Your dog might go gaga over crunchy biscuits, but have you ever tried to reward him with plump blueberries instead? According to the American Kennel Club, blueberries are not only totally safe to feed your dog, it’s actually encouraged that you do so. If you find yourself asking, “Can my dog eat blueberries?” The answer is a resounding yes. Blueberries are packed with antioxidants that protect cells in both canine and human bodies and improve brain function....
Whether you’re prepping mashed potatoes for the whole crew at Thanksgiving or potato salad for a church picnic, you might be planning on peeling and slicing your spuds. And if you’re trying to make the dish ahead of time, you may wonder if you can prep your potatoes in advance to make meal planning as easy as possible. Here’s the truth about getting those tubers ready in advance—and the crucial rules to follow when you do it....
Charles Barkley has held many titles in his lifetime. He’s been an Auburn Tiger, an NBA superstar, and a broadcast analyst for TNT. But earlier this year, he gained one more: grandfather. Barkley’s daughter Christiana. welcomed baby boy Henry, the first grand child for the Alabama native. Sir Charles couldn’t be happier about the new addition. Southern Living recently caught up with Barkley in his hometown of Leeds, Alabama where he told us all about it....
Foxglove is one of the most striking spring and summertime blooms. The plant’s vibrant, towering spikes have drama to spare: They’re laden with hollow, pendulous flowers that rise from the garden, creating visual interest with their height, colors, and forms. Foxgloves are a hallmark of cottage gardens, and they’re a perfect long-flowering bloom for backyard gardens throughout the South. Learn about this European native flower that will surely add charm and drama to your landscape....
Keith Walker was picking up his dog from W-Underdogs on December 18 when he noticed that a fire had broken out in the Atlanta animal shelter’s kitchen. Despite the billowing smoke and his considerable fear, the 53-year-old homeless man sprang into action, rescuing every animal—six dogs and 10 cats—trapped inside. “I was nervous as hell, I’m not going to lie. I was really scared to go in there with all that smoke....
A three-acre garden doesn’t offer any shade. I learned this lesson all too well as a child when I’d spend time at my paternal grandparents’ farm outside Grenada, Mississippi. They devoted the rest of their 10 acres to horses and an occasional cow, who had the luxury of shade trees along the fence line. But the tractor-plowed rows of garden took the brunt of the summer sun, helping it to overflow with unruly field peas, green beans, tomatoes, peppers, watermelons, yellow squash, and okra—the last of which I developed a powerful love-hate relationship with....
Vacuuming is one of the most polarizing chores on our household to-do lists—you either love it or love to hate it. While we like to grab a pair of earbuds and crank up the tunes or play our latest audiobook obsession to make this important household task more fun, most of us are likely not vacuuming enough—especially if we have little ones or hard floors. We tapped Lori Williamson, cleaning expert for @nowitsclean, to guide us in determining how often we really need to be vacuuming our homes to keep our families healthy and our floors looking fresh....
The money tree plant (Pachira aquatica) is a foliage houseplant typically made up of 3 to 5 plants braided together to form one plant. The glossy green foliage at the top of the plant consists of palmately compound leaves, usually five narrow leaflets. The plant is said to bring good fortune and prosperity. The money tree plant is the houseplant form of a tropical tree that grows to 60 feet in the wild....
We love baking. As Southerners, a penchant for all things cookies, cakes, and cornbread is practically in our blood. Now, especially, amidst the unsettling coronavirus pandemic, we feel particularly grateful that whipping up a cake, cupcake, loaf of bread, or the like, can help our minds escape from the stress of the current global crisis. And as Southerners, especially those who grew up or reside in North Carolina, nothing spells comfort like Cheerwine....
Looking for a pretty baking project for your older kids? Look no further than these swirled peppermint slice-n-bakes. Packed full of minty flavor, these buttery cookies simply melt in your mouth. But let’s be honest: In this bake, it’s all about the looks. Using a jellyroll technique to press two colors of peppermint dough together results in a stunning swirled design. The sharp peppermint flavor, combined with the pretty red swirl, make these cookies reminiscent of nostalgic Christmas butter mints....
