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It’s officially Crock-Pot season. It’s time to slow cook hearty soups and stews, pot roast, and chili. Let’s be honest, we use our Crock-Pots all year long, but there’s something about comforting, warm meals best made in a slow cooker that just scream fall. Like many of our most-loved kitchen tools and appliances, Crock-Pots tend to get worked into the ground. Many cooks are still using the same Crock-Pot they’ve been cooking meals in twice a week for 10 years or more....

There’s a reason design TV shows that pull off top-to-bottom transformations in a few days are so popular. It’s no fun to face the unpleasant reality of major renovations: They’re time-consuming, costly, and more often than not, stressful. (And if you live in a rental, they may be impossible altogether.) When faced with these hurdles, it’s easy to lose the motivation to make the changes you would if Ty Pennington could swoop in....

So many places around the South bring back memories of the past. They remind us of neighbors, communities, and friendships. And that was certainly the case for one family who decided that a local general store, long abandoned, was the perfect spot to transform into a family getaway. Leigh Ann Henion, a writer and photographer, documented her family’s decision to transform a store on the outskirts of Boone, North Carolina, into their new family escape for Our State....

It’s good to be open to trying anything once, within reason, I tell myself before embarking on any trick or hack I hear about from friends or see on the Internet. Whether it’s testing if avocados stay ripe better when kept submerged in cold water or if flowers stay alive longer in a vase when you include a tipple of Sprite in the water, I’m game to poke around and find out....

Climbing vines are synonymous with stately houses, historic estates, and beautiful architectural design. Cascading wisteria, flowering mandevilla, creeping ivy—they’re so pretty and so widely planted, but are they doing damage to the structures upon which they climb? The short answer is: It depends. Vines require attention, and the more consistent attention, care, pruning, and corralling you can provide to keep them contained and healthy, the better and more manageable they’ll grow....

After nearly two decades of service, Auburn University’s beloved bald eagle is headed for retirement. Spirit will celebrate her 25th birthday with one more pre-game flight around Jordan-Hare Stadium this fall. The median life expectancy for bald eagles in captivity is 16.5 years. At nearly 25 years of age, raptor center staff and veterinarians decided that it would be best for Spirit to put her high-flying days behind her. “Spirit has served the Auburn family well for the last 18 years, and we feel it is time to pass the reigns and let her enjoy retirement as an educational ambassador,” Andrew Hopkins, assistant director of raptor training and education, said in a news release....

If you can’t bear the sight of another pile of zoodles, or you’ve baked enough loaves of zucchini bread to stock a bakery, or you’re considering making a squash smoothie, that’s a sign that you probably have too much zucchini on your hands. Don’t despair. Your surplus of squash doesn’t have to go to waste. Zucchini and summer squash can be frozen with great results, if done properly (ie: not just tossed into a ziplock bag)....

Warner Bros. Pictures and Graceland are celebrating Elvis Presley’s upcoming birthday by offering free screenings of Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis at a handful of select theaters this weekend. The blockbuster hit will shake up select theaters on what would have been Presley’s 88th birthday: Sunday, January 8. According to Deadline, the 2022 film will be shown in theaters at 10 cities: Atlanta (AMC Phipps Plaza), Chicago (AMC River East), Dallas (AMC NorthPark), Kansas City (AMC Town Center), Los Angeles (AMC Burbank), New York City (Loews 34th Street), San Francisco (AMC Metreon), Toronto (Cineplex Scotiabank), Vancouver (Cineplex Odeon International Village), and Memphis at Graceland....

For decades now, since she was that bright-eyed teenager who won America’s heart, Winnie Cooper, actress Danica McKellar has been a comforting and welcome sight on our television screens. Now, as adults, we can turn to McKellar and the latest installment of her Hallmark mystery series, Matchmaker Mysteries: A Fatal Romance, premiering Saturday, April 25. In addition to entertaining us, McKellar can help us through some of the challenges we are facing under quarantine during the coronavirus pandemic....

We’ve all gazed longingly at the beautiful kitchens featured in the movies, where a character casually whips open her refrigerator to reveal a perfectly curated landscape of bottles, produce, drinks, and fresh herbs. While it is enviable, it’s also more achievable than you might think. Follow the steps below and you’ll be starring in a movie of your own in no time (well, kind of), and trimming your food budget, to boot....

