Posts

Nestled in the footprint of the Blue Ridge Mountains along the James River, Lynchburg, Virginia, claims its breathtaking environs as just one of its many charms. Situated about halfway between Roanoke to the southwest and Charlottesville to the northeast, the City of Seven Hills (so called for the peaks that surround it) could answer to any number of monikers based on its multitude of attributes—seven historic districts, a colorful art scene, and diverse food and drink destinations, to name a few....

It’s tempting to let your dog have a lick or two of your ice cream cone or let her polish off your bowl of rocky road or butter pecan. Mmmm, right? Hold the salted caramel! There are some things you should know about letting dogs eat ice cream before you offer the cold treat to your canine companion. Can Dogs Even Eat Ice Cream? Dogs may have difficulty with milk digestion due to lactose intolerance, explains Dr....

Starchy and loaded with carbohydrates, rice isn’t usually considered a health food. But not all rice is created equal. Just ask a Southerner. National Geographic Explorer and best-selling author Dan Buettner recently spoke to Today about a strain of long grain rice that has been a Lowcountry staple for centuries, and how eating it could lead to a longer and healthier life. Buettner highlights Carolina Gold in his new book, The Blue Zones Challenge: A 4-Week Plan for a Longer, Better Life, in which he explores the world’s “Blue Zones,” where people live much longer than average....

Etsy has teamed up with Nest to welcome South Carolina’s famous Gullah basket weavers to the Etsy marketplace. Using a combination of sweetgrass, pine needles, bulrush, and palmetto palm, the Gullah basket weaving technique has been passed down through the descendants of enslaved West Africans for 10 generations. Today, it is considered to be the oldest African craft tradition in the United States, with examples of their craftsmanship recognized by cultural institutions such as the Smithsonian....

Whether yours is pink, ceramic, or made out of succulents, your Christmas tree can say a lot about your personal style. It can also say a lot about how much space you have to work with. In our continued quest to bring joy to the countless Americans planning to celebrate the holidays in a small space this year, let us present: the half Christmas tree. These artificial trees are, quite literally, cut in half....

Calling all Hoda Kotb superfans! The much-loved co-host of Today With Hoda & Jenna will be hosting a very special Zoom date with one lucky reader of her new book, This Just Speaks to Me, which debuts on October 13. As she announced on Instagram earlier this week, she “would love to meet you,” and to make that come true you can now enter to win a video chat with the TV personality....

If you’ve discovered pantry moths in your home, we know it can be an uneasy feeling. We’ve gathered all the information you need to know about pantry moths including what they are, signs you may have an infestation, how to get rid of them if you have them, and what you can do to prevent them in the future. If you notice a moth in your pantry, we recommend acting fast so you can get the situation under control....

Southerners sure love them a salad. But what they may love more is using them as weapons of competition. Whether chicken, tuna, ham, or congealed, you can rest assured that someone within a 15 foot radius of you has a family member with an award-winning recipe for one that’s better than whatever community cookbook featured recipe your grandmother makes. You can rest assured that they have memorized the ingredient list as well....

I don’t care if Punxatawney Phil saw his shadow or not. Days are still dreary, cloudy, and cold. What gardening project could divert you from dark thoughts and bring meaning to your hibernating soul? Turn one snake plant into two, three, or four! It’s quick, easy, and cheap, cheap, cheap. Also called mother-in-law’s tongue due to the length of its slender leaves, snake plant (Sansevieria trifasciata) is an uber-popular houseplant because it tolerates low light and dry air, needs little watering or fertilizing, and is truly hard to dispatch....

I recently read that hash and rice, the signature barbecue side dish of South Carolina, might be doomed to the ash heap of history. I almost choked on my sweet tea. This troubling news was delivered in a special report in the Charleston Post & Courier. The reporting in the piece is quite good, with wide-ranging interviews and copious details about the history and process for making the slow-simmered stew. It also offers a handy guide to finding barbecue joints in the Lowcountry that serve hash and rice ....

