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Whether dousing a homemade stir-fry in the stuff or adding the perfectly salty condiment to your meat marinade, soy sauce has many delicious uses in the kitchen, which is why it’s always good to have a bottle tucked away in the pantry at all times. If you prefer to purchase your own charmingly short, stout, spouted bottles that restaurants customarily keep at the table, you might also be puzzled why there are two holes on the top (one on either side) — and it’s not just to provide you the option to choose which side you want to pour out of....

Over the past decade, mushroom consumption has steadily ticked up. Steven Muro of Fusion Marketing notes that “the demand for fresh mushrooms is no fad,” and interest in plant-based diets is only one reason for interest in this humble fungus. The National Restaurant Association even crowned mushrooms as the top produce item of 2020. So, with this recent surge in mushroom-related purchasing, you might wonder what people are making with this fresh produce....

As anyone who has survived August in Savannah knows, Southern summers are no joke. And along with those hot, hot summer nights, come the high, high electric bills for cranking those fans and air conditioning (or both). Thanks to some very clever scientists there may be a new way to keep cool in the summer and all it involves is a coat of white paint. Researchers led by Professor Xiulin Ruan at Purdue University had the idea to create a paint that would reflect sunlight away from a building, which would help keep the building cool and curb energy use....

Fall usually means an onslaught of spaghetti squash, pumpkins, and butternut squash. Soups, pies, pasta sauces, even simple roasted side dishes—there’s a lot you can do with them, and they are trusty, tasty autumn staples. However, there are so many different types of squashes and gourds available that each offer a unique flavor or way of preparing it. Over the past year, I’ve been working at a farmers market on Saturdays and have been able to discover a multitude of new-to-me produce, including those in the squash and gourd family....

To keep things simple: A toner is used to cleanse, and an essence is used to treat. Each one is just a step in their respective processes, but both could have a major impact on your skin. Toners are nothing new. But how they’ve been formulated has changed since days of yore. They’re no longer the harsh, oil-stripping formulas our mothers and grandmothers used to combat acne-prone skin. Today’s toner offerings are vast and varied....

When it comes to preparing the Thanksgiving meal, making sure every dish is warm when you’re ready to serve can be one of the trickier feats of a successful gathering. Between the turkey, the dressing, the mac and cheese, and more, there may not always be enough space in your oven to keep every dish warm. Luckily, this is where your trusty slow cooker comes in. Use Your Slow Cooker Like a Warming Oven While the countertop appliance is known for making weeknight dinners a breeze, it can also lend a helping hand when you’re getting ready to serve a holiday meal....

It will creep, it will crawl, and if you let it, crabgrass will demolish your summer dreams of a lush lawn faster than you can say, “Honey, grab the herbicide.” If we haven’t set your green thumb nervously thumping yet, Dr. John Kauffman, a regional technical manager for TruGreen says the weed’s spread is the real cause for concern. “Similar to a crab, this type of grass is fast-moving and able to crawl across your entire yard,” he says....

Southern women don’t typically favor changing their looks to appease the latest beauty trends. We like to stay current, but as far as those fleeting styles, well, we’ll leave them to our nieces to try. This time, though, we’ve finally come across a new craze that we will actually consider getting behind. It’s called skin glazing, and we have four reasons why you’re going to love it. It’s All About Enhancing What Mama Gave You Instead of altering your brows, lips, and cheeks to fit the often unrealistic beauty standards du jour, skin glazing is based on enhancing your natural features with skincare, rather than covering them up with foundations, concealers, contour palettes, and more....

The countdown to the South’s most iconic holiday experience is on! Christmas at Biltmore will begin November 6, 2020 and run through January 10, 2021. This year’s holiday extravaganza, which also happens to mark the 125th anniversary of the first Christmas at the Asheville landmark, is set to be unlike any other. It was Christmas Eve 1895 when Biltmore’s founder George Vanderbilt first opened the doors of Biltmore House to family and friends....

A Florida police officer’s body camera was rolling when he helped free a young dolphin tangled in a fishing net last month. Video shared to social media this week shows Miami-Dade police officer Nelson Silva slowly pulling the “little baby dolphin” closer to his boat to cut away the netting. “Come on, it’s ok,” Silva can be heard telling the frightened animal while struggling to get a grip on the net....

