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If you want to see the most powerful way that people from the same region can be locked in a perpetual argument with one another, you should bring up peaches. Yes, I know about intense college-football rivalries. I also happen to live in between Duke University and The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, so I’m very familiar with the basketball ones. But if you think you’ve seen pride of place, it’s even more intense when a South Carolinian meets up with a Georgian while there’s a peach pie in the oven....

The arrival of May brings the promise of warmer weather, longer days, and flowers galore. There are several traditions that have become synonymous with May Day, including festivals and maypoles twirled with brightly colored ribbons. There’s another lesser-known May Day tradition that we think should definitely make a comeback, and that’s May Day baskets. A Friendly Tradition May Day baskets can have many different appearances—they’re baskets, bags, or boxes filled with flowers, toys, or treats that are left anonymously for friends and neighbors on the first day of May....

Chip and Joanna Gaines are inviting fans to experience their biggest renovation to date: a real-life castle. In Fixer Upper: Welcome Home – The Castle, the Gaineses take on the Herculean task of breathing new life into a nineteenth-century castle in Waco, Texas. Over the course of eight episodes, the couple tackles its challenging infrastructure while preserving its original beauty. But before the show premieres on discovery+ in September, the Gaineses are offering “intimate guided tours” of the castle....

If ziplining through a dark cave surrounded by zombies doesn’t get you pumped for Halloween, we don’t know what will. Those looking for a side of thrill with their chill should head to Louisville Mega Cavern in Louisville, Kentucky, to experience their spookiest attraction yet: Mega Zombie Zips! In this immersive new adventure, guests zip through the cave in search of the antidote to cure the miners from the zombie virus....

During my four years at an all-girls high school, I took a class on poetry and enrolled in an elective on military history. Sports practices and choir rehearsals filled after-school calendars; leadership opportunities were a dime a dozen; and each senior was required to complete a research-based thesis project before graduation. In short, I was lucky to have a well-rounded educational experience that set me up for success. But not once, between reading Sun Tzu or helping to restore oyster beds in a marine biology class, did anyone teach me to sew on a button or create a budget....

When I first met my roommate, one of the first things she told me was that she loves doing laundry. “It just calms me down,” she said, as we stood over our newly-purchased washer, unsuccessfully attempting to connect the hose to the wall plug-in. “I love the routine of it.” Eventually, after forty-five minutes of wrestling with the washer hose, we called a plumber. Unlike my roommate, I’ve always dreaded laundry day....

Alton Brown has made a career out of challenging our culinary assumptions. From adding salt to coffee and mayonnaise to scrambled eggs, his eyebrow-raising tricks have yet to lead us astray in the kitchen. Yet the first time we came across Brown’s secret to delicious cheeseburgers we found ourselves questioning his sanity once again. And, for the millionth time, the food science wiz proved us wrong. According to Brown, the best way to cook a burger isn’t by throwing patties on the grill, but by frying them in oil....

So, why do we frequently encounter diners that look like train cars? The story unfolds when you take things back to the diner’s original manifestation as a moving vehicle. As Atlas Obscura explained in a deep dive on the topic, “Diners started out on wheels. In the late 19th century, street carts selling snacks and lunches had morphed into roving lunch wagons.” Writer Anne Ewbank continues, “[w]hile some lunch wagons sported Gilded-Age decor, such as elaborate coffee urns and etched windows, many were ramshackle, giving them an iffy reputation....

A Florida lifeguard is being hailed a hero after saving a sea turtle that was tangled in fishing line off Miramar Beach Sunday afternoon. South Walton Fire District lifeguard Jack Nabers told Northwest Florida Daily News that he noticed an animal flopping around in the water about 100 yards from shore around 3:30 p.m. “I was sitting there in my tower watching and I kept seeing this thing,” Nabers recalled. “I couldn’t tell what it was, but it would come up on the surface....

As the coronavirus situation continues to evolve, it’s easy to become overwhelmed with the seemingly endless stream of news stories. While we wholeheartedly agree, it’s important to stay informed and, yes, wash your hands, for our well-being, it’s clear we could all use a little break. That’s why, this weekend, we’re all going to treat ourselves to streaming an uplifting movie or TV series—or eight—to help reset our positive mental attitude....

