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We’ve all been there. You’re at a restaurant, menu in hand, totally tongue-tied on how to pronounce a dish. Is that shrimp and rice dish called “et-ooh-fey” or “e-toof”? Do you want a slice of “PEE-can” pie or “Pee-CAHN” pie? Check out this list of the most commonly mispronounced Southern foods. Boudin This flavorful sausage is traditionally made with pork, rice, onions, and seasonings. The mixture can be stuffed into casings and smoked or poached, but it’s often made into breaded, deep-fried boudin balls....

Back in the day, when Southerners hit the road five-deep in the family car to visit relatives during the holidays or head down to the beach for the annual summer vacation, there was always time for a stop at Stuckey’s, the most beloved of all retro roadside stores founded in Eastman, Georgia, in 1937. It served as the perfect spot to grab their most legendary product: pecan logs. You know, the things with the fluffy homemade nougat center, thin coating of homemade caramel, and a crunchy outer layer of pecan pieces?...

There comes a time in every woman’s quarantine when she realizes that even her favorite leggings lose their luster after a while. Enter the housedress. In the early to mid-20th century, the housedress, also called the morning dress, was a popular choice amongst the homemaking set. Made from washable, often printed fabrics, the dresses were casual enough for household chores, but still tailored enough in case of a visit from the dishwasher repairman or a last-minute jaunt to the neighborhood grocery....

It’s hard to tell the story of Southern food sometimes. Our recipe boxes are littered with half-truths, sort-of-remembered details, and threats of “I’d tell you, but I’d have to kill you.” Red velvet cake isn’t Southern—it started as Waldorf Astoria cake. The backstory: Someone got charged a mint for the hotel’s recipe and then shared it for revenge. It’s the forerunner to the notorious Neiman Marcus cookie recipe, which isn’t from the Dallas-based department store either....

Veterans Day is a time to remember and honor the sacrifices of the brave men and women of our Armed Forces. No matter when or where they served, there is a bond between them which will never be torn apart. Sometimes that bond needs to be fortified through love, support and an understanding some veterans struggle more than others upon returning home. That’s where The Warrior Reunion Foundation (WRF) steps in....

When you’re chopping herbs on a cutting board for your favorite chicken pot pie recipe, there are usually a few small pieces that you can’t quite grab with the rest of the bunch. Although your first inclination may be to drag that chef’s knife over the board to scrape the remaining bits into your pan, stop yourself. This technique, although certainly effective in getting every last bit of thyme into your recipe, is probably dulling the blade of your knife....

In a time when social media and smartphones make up the bulk of our daily communication, especially when we’re far away from friends and loved ones, we can almost forget the power of a good handwritten letter. We said, “almost,” because our mothers and grandmothers didn’t play around when it came to thank you notes—and some things just stick around well after we’re grown. A handwritten letter, be it a thank you note or one “just because,” never goes out of style....

I grew up with many examples of thoughtful entertainers in my Southern family, but when I consider a truly effortless host my mind immediately goes to a woman that I never even met. Several years ago, my family rented a house in West Palm Beach, Florida for a long weekend. When we arrived we saw that the homeowner left all the trimmings for a festive cocktail hour. She’d frozen a batch of homemade appetizers that we could simply pop in the oven, complete with baking instructions taped to the top of the tin foil....

Before flavored sparkling water became the biggest canned drink craze, there was Fresca. The grapefruit soda was launched in 1967 as the second “zero sugar” drink from the Coca-Cola company—after the launch of Tab in 1963—to the utter joy of many, including my Southern grandmother and even her own mother who, I’m told, became quite the instant fanatic and drank it ferociously. Now, I can’t help but love it, too....

If you’ve ever tried to roll homemade pie crust to a specific width or cookie dough to a particular height, you know that a good rolling pin is an essential kitchen tool for a baker to have on hand. A rolling pin will make baking easier by allowing you to produce evenly measured dough for breads, cookies, and pies. The good ones give you years of hard work, and can often turn into a family heirloom piece....

