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Monday, October 24, 2011

Monday, October 24, 2011 - 10:49:59

Pie Pieday: Peanut Butter at Gina's Place

RICH: The Peanut Butter Pie at Ginas Place.
My quest for pie has taken me all over Arkansas this year. I've been to the furthest reaches of the state, yet I knew I still had to make a few stops. I needed to get back to Jonesboro to go back to Ann's Restaurant. I recall it always had the greatest pies.

But Ann's Restaurant isn't in Fountain Square any more. Instead, signs directed me to Gina's Place. I was apprehensive, but I wanted to find out if there was any good pie at the new restaurant. I learned a bit more.

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Posted by Kat Robinson | Permalink | Comments

Friday, October 14, 2011

Friday, October 14, 2011 - 06:36:07

Pie Pieday: Old Fashioned Chocolate Fried at Batten's Bakery

Battens_Bakery_Old_Fashioned_Chocolate_Pie.jpg
  • Kat Robinson
57 years is a long time to be in business. Takes a certain amount of dedication and perseverance, sure — but it also takes great products.

Batten’s Bakery in Paragould has some fantastic looking cakes and some delicious pastries — but it also has something I have found nowhere else in the state, a special fried pie with an ages old filling. Bonus is, it’s extraordinary.

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Posted by Kat Robinson | Permalink | Comments (5)

Friday, October 7, 2011

Friday, October 7, 2011 - 09:49:59

Pie Pieday: Caramel Apple Nut at Mama Max's

THE COMPLETE DEAL: Nuts, apples and caramel combined at Mama Maxs.
  • Kat Robinson
  • THE COMPLETE DEAL: Nuts, apples and caramel combined at Mama Max's.
I love home cooking. I really can’t get enough of it. I don’t mean greasy home fries and some thrown together stuff that some restaurants call home cooking. I’m talking about the sort of food your mamma would cook for ya if she had the time and she really loved you. The sort of food I can recall from childhood, everyday stuff we’d have whenever, usually heavy on vegetables and light on meat.

Done had a meal like that at Mama Max’s in Prescott — and the best part was, I also got a great dessert. Can’t beat that with a stick.

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Posted by Kat Robinson | Permalink | Comments (1)

Friday, September 30, 2011

Friday, September 30, 2011 - 08:10:20

Pie Pieday: Egg Custard at Dew-Baby's

EGG-CEPTIONAL: The perfect egg custard pie at Dew-Babys.
  • Grav Weldon
  • EGG-CEPTIONAL: The perfect egg custard pie at Dew-Baby's.
I think I have found the best egg custard pie that exists. Well, maybe that's asking a lot... but the egg custard pie served up at Dew-Baby's in Stuttgart is the finest example I have ever encountered.

I can't say much more than that.

Well, actually I can, and I can talk about fried chicken, too — over at Tie Dye Travels.

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Posted by Kat Robinson | Permalink | Comments

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Thursday, September 29, 2011

Thursday, September 29, 2011 - 10:33:56

Burgers / Pie Burger joint of the week: Front Porch Family Diner

HALF-POUNDER: Front Porch Family Diners $7 burger.
  • Kat Robinson
  • HALF-POUNDER: Front Porch Family Diner's $7 burger.
I have to say, I am a sucker for a well cooked burger. I don’t mean to well done… I mean, when you order a burger and you get it exactly the doneness you want. That’s awesome.

The folks at the Front Porch Family Diner get that. They also get how to make a good piece of catfish and how to make the Northwest Arkansas variant of the possum pie.

We dropped in a few weeks ago on our noble search for pie and decided to have a sit-down lunch while we were at it. We’d come in a little after the main lunch rush, apparently — because for a Saturday, it was nearly vacant.

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Posted by Kat Robinson | Permalink | Comments (2)

Friday, September 9, 2011

Friday, September 9, 2011 - 07:43:54

Pie Pieday: Chocolate bourbon pecan at Ralph's Pink Flamingo BBQ

STRONG: You can taste the bourbon in Ralphs Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie.
  • Grav Weldon
  • STRONG: You can taste the bourbon in Ralph's Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie.
A sausage on every plate. That should be the motto at Ralph’s Pink Flamingo BBQ in Fort Smith. They don’t put sausage on the pie plate, I will give you that. But everything else is fair game.

The pie, thank goodness, is pork free and smooth — and a little on the alcoholic side, if you catch my drift.