I’ve been a magazine writer for most of my adult life (I predate email at Southern Living), but it wasn’t until 2018 that my first novel, Missing Isaac, was published. I started writing it in 2009. You can do the math on that journey, which was long, with all kinds of twists and turns, ups and downs. I learned a thing or two, which I’m happy to share if you’re thinking about taking the plunge....
A few days before Thanksgiving, Justin Timberlake gave a Tennessee family one more thing to be grateful for. Jake Stitt is a local celebrity in Morristown, Tenn. The teen living with cerebral palsy likes to sit outside his family home and hold up a sign asking folks to honk if they’re happy, according to local news site WVLT. He undoubtedly gets a lot of people tooting their horns for him in thanks for spreading a little good cheer....
Everything is bigger in Texas, and now The Lone Star State is about to add another “biggest” to their list: America’s largest indoor water park. Scheduled to open in Round Rock next fall, Kalahari Resorts Round Rock, is a $550 million project that will feature a 223,000-square-foot indoor water park on 1.5 million square-feet of resort grounds. Located just 20 miles outside of Austin, the water park will also have 975 guest rooms and suites, meeting and convention space, four full-service restaurants among several “quick bite” options, retail shopping, a spa, salon, and more....
I saw a tag on the back of a big SUV that proudly proclaimed its driver to be “SUTHUN.” I think this would be a good thing for some of my kinfolk, the ones who are still drinking, in case they wake up one morning after a 12-pack, having forgotten in which region they went to bed. I understand the need to stamp it into metal. It can be confusing these days....
Country superstar Luke Combs may have shared his love songs and heartaches in tunes like “Forever After All” and “She Got the Best of Me”, but now he is opening up about something even more personal. In an interview with Apple Music’s Kelleigh Bannen, Combs shared his struggle with anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder, or OCD. “I did tend to have pretty tremendous anxiety at times in my life,” Combs told Bannen....
Remember when everyone told us to put away our so-called clutter, that minimalism was in and here to stay? It was around the time that every wall became ship-lapped and interiors were a sea of beiges, whites, and greiges. For those with the foresight to stick through the décor drought, knowing the tides would soon turn back to the knick-knacked, layered, and perfectly composed design that Southerners are famous for, well, your time has come....
Samantha Foxx is uncomfortable with the idea of being considered a role model. But as a black woman, a mother, a master beekeeper, and the founder of a thriving 2.5-acre family farm in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, she’s a uniquely inspiring figure. “I’m just a person with organized thoughts,” she explained to Southern Living. “I want to be myself.” Foxx started Mother’s Finest Urban Farms three years ago in an effort to serve the local community, educate, and inspire people to look after the earth....
“I remember lying on a cot in my parents’ bedroom in Texas watching The Man in the Moon with my sister, Barbara. As 10-year-olds, we were transfixed by the blonde star, so close to our age, lighting up the screen with a Southern accent. This summer, on an unseasonably cool Saturday, I had the chance to meet the woman I have admired from afar for 20 years at Riverwood Mansion in East Nashville....
Spring is here—and boy are we looking forward to the day we can frolic with the season’s bounty firsthand. Flowers, cherry blossom trees, birds chirping, how we long to see, smell, and hear it all. For now, as we hunker down at home in the light of the coronavirus pandemic, we’re grateful for these virtual tours of botanical gardens throughout the South: 1. Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota, Florida How cool is the Mae West-inspired lip sofa by Salvador Dalí above?...
As much as the cross-country road trip has become an American rite of passage, we think it’s high time it got a Southern twist. So we set out to chart an iconic path across the region. Knowing full well that any attempt to lay down a definitive route would, by necessity, leave off more spots than it could include, we opted instead for an experiential approach. We’d dip our toes in a Smoky Mountain stream and a Hill Country swimming hole....