Some Southerners like to joke that there’s a church on every corner in the Bible Belt. When I first moved to the Franklin, Tennessee, I finally understood that saying – you couldn’t walk more than a mile without seeing a church in town. Those churches were especially noticeable around the same time each year – just as kids were leaving school to pursue the freedom of summer. Like clockwork: vinyl signs with flashy logos popped up on every church lawn....

Last week, nearly eight decades after her service in World War II, Romay Davis received the Congressional Gold Medal in a special ceremony in Montgomery, Alabama. Davis received the medal—the highest honor Congress can bestow upon a civilian—for her service in the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, more commonly known as the Six Triple Eight. At 102 years old, Davis is the oldest of the six remaining members. Davis was also presented with a wartime uniform to replace hers, which was stolen shortly after she returned from the war....

After a fairytale four-decade career working with celebrated Alabama chef Frank Stitt, pastry chef Dolester Miles is hanging up her apron for the last time. Miles, a native of Bessemer, Alabama, discovered a passion for baking in her early 20s. In 1982, Stitt hired her as a garde-manger, or pantry chef, of his newly opened fine dining pursuit Highlands Bar and Grill in Birmingham. And the rest, as they say, is history....

Barbara Tagger’s 37 years with the National Park Service have left an indelible mark on the landscape of the South—a place with a legacy the historian is just beginning to come to terms with. From the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park in Atlanta to the Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument, she has participated in the creation, development, and management of six national park units and consulted on countless others....

For cat lovers, our feline friends feel like family. After a long day staring at a computer screen, few things are more satisfying than flopping on the couch, flipping the TV on to something mindless, and having your cat jump up next to you. Any pet parent wants to do everything they can to ensure their cats are well cared for, including understanding how to feed them properly. Here are five vet-approved tips to ensure you’ve perfected your cat’s feeding routine....

Here at Southern Living, we love Chicken Salad Chick. The brand was born in August 2007, when Stacy Brown decided to open a business to support her three children. She had always loved chicken salad – a Southern staple, in our book – and decided to start selling locally to make ends meet. She tried more than a dozen recipe variations, and, lucky for us, found chicken-salad-sandwich gold with a traditional recipe – aptly named, “Classic Carol....

Hold onto your mayo-based salads and sandwiches, y’all. The South’s favorite mayonnaise brand has introduced not one, not two, not three, not four, but eight new products! Duke’s new products include a line of four flavored mayos, three dressings for coleslaw and potato salad, and Duke’s Hint of Lime Mayonnaise. Now, before you get too scandalized, Duke’s insists that these new items are inspired by the brand’s history, following in the tradition of entrepreneur Eugenia Duke’s mayonnaise recipe that’s graced tables for over 100 years....

Erin Napier certainly has a way with words, whether it’s capturing her daughter’s baptism or describing the best advice she ever got from her mom. Now, she’s blown us away yet again, this time describing her gratitude for husband Ben Napier in honor of Thanksgiving and their 10th anniversary. “I’m thankful for marriage today. I’m thankful for the size 14 boots I trip over in our bedroom, for the sound of the basketball bouncing in the backyard every morning at 4:30 am, for the empty glass on the coffee table, for wood chips in the dryer, for the cream left on the counter by the coffee maker, for the huge boxes of car parts and tools that arrive in the mail most every day....

To many gardeners, there’s nothing more fun than an unexpected late winter/early spring freeze. That’s because the cold turns the flowers and new leaves of many plants into disgusting mush, and THAT means it’s time to haul out the pruners! People love cutting on plants, believing it to be the miracle cure for every problem. Is it, though? Let’s discuss. First, let’s concentrate on trees, shrubs, and vines with early-blooming flowers, such as azaleas, Japanese magnolia, forsythia, wisteria, camellia, winter daphne, flowering quince, Bradford pear, and flowering plum....

If you own a dog, you likely know it can be one of the greatest joys of all time. Yes, there are occasional messes to clean and behavior issues to solve, but there’s also all that love and affection from your furry friend that usually melts your family’s heart. Of course, one of the worst parts of dog ownership is that dogs don’t live as long as we do. It inevitably means we have to think about our dog’s lifespan and how long dogs normally live....