Pen & Fork is all about pies and is showcasing a review of the new Southern Pies cookbook by Nancie McDermott. We love pies. French Silk pies, Chocolate Mousse pies, Pecan pies, Lemon Meringue pies, Pumpk… well, you get the point. In this specific review, Linda Avery focuses on the author, Nancie McDermott’s, Dr. George Washington Carver’s Sliced Sweet Potato Pie. Lucky for us the recipe is given and, being McDermott’s favorite type of pie, we can only assume that it is to die for.

Well Skillet Doux has sure been busy, Dominic Armato unveiled his Quarterly Report (Q3 2010) and it’s taking some real effort to stop drooling over the pictures in it. So who’s made the cut? Well, Jerry’s Restaurant, a real retro diner, is first (in random order) on the list because the griddled sandwiches are super crisp, the food’s greasy without going over the top, and the salads are made with a wedge of industrial tomato, a slice of cucumber and an iceberg lettuce mix for which I’m sure many in the restaurant industry could name the exact Sysco catalog number. Other contenders include The Grind with its mouthwatering Sweet and Spicy Burger, Carolina’s(personal fave) with The Oaxaca Special which is filled with chorizo, beans, potato and cheese, and that pretty much tells you all you need to know about it, Rincon Peruano even though it goes without a recommendation, Chestnut Lane for its light and delicious menu items like the Lobster Cobb and finally Chompie’s which gets rightfully ripped to shreds. As Armato puts it, “when you make corned beef sandwiches for a living, you don’t wake up on the wrong side of the bed one day and suddenly get EVERYTHING wrong.” We agree.

Finally, Oysters. Intimidating if you’ve never had one (or maybe even if you have). The first time takes some mustering up of courage or a simple dare. Orangette walks us through her first, second and third time with these slippery shellfish and how she got past her fears to almost develop a fondness for the mushy mollusks. One word: perseverance.

Image via Chow Bella and Skillet Doux