Check your pantries, snack lovers. Conagra Brands is recalling approximately 2.6 million pounds of canned meat and poultry that were potentially spoiled due to a packaging defect, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced late Tuesday. The nationwide recall primarily affects Vienna sausages sold under the popular Armour brand. Vienna sausages sold under eight other brands, including Goya, Kroger, and Great Value, are also impacted. The recalled products were produced between December 12, 2022 and January 13, 2023 and have establishment number “P4247” printed on their cans....

Despite giving away 1.5 million books a month via her Imagination Library, Dolly Parton has a difficult time parting with her extensive personal collection. The country music icon gave fans a rundown on her most beloved books in Marie Claire’s latest episode of “Shelf Portrait,” a series that offers an inside look at the personal libraries of celebrities, influencers, and famous bookworms. Parton pared down her “hundreds and hundreds of books” to one bookcase decorated with a few mementos for the video tour (below), including a tiny vintage piano, ornaments, and family photos....

When you’re living in a home where living space is on the tight side, but upgrading to a larger home isn’t an option for the foreseeable future, you start to get creative. You take a look at the layout of your living room and you consider whether you really need a dedicated dining room. You start to evaluate whether your musty basement could ever be finished into a worthwhile bonus space—and if you have a garage, you think about turning it into additional living space....

When Berta Lou Scott was a little girl in the 1930s, she loved all the things her mother baked for Christmas—except fruitcake. Too dry, too filled with candied things, not enough nuts. Today, Berta Lou is North Carolina’s queen of fruitcake. Yes, we know—a lot of you think you don’t like this dessert, but that means you haven’t had Southern Supreme fruitcake. It’s not made like any other version, and it doesn’t taste like the others either....

Summer is baking the South with extremely hot temperatures right now, and the forecast doesn’t show the heat letting up anytime soon. When you planted your garden earlier this year, you were charmed by the temperate climate of springtime; charmed and fooled, because it was easy to forget, as you happily mulched and raked on a mild 80° day, that very soon that warm sun would turn unbearably hot and the humidity become so thick it would prevent proper breathing patterns while pulling a weed....

How did it happen this time? Did your child mention, on his way out the door, that it’s your turn to bring goodies to the class party this afternoon? Or is it late at night, and you suddenly remember the office potluck is tomorrow? You may not have time to make cupcakes or a layer cake from scratch, but you can still whip up a delicious plate of almost homemade chocolate brownies....

If you don’t bake frequently, it probably isn’t practical to keep your pantry stocked with an endless array of flour varieties. In many cases, a bag of all-purpose flour is enough to see you through. Every once in a while, though, you might find yourself looking at a recipe that specifically calls for self-rising flour. If that happens, there’s no need to run to the store. We spoke to Christine Smith of Fairfax, Virginia, author of Cuisine of the Silk Road, and learned it’s easy to make your own self-rising flour at home....

Nearly six decades later, Loretta Lynn and Patsy Cline’s friendship still has a hold on our hearts. There’s just something about two poor Southern gals finding each other—and their way—in the big city that sparks our imaginations. And now, with help from her daughter Patsy (who was named after her mom’s late friend), 87-year-old Loretta is sharing the story of their legendary relationship in her own words. In her upcoming memoir, Me & Patsy Kickin’ Up Dust, Loretta chronicles her friendship with Patsy before her tragic passing in 1963....

When searching for fall color, we often look to the mountains, where deciduous forests light up the landscape. The Georgia coast, however, offers another sort of autumnal perspective altogether. During the close of the year, the marshes of Georgia’s Golden Isles paper themselves in their eponymous hues. The salt marshes spread out over wide tidal acres and in them grow grasses that turn gold and amber in autumn. The coastal marshes—Georgia has nearly 400,000 acres of them filled with yellow-leaved Spartina, or cordgrass, in fall—offer up dramatic sights that shift throughout the day....

About Rhiannon Giddens Grammy award-winning artist, storyteller, and multi-instrumentalist who has already left a powerful mark on Southern culture—Rhiannon Giddens is just getting started. She grew up in North Carolina surrounded by bluegrass music, but her musical interests led her to other genres as well. When she was young, she started singing in the Greensboro youth chorus and went on to pursue opera at Oberlin Conservatory. After that, she co-founded the Carolina Chocolate Drops, a country, blues and old-time music band, and she’s since gone on to a remarkable solo career....