James Wright's Review of Patti LaBelle's Sweet Potato Pie

The indisputable truth: Patti LaBelle can sang. "Lady Marmalade," anyone?

And as it happens, she can also cook. Witness her many cookbooks and her successful cooking show. So Wal*Mart started carrying her Sweet Potato pie, and pre-Thanksgiving sales were, um, brisk. As in, nationwide sales hit the rate of one pie per second. Now that is a lot of pies, but it is only the beginning of the story.

As it happens, Chicago-based video-blogger and Patti LaBelle impersonator James Wright heard the buzz and decided to post a review of the pie. According to Mr. Wright, the pie is so good it will turn you into Patti LaBelle. His NSFW (language) review tore up the Internet.

Go ahead and watch it if you haven't already seen it like 100 times already....



Even before this video went viral, pie demand exceeded pie supply, putting upward pressure on pie price. However, under the influence of Mr. Wright's huh-larry-us interpretations, demand soared even further. Wal*Mart was obliged to answer the phone thusly: "Hello, thank you for calling Wal*Mart, we are out of Patti LaBelle's Sweet Potato Pie, how may I help you?"

When the blackmarket price of the pie hit 1000 times the $3.46 original retail, it was time for someone to release the recipe. And one such someone was the Washington Post's intrepid food reporter, Joe Yonan.

The whole "Do It Yourself" annotated instruction manual is available here: How to make Patti LaBelle's impossible to find sweet potato pie at home. The recipe is also found in “LaBelle Cuisine: Recipes to Sing About,” by Patti LaBelle (Clarkson Potter, 1999).

Make the pie! Enjoy eating and sharing it! And if you should suddenly break out into song, post the video!

"On My Own"

So many times
Said it was forever
Said our love would always be true
Something in my heart always knew
I'd be lying here beside you
On my own
On my own
On my own

So many promises never should be spoken
Now I know what loving you cost
Now we're up to talking divorce
And we weren't even married
On my own
Once again now
One more time
By myself

No one said it was easy
But it once was so easy
Well I believed in love
Now here I stand
I wonder why

I'm on my own
Why did it end this way
On my own
This wasn't how it was supposed to be
On my own
I wish that we could do it all again

So many times
I know I should have told you
Losing you it cut like a knife
You walked out and there went my life
I don't want to live without you
On my own
On my own
On my own
[Chorus Repeat]

This wasn't how it was supposed to end
I wish that we could do it all again
I never dreamed I'd spend one night alone
On my own, I've got to find where I belong again
I've got to learn how to be strong again
I never dreamed I'd spend one night alone
By myself by myself
I've got to find out what was mine again
My heart is saying that it's my time again
And I have faith that I will shine again
I have faith in me
On my own
On my own
On my own

My version of Patti LaBelle's Sweet Potato Pie