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Posted by Kat Robinson | Permalink | Comments (2)

Friday, September 2, 2011

Friday, September 2, 2011 - 10:22:21

Pie Pieday: Pineapple Delight at Red Oak Fillin Station

COOL SWEET PIE: Pineapple Delight at Red Oak Fillin Station
  • Kat Robinson
  • COOL SWEET PIE: Pineapple Delight at Red Oak Fillin Station
There are some pies that work much better in the summer and others that work much better in the winter. Pumpkin and sweet potato pies tend to be wintery pies, as are pecan pies. Icebox and cream pies and fresh fruit pies are summer-friendly.

Can’t get much more summer-friendly than the Pineapple Delight pie at the Red Oak Fillin Station outside of Hot Springs. This last stop convenience store slash gas station slash restaurant serves up a selection of different pies every day, along with home cooking specials and a burger I have yet to try.

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Posted by Kat Robinson | Permalink | Comments

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Sunday, August 28, 2011 - 13:07:00

Pie A Hunka craziness

THE LINE: Stretching through the parking lot at Hunka Pie
  • Kat Robinson
  • THE LINE: Stretching through the parking lot at Hunka Pie
Hunka_Pie_100_Pies_on_the_back_counter.jpg
Insane, compulsive or just up for a challenge? Whatever the reason, Chris Monroe met the deadline, making 100 pies in just under 13 hours overnight. Right now, those pies are being sliced up, sold and served at Hunka Pie on Cantrell Road.

Hunka_Pie_100_Pies_on_the_front_counter.jpg
I arrived 10 minutes until noon and discovered the dozen or so people already in line were already being served up hunks o’ pie at the rate of $3.50 a slice or $20 for six slices. Behind the big glass windows Chris and his two pie-slinging compadres were taking orders, calling them, slicing them, boxing them and sliding them out the window at a frenetic pace. Pies are on every surface — some in boxes, some in the pie case, some on counters, some on the stove — there are even pies in the drinks case. I can quite honestly say I’ve never seen so many pies in one place in my life.

ALMOST SAVORY: Cherry Chipotle at Hunka Pie.
I’m sampling some myself. Call it research. I’ll save one of my favorites, Pear Ginger, for later (I actually passed on my other favorite, French Blackberry, so I could try some new ones). Brought home Velvet Lips Chocolate Cream for the hubster and four pies I haven’t tried — Sugar, Pumpkin Cream Cheese, Macadamia Nut and Cherry Chipotle. Research, of course, is done at a leisurely pace.

No leisurely pace over at Hunka Pie. Folks were parking a block away when I left. The deal’s supposed to run until 6 p.m. tonight but if the crowd continues its swarm I have a feeling Chris will be closing early. If you’re going to go, go now. More photos on Facebook.

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Posted by Kat Robinson | Permalink | Comments (10)

Friday, August 26, 2011

Friday, August 26, 2011 - 10:25:24

Pie Pieday: Cherry Crisp at Goodson's on Towson

SWEET-TART: Cherry crisp at Goodsons on Towson.
  • Grav Weldon
  • SWEET-TART: Cherry crisp at Goodson's on Towson.
I knew I needed to go to Goodson’s to get myself some pie at some point during my research. Been a few times with friends — never taken photos inside the place, though. So imagine my surprise and disappointment when we pulled up to Goodson’s — and it was gone.

No joke, Goodson’s on Cornerstone was a thing of the past. There’s another restaurant there serving up pie called The Pumpkin Patch, but I just wasn’t interested. Main reason for that? Well, I knew there was another Goodson’s. It was over on the back side of town near the Oklahoma State Line… on Towson. So off we went.

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Posted by Kat Robinson | Permalink | Comments (2)

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Tuesday, August 23, 2011 - 10:34:07

Reviews / Barbecue / Pie Two-fer: Big Jake's BBQ and Original Fried Pie Shop

LARGE PLATE: Big enough for two at Big Jakes BBQ.
  • Kat Robinson
  • LARGE PLATE: Big enough for two at Big Jake's BBQ.
I don’t get down to south Arkansas enough, else I’m sure I’d have already enjoyed some of the smoky flavor of Big Jake’s before. I made a point to stop in on my way out of state the other day to check out one of the several locations around these parts.