The home of North America’s longest pedestrian suspension bridge is treating healthcare workers to an unforgettable experience in the country’s most popular destinations. To honor America’s front-line heroes, Gatlinburg SkyLift Park in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, will offer free admission to healthcare workers and first responders for three days next month: Tuesday through Thursday, May 11-13, 2021. Normal weekday admission for adults is $24.95 per person. “The SkyLift Park family is so grateful for the difficult work the healthcare community continues to do—especially during this painful year of the pandemic,” Randy Watson, Gatlinburg SkyLift general manager, said in a news release....

Good news for anyone who missed out on tickets to see this year’s firefly show at Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee! North Carolina’s newly discovered population of synchronous fireflies is making its debut this summer, and you’re invited. For the first time in the park’s history, Grandfather Mountain will welcome the public to witness one of Mother Nature’s most incredible shows. The Photinus carolinus is a species of firefly that each year, typically in the spring, put on a synchronous light display in order to find a mate....

Sure, cakes are great and all. Cookies, we’ll take ’em. Ice cream, load us up. But cupcakes, oh, do we love cupcakes. This prized dessert makes our stomachs growl and our hearts sing. Whether we’re picking up a box at the store, baking our own, or buying them from some of the South’s best cupcake spots, we never tire of the sweet treats. Especially if they are called CupCakes and come from the one-and-only Hostess brand....

Doing laundry is a highly polarizing chore: you either love to care for your linens or you procrastinate every chance you get. However, there are certain items that need routine washing to stay in tip-top shape, and our sheets are one of the most important. We asked linens expert Marissa Murphy of Palm Beach’s Pioneer Linens and cleaning expert Hailey Becnel of @thecleaningchannel to share their best advice for caring for your sheets—and why it’s so important to stick to a schedule....

Forget-me-not (Myosotis sylvatica) is a woodland ground cover that blooms blue flowers high above the green foliage in the spring. It is commonly used among the spring-blooming bulbs but can be grown in containers, woodland areas, borders, and cottage gardens. The species has blue flowers, less than an inch wide, with five rounded petals and a white or yellow central eye. Buds are pink so there is a two-tone, blue/pink appearance....

A staple for salads and garnishes, lettuce is delicate: You might pull a head from the fridge only to find it limp, slimy, brown, or just plain past its prime. Here’s our guide to how to store lettuce so it stays crisp in the fridge for as long as possible. Is It Better to Store Lettuce Washed or Unwashed? Head lettuce, such as iceberg and romaine, keeps fresh longer when it remains attached to the head and unwashed....

The holiday season wouldn’t be complete without the receiving of dozens of holiday cards from friends, family, and occasionally a person or two you’re not totally sure you actually know. Cute kids, though! Now, it seems as if we’re beginning to receive holiday cards earlier and earlier every year, making it even more pressure-inducing to take family holiday photos as soon as possible to send those cards out before it’s considered ’too late....

If we could have Joanna Gaines wave her magic design wand in one spot in our house, our mantel would top the list. But your mantel doesn’t have to be a catchall for clutter, photo frames, and perhaps the seasonal pine cone or two. Instead, you can transform it into a chic nook with a few simple moves. In a post on Joanna Gaines’ Magnolia At Home blog, the Empress of Waco revealed some of her favorite tips for styling a mantel....

On Wednesday, former First Lady Laura Bush was on hand to celebrate the opening of Houston Methodist Hospital’s new Center for Health & Nature. In her first remarks in Houston since Barbara Bush’s funeral, Laura shared how greatly moved she and former President George W. Bush were by the display of affection from Houstonians after her mother in law’s passing, especially on the day of her funeral. “We drove to College Station on roads lined by Texans, who would pull over, stop, and put their cowboy hats over their heart,” she recalled....

Joanna Gaines starts turning up the Christmas tunes as soon as Halloween wraps, so it should come as no surprise that the Texas Titan has already decked the halls at Magnolia Market in her adopted hometown of Waco. This year, as Gaines described in a new post on her blog, Magnolia At Home, the theme, “A Thrill of Hope,” is all about holiday anticipation. “The biggest thing for me is just the idea of [a] nostalgic Christmas....