• 3500 North Ocean Grill, 3500 N. Ocean Blvd., North Myrtle Beach, F, 93

Canning

As interest continues to grow nationwide in all things Southern food – restaurants, chefs, cookbooks – there’s a “natural curiosity” about the humble yet iconic cast-iron skillet, said Virginia Willis, the Atlanta-based authority on the region’s cooking. The cast-iron skillet’s virtues, and utility, can’t be underestimated, in her view.

May 9-16

Charlie Campbell, owner of the Dead Dog Saloon, said it’s a miracle his restaurant on the Murrells Inlet Marsh Walk has reopened so soon. The doors opened for a private party Wednesday with a mixture of the firefighters and construction crews that restored the building, along with some of their most loyal customers.

Festivalgoers can expect more selected vendors, Top 40s and blues music in addition to beach music and local seafood at this weekend’s Blue Crab Festival, which almost didn’t happen this year.

If anchovies gross you out, know this – compared to what people ate before there were anchovies, they’re practically cake and ice cream.

No matter how much she would appreciate it, and no matter how much you love your mom – or the mother of your children – you aren’t likely to make her croissants from scratch.

COOKING

When he was about 12, Hugh Acheson’s mom went through a cooking phase: recipes from magazines, nice pots and pans, and exciting new dishes, like her signature chicken piccata.