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Posted by Kat Robinson | Permalink | Comments (1)

Friday, August 19, 2011

Friday, August 19, 2011 - 06:57:10

Pie Pieday: Sweet Potato at Java Primo

RICH: The sweet potato pie at Java Primos has an almond streussel topping.
  • Grav Weldon
  • RICH: The sweet potato pie at Java Primo's has an almond streussel topping.
You’d be harder pressed to find a heartier pie than this slab of nutty condensed sweetness. This salty-crusted densely packed wedge is two layers of compressed flavor — on top, an almond streussel and syrup-infused crust; on bottom an extraordinarily compacted custard of highly spiced sweet potato. The whole thing has been tied together with a fitfully thick caramel reduction strong on notes of butterscotch and salt.

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Posted by Kat Robinson | Permalink | Comments (1)

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Thursday, August 11, 2011 - 17:39:25

Pie Pieday: Blueberry at Shangri-La

MADE FROM SCRATCH: Blueberry pie a la mode at Shangri-La.
  • Grav Weldon
  • MADE FROM SCRATCH: Blueberry pie a la mode at Shangri-La.
How far would you go for a good slice of pie? How about out in the middle of nowhere, somewhere in the hinterland between Crystal Springs and Mt. Ida, all the way out on a peninsula into Lake Ouachita? Well, I would.

And I did, thanks to a reader’s suggestion that I go check out the pies at the Shangri-La Resort. And I’m glad I did.

But I wasn’t going out all that way without a decent lunch. Nope. I was going to try a burger, too. I mean, after all, maybe they have the best burger in the world.

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Posted by Kat Robinson | Permalink | Comments (3)

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Wednesday, August 10, 2011 - 17:57:26

Pie Pieday followup: Lemon pecan at E's Bistro

UNIQUE: Es Bistros Lemon Pecan Pie
I previously lamented that I missed out on the lemon hazelnut pie when I went to do my research for Pieday. I ended up sampling and enjoying the Hershey Pie, a decadently rich yet light chocolate cream pie.

Elizabeth over at E's Bistro saw my posting here and invited me to come back and try the pie I had been searching for. As it turns out, lemon hazelnut was a fluke. She'd set out to make up a lemon pecan pie that particular morning and had discovered she was out of pecans.

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So this pie. I was expecting something in one of two directions — either a lemon cream pie dotted with nuts, or a pecan pie with some heavy bright yellow lemon custard within. I encountered neither of these. Instead, I found the pie enigmatic above its salty pastry crust. The lemon custard within was like a light version of a pecan pie custard, yet lighter and less sweet, far less cloying, almost delicate. Above it hovered a layer of lemon glazed pecans that acted more as a nutty, savory crust than a heavy player in the production. It was a very delightful pie that I'm excited to revisit again.

Turns out, the recipe comes from a customer of Elizabeth's who shared it quite some time back. I can quite honestly say, I have never encountered a similar pie. Such a pie is exactly the sort of unusuality I search out when researching Pieday. If you have a suggestion, please pass it along.

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Posted by Kat Robinson | Permalink | Comments (4)

Friday, August 5, 2011

Friday, August 5, 2011 - 09:53:00

Pie Pieday: Coconut meringue at Lewis Family Restaurant

MADE FROM SCRATCH: Coconut meringue at Lewis Family Restaurant
  • Grav Weldon
  • MADE FROM SCRATCH: Coconut meringue at Lewis Family Restaurant
Restaurants don’t have to make everything from scratch. Very few even come close. The ones that do (Ashley’s, CBG, Garden Bistro come to mind) are usually on the higher end of things.

Can you think of a single cheap eats restaurant that’s making just about everything from scratch? I can think of one — and you might be a little surprised by it. After all, it’s just a little Fort Smith joint at the corner of Zero and Highway 71B, just a little place by the name of Lewis Family Restaurant.

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Posted by Kat Robinson | Permalink | Comments (2)

Friday, July 29, 2011

Friday, July 29, 2011 - 08:45:39

Pie Pieday: Buttermilk at Ashley's

YES, ITS PIE: A remarkably good individual buttermilk pie at Ashleys.
  • Kat Robinson
  • YES, IT'S PIE: A remarkably good individual buttermilk pie at Ashley's.
Most great Arkansas pies can be found at mom-and-pop restaurants, diners and the various hole-in-the-wall around the state. But that doesn’t mean you can’t find good pie at the state’s finest dining locations.

Such is the amazing buttermilk pie at Ashley’s at the Capital Hotel. This is where high couture meets down-home goodness.

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Posted by Kat Robinson | Permalink | Comments (2)

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