Summer’s winding down, and the lazy days are getting shorter. It’s still hotter than hell, and it brings to mind thoughts of lemonade, porch swings, and pie. Hmmm … pie.

You gonna say "no"? Not me ...

Let’s face it – everyone loves pie. I love it, you love it … heck, it’s practically un-American to not like pie. You remember … baseball, motherhood, apple pie? Only a deeply troubled individual could hate pie.

Of course, part of what makes pie so lovable is the warm feeling that comes with it (no, I’m not referring to the “warm feeling” that pie brings in “American Pie”, you sick bastard). Baking a pie takes a lot of time, a lot of effort … a lot of love … so when someone makes that effort on your behalf, it’s a very visceral experience.

Of course, there’s one level of experience if the cook is your mother, and an entirely different one if it’s, say, Mary Louise Parker wearing nothing but an apron.

Here at the Home Office, we love MLP. From her first big role in “Fried Green Tomatoes,” to her turn on “The West Wing,” to her current role as the lead in “Weeds,” Mary Louise is one of those women who doesn’t necessarily play attractive roles, but who you almost inevitably find yourself startled by when you realize how beautiful she is. She had an understated, smoldering sexy that is almost always preferable to the temporary, artificial variety all too popular among TV executives and movie casting agents.

She probably doesn’t need our help, but we want to see more of her (figuratively speaking) so we’re doing the one thing we can to get her a little more, ahem, exposure – naming her our Eye Candy of the week. Think of this as the whipped topping on the slice of pie that is her career.