Faith in Chaos

March 14, 2020

“If the flap of a butterfly’s wings can be instrumental in generating a tornado, it can equally well be instrumental in preventing a tornado.”
~ Edward Lorenz

 

Happy Pi Day!

Yes, that is a picture of my celebratory Pi Day bar of soap!

6.36619772368 seconds times π equals 20 seconds, the minimum amount of time you should spend each time you wash your hands to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Pi Day is the celebration of the mathematical constant π, the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter. Pi or as it is symbolized, π, is an irrational number, meaning it cannot be expressed as a fraction, such as 22/7. Its decimal representation never ends and has no repeating pattern. However it is approximately equal to 3.14159. March is the 3rd month and today is the 14th, hence 3/14 celebrates the number that begins with 3.14.

Another number, .506, proved that small things can make a big difference.

Edward Lorenz was a meteorology professor at MIT. After entering some numbers into a computer program to simulate weather patterns, he left his office to get coffee and let the program run. He was repeating a simulation he’d run earlier, but this time he rounded off the variable .506127 to .506. To his surprise, that seemingly insignificant alteration drastically transformed the results the program produced.

This led Lorenz to the discovery that small changes can have significant effects, which came to be known as the “butterfly effect”, after he suggested that something as small as the flap of a butterfly’s wings could ultimately cause a tornado.

Some of the changes we are currently being advised to make are to wash our hands frequently; avoid touching our faces; stay home and avoid crowds and gatherings as much as possible and to keep 6 to 10 feet/2 to 3 meters between ourselves and others while out and about. These may seem like small actions, but if each of us takes them, together we can make a big difference in slowing the spread of this virus.

We may need to distance ourselves from each other physically, but we are all in this together. While you are spending time at home, check on friends and neighbors via phone or video chat. Find out how you can donate food and supplies to local food banks and community organizations.

And try your hand at baking a pie for pi day…. or any day, really.

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Speaking of seconds, here is a recipe for a Frozen Avocado Lime Pie that you will want seconds of.

Engraved pi plate available here.

 

Frozen Avocado Lime Pie
A cool (pun intended) frozen treat, kind of like a key lime pie, but with a surprise ingredient. Be sure the use a creamy type of California avocado, such as Haas (the wrinkly black-skinned kind). Don’t use the smooth-skinned, watery avocados.

If avocados for dessert sounds weird, you might be interested to know that in the Philippines, Brazil, Indonesia, Vietnam, Southern India and Morocco, avocados are often used for milkshakes, ice cream and other desserts, sometimes topped with chocolate syrup!

 

Ingredients:

For the crust

1 & 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 10 2-piece grahams)
1/4 cup organic sugar
6 tablespoons butter, melted
Pinch of salt (omit if using salted butter)

For the filling

2 medium-sized ripe California (Haas type) avocados
1/4 cup fresh lime juice (about 4 limes)
8 ounce package of organic cream cheese, at room temperature
1 (14oz) can sweetened condensed milk
Zest of 1 lime

Optional: Sweetened whipped cream or shredded dried coconut, to serve

Directions:

Make the crust: Using a rolling pin, crush graham cracker cookies between two pieces of plastic wrap. Combine the melted butter with the graham crumbs, sugar and salt (if using) in a bowl and mix thoroughly with a fork. Press mixture evenly into the bottom and partially up the sides of an 8″ or 9″ springform pan. Refrigerate until set (about 1 hour).

Make the filling: Halve and pit the avocados. Scoop out the flesh into a large mixing bowl. Add the lime juice and mash together with a fork. Add the cream cheese and beat with an electric mixer on low speed at first to combine, then on medium speed until mostly smooth. Add the condensed milk and the lime zest and beat until smooth. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl a couple of times with a rubber spatula if needed.

Remove crust from fridge. Pour the filling into the crust and press a piece of plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the pie to cover (to prevent discoloration). Cover springform pan with foil and freeze 4 hours or overnight.

To serve:
Remove from freezer. Let sit at room temperature for a few minutes. Carefully remove the springform ring and slice the pie. Garnish with sweetened whipped cream and/or shredded dried coconut, if desired. Serve immediately.

Note: if you are not going to eat ll of the pie, immediately wrap any unused portions with plastic wrap, seal in a freezer bag or wrap in foil and return to freezer.

Serves 8 to 12

Frozen Avocado Lime Mini Pies
Use 12 paper-lined muffin cups. Divide the crumb mixture among the cups and refrigerate until set. Divide the filling mixture evenly among the cups. Be sure to cover the top of each mini pie with plastic wrap before freezing. This will make 12 frozen mini pies.

 

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