Le Creuset, home of instantly recognizable cookware coated in glossy colors, is having a sale. And it’s not just any old sale, it’s Le Creuset’s biggest event of the year. Yes, the Factory-to-Table Sale is back, and fans of the French brand can finally get their hands on new products at slightly more reasonable prices than the splurge-worthy site typically offers. What was once an exclusive in-person pop-up event has been put online for the second year in a row....

From Virgin River to Bridgerton, it seems that behind every good Netflix series is an even better book. The same is true for Firefly Lane, a new series starring Katherine Heigl that debuted on the streaming platform this week. The show, which Glamour fittingly describes as “Sweet Magnolias meets This Is Us,” is based on the 2008 novel of the same name by Kristin Hannah. Like the series, Hannah’s bestselling novel covers three decades of friendship between the inseparable Kate and Tully as they navigate grief, motherhood, and betrayal....

Sweet Magnolias has been sweet salvation for our stressed-out souls amid the coronavirus pandemic. After the first season of the sweet, soapy series debuted on Netflix last spring, we simply couldn’t get enough of it. But a girl can only re-watch one show in a short period of time so often, and we’ve long been antsing for updates on when the confirmed second season of the hit series will land on the streaming platform....

We love H-E-B, Publix, and Piggly Wiggly, but there is always room for another grocery store, especially one on a worthy mission. Misfits Market was founded with the idea of cutting food waste. It’s a noble goal because, according to the USDA, somewhere between 30 to 40 percent of the United States’ food supply is wasted. It’s a shocking number, made even more so when you think about the millions of children going hungry in the U....

When San Antonio’s beloved Comfort Café was badly damaged by a flood, not only did the community come together to help, but so did a rival restaurant and country star Kevin Fowler. It just shows how special Comfort Café is to the city—and the world at large. The trouble started when a rainstorm led to a flood that knocked down light posts and filled the SerenityStar Comfort Café with water, mud, and debris....

A South Carolina man has put out an All-Points Bulletin on a missing family heirloom. Stuart Dodson told WYFF News 4 that his 82-year-old-father mistakenly donated his 81-year-old mother’s beloved cast-iron skillet to the Goodwill on Woodruff Road in Greenville on November 20. He’s asking anyone who has or will shop at a Goodwill store in the area to be on the lookout. “I am calling around to all Upstate (and) Midlands S....

My mother told a funny story about me as a kindergartner. After hearing a lesson about Thanksgiving at school for the first time, I came home in tears and cried out, “We’re not going to eat the turkey, are we?” Mama tried to comfort me, though she was a bit mystified. After all, I was born on a farm and understood why we raised chickens, pigs, and cows. Farm kids know where food comes from....

We love everything about Easter, from making bunny cake to putting together the Easter basket. Our favorite thing about this cherished holiday, though, just might be the decorations. Bountiful spring blossoms are a beautiful way to celebrate the season, but we’re just as captivated by the bright seasonal produce we’ve been waiting to taste all winter. From carrots to radishes, there are plenty of ways to think outside the typical floral box when if comes to seasonal decor....

When we think of iconic beauty products that have stood the test of time, Chanel No. 5 perfume, OPI bubble bath nail polish, and Maybelline’s Great Lash mascara, (to name just a few) come to mind. So when the internet finds an affordable replica, it’s easy to simultaneously clutch our staples and curiously add that shiny new item to our shopping carts. The newest product that’s shocking social media right now?...

When we first read an article in Atlas Obscura about Tom Brown, who was raised in Western North Carolina and currently resides in Clemmons, in the center of the state, we knew we had to learn more about his effort to save rare and lost apple varieties. As the profile of the retired chemical engineer explains, Brown has been traveling around Appalachia to find rare and lost heritage apples since the 1990s, and he’s managed to save about 1,200 varieties to date, with his home apple orchard, Heritage Apples, showcasing some 700 of them....