Christmas has come early this year for Fireball aficionados, a.k.a. everyone. Apparently the fiery whiskey brand heard your prayers, because it recently rolled out an incredible new product just in time for your annual holiday party. Behold: the Firebox. Just think of it as the delicious love child between boxed wine and Fireball whiskey. This frighteningly brilliant new creation contains 3.5 liters of the spicey booze divided between two 1.75 liter pouches....

You must determine two things before calculating the cooking time for your ham. The first is whether the ham is bone-in or boneless. Next, you must know whether the ham is pre-cooked or the instructions read “cook before eating.” Regardless of the bone, uncooked hams need to cook to 145°F for food safety. The pre-cooked hams need to heat to 140°F for adequate food safety. The guidelines below provide a timetable of expected cook time for ham, but use a food thermometer to check the internal temperature for the respective hams....

We all have a bad hair story. Maybe it’s accidentally giving yourself a set of baby bangs that were supposed to be Bardot-worthy fringe, or perhaps it’s going too scissor-happy when picking off stray split ends, ending up with a lopsided bob. That’s why it’s always best to leave these things to the professionals, at least most of the time. A DIY haircut is technically an option if you’re too busy to make it to the salon this month or want to refresh your strands between appointments....

Once bake sale season rolls around, you’ll want to have a few all-star cupcake recipes in your arsenal; and if you’re going through all the trouble of baking your cupcakes from scratch, it’s only proper that they look as good as they taste. We’re here to help you learn how to frost your cupcakes like a seasoned professional. With these quick and easy frosting techniques, some of the other mothers may accuse you of picking your cupcakes up from the local bakery—but you can proudly say that the recipe is all your own....

Nothing ruins the singular joy of a pizza topped with delicious toppings like having a bite slip down to your shirt or pants. Greasy, oily stains are the worst! Not only is oil attracted to synthetic fibers like polyester, but oil stains turn darker and get more noticeable over time. So the last thing you want to do when faced with an oil stain is make a serious laundry mistake. Luckily, if you need to know how to get oil stains out of clothes, you’re in the right place....

Hydrangeas have big, bold leaves and large clusters of long-­lasting flowers in white, pink, red, or blue blooming in late spring or summer. Flower clusters may contain sterile flowers which are conspicuous, with large, petal-like sepals, or fertile flowers with small, starry petals. They might also feature a cluster of small fertile flowers surrounded by a ring of big sterile ones called lace-cap hydrangeas. Sterile flowers last for a long time (often holding up for months), gradually fading in color....

Let’s face it, firing up the grill isn’t the most time-efficient way to make dinner—someone (usually you) needs to constantly watch the meat roasting over the unpredictable flame. The good news is that the secret to this juicy and fall-apart-in-your-mouth short ribs recipe is a long slow process in the oven—meaning you can throw the ribs in the oven for a couple of hours and be free to finish the million other things you have to do....

In the South, ‘bless your heart’ situations arise daily. Walk around long enough, and you’ll hear ‘bless your/their/his/her heart’ spoken either vehemently aloud or in a breathless whisper. It’s a versatile phrase. It has a thousand meanings—and just as many possible responses. If you’re on the receiving end of a ‘bless your heart,’ it might make you laugh or sting a little. It’s usually good-natured, but you’ll have to carefully listen because ‘bless your heart’ has too many meanings to count....

Cream candy (also known as pull candy) might not be widely known throughout the South, but in certain parts of Kentucky, it is a beloved treat that has been passed down for generations. Made with heavy cream, sugar, vanilla, and boiling water, the candy is plain to look at, but has a surprisingly smooth, melt-in-your-mouth texture and intensely sweet flavor. This candy may be easy to eat, but it’s quite a production to make....

Web-Exclusive: The Rose that Survived Hurricane Katrina We first shared the story of Peggy Martin rose in our September 2007 issue, and this special selection has now been planted in every Southern state as well as other locations. The plants are receiving rave reviews and beginning to create garden pictures across the South. The participating mail-order sources report combined sales of more than 10,000 plants as of June 1, 2008. Don and Paula House set out one on a new arbor in their College Station, Texas, garden a year ago and say that the long, thornless canes are beginning to spread on the top of the 8-foot-tall structure and are continuing to bloom....