine-inch, 6 and a ten-inch, 8. Frequently, if the pie is not being served to men who do hard physical labor, women cut more wedges. Or they cut the pieces of uneven size, the larger ones for grownups, the smaller for the children. And for preschool youngsters, often only the filling, baked in custard cups instead of in pastry, is served.

You can easily cut a pie in 5 pieces of equal size if that arrangement fits your family. Here’s the way to do it. Start at the center of the pie and cut a straight fine to the edge of the pie. From the center above the fine, cut a V. You then will have a capital Y, the upper part making a wedge. Divide the 2 remaining large pieces in half. You will have pieces the same size. Practice with pencil and paper before you use a knife on a pie, to make certain the V is the right width. Of course, you can cut a narrower V if you wish to cut 1 wedge smaller than the other 4.