A few years ago, I spent a summer working on an organic vegetable farm. There were long days and early wakeups, but what made up for all that to me was harvesting tomatoes off the vine at the peak of the season and eating them standing in the fields while they were still warm from the sun. I even got into the habit of carrying a mini salt shaker in my pocket so I’d always be ready to maximize my tomato-eating experience....
If you’ve ever paid a visit to South Carolina, you know a few things to be true: There’s nothing more beautiful than the Carolina coast – and that the Lowcountry has a super distinct smell. That second one — the smell — is all thanks to the state’s unique mud known lovingly as “pluff mud.” South Carolina, the state Department of Natural Resources explained, has more than 344,000 acres of salt marsh, which means it has the most marshland of any state along the East Coast....
This year, my girlfriends and I are making a conscious effort to spend more time together. Our first step toward doing that was committing to a monthly supper club. February’s gathering, of course, celebrated Galentine’s Day. Since I’ve been working on my baking skills lately (Exhibits A, B, and C), I offered to bring dessert. For Galentine’s Day, only a pretty and pink dessert would do, and I had been dying for an occasion to make this Strawberry-Rosé Snack Cake for some time....
“Serving Texas-sized portions at reasonable prices.” That’s the philosophy of Lulu’s Bakery and Café, located in San Antonio, Texas. The goal is decidedly simple—to welcome guests in and fill them up. And Lulu’s certainly delivers on this promise. The family-owned diner has recently gained national attention for its ginormous cinnamon rolls. Lulu’s offers its famous 3-pound cinnamon rolls day and night, 24 hours a day. Yes, you read that, right: these supersize cinnamon rolls weigh 3 pounds....
Now here’s something you don’t see every day! If you treat yourself to one thing today, let it be this video of a hummingbird being weighed at Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington, D.C. Yes, really. The footage (below) shows a five-year-old ruby-throated hummingbird named Spot getting his monthly weigh-in. In a flash, the tiny bird touches down on a special wire just long enough to clock in his minuscule weight: 3....
Raise your hand if you have scallions poking out from a cup of water on your windowsill right now. Now, raise your other hand if you only started propagating veggies in water amid the coronavirus pandemic. Do you have both hands up? Yeah, me too. While we’re admitting things, I should also add that my burgeoning “victory sill” (hat tip to Jenny G. Zhang for coining this brilliant term!) consists of a mishmash of old shot glasses and other random vessels....
Break out the cheddar! New research suggests that full-fat cheese is actually good for you. After years of studies stating that low-fat or fat-free cheese and other dairy products like milk and yogurt were the best choice for a healthier diet, some researchers are saying the opposite is true. According to Time, two recent studies show that full-fat dairy products, like cheese, have multiple health benefits. One 15-year study led by American cardiologist Dariush Mozaffarian, MD, found that 3,333 adults had higher levels of three by-products of full-fat dairy linked to a 46% lower risk of type 2 diabetes....
Good Samaritans in North Carolina are being praised as heroes after saving the lives of four puppies suffering at the hands of a cruel human. Guilford County Animal Services praised the do-gooders who sprung into action when they noticed a moving suitcase on the side of the highway Saturday. “These four puppies were found in this suitcase on the side of a road, with the case zippered except for one small part....
Our mamas are so important; they show us what love is, and they help us grow into strong women with families of our own. So what should you write in a Mother’s Day card? Will a simple “Happy Mother’s Day” get the job done when what you want to convey is so much more? It can be hard to find greetings that truly show our mothers how much they mean to us when there’s so much we want to share....
There’s social etiquette and then there’s Mama’n’em’s etiquette. None of these rules are written down. Southerners just absorb them through cornbread and the liquid sugarcane we call sweet tea. We took a quick poll of our Facebook Brain Trust and found some common threads. It should come as no surprise that many Southern rules for proper etiquette revolve around food. First of all, we’re happy to report that the more draconian dining/entertaining rules for children have loosened considerably over the years....
There’s nothing better for bringing on the nostalgia like digging old games and toys out of storage for a whole new generation of kids to enjoy. If you don’t have a closet filled with childhood relics, fret not. Walmart has an entire section of classic toys that you can shop right now, just in time for the holidays. Be warned, looking through the retailer’s selection of toys and games from decades past will bring on serious waves of nostalgia, whether you remember playing them in your youth or with your kids....
Since 2014, Army veteran Burnell Cotlon has been operating the only grocery store in the Lower Ninth Ward. For a nearly a decade after the New Orleans neighborhood was decimated by Hurricane Katrina, the closest grocery store was the Walmart in Chalmette. Before Cotlon opened Burnell’s Lower 9th Ward Market on the corner of Caffin Avenue and North Galvez Street, residents had to take three city busses to purchase fresh groceries....
Dogs, they do the darndest things. The Chick-fil-A store at Carraway Village in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, is ready to show the world just that. Warming our hearts so, Ellie, who appears to be a Golden Retriever, recently helped her owner out by picking up his Chick-fil-A curbside delivery order. “Using our mobile app for curbside delivery has never been more fun or easy. Just ask Ellie. She loves running to meet the Team Member delivering her food and carrying it back to her owner, Nick, who waits in their curbside space,” a video caption from the Chick-fil-A at Carraway Village outpost reads....
Chicken Salad Chick is getting ready to deck the halls this holiday season. Only they’ll trade the boughs of holly for something they’re a little more familiar with—chicken salad, of course! For a limited time only, you can try Chicken Salad Chick’s Deck the Holly chicken salad at restaurants across the country. The exclusive holiday flavor puts a spin on cult-favorite Holly Jalapeño by adding cranberry for the perfect seasonal blend of sweet and spicy....
You don’t forget the first time you find a bay leaf in your soup. You either dredge up a big leaf, confused as to how foliage made its way into the pot, or you have the misfortune of biting into a piece of the leaf left behind, enveloping your mouth in a strong, medicinal flavor. If this experience with bay leaves left a bad taste in your mouth, you’re not alone....
David and Faythe DiLoreto were at a crossroads in their lives when they took a vacation to Italy back in 2011. “There came a time when we were looking to do something different,” David explained to PBS NC. “We happened to make a family trip to Italy, not searching for anything there, but just fell in love with buffalo mozzarella when we were there.” Most Americans don’t realize that mozzarella is made with water buffalo milk, and when they returned home to Rowan County, North Carolina, the DiLoretos discovered why: Barely anyone produces it stateside....
Florida resident Rusty Escandell was enjoying a day at the beach and taking photos of surfers when he photographed a once-in-a-lifetime moment. “I kind of saw a splash behind the surfer, but didn’t think much of it,” Escandell recalled to CNN. “It could have been a fish, could have been anything.” Escandell just so happened to take a burst of photos the instant a giant manta ray breached just a few feet away from a surfer—though he didn’t realize he’d captured the split-second encounter until he was home....
With more than two decades of marriage, eight Grammys, and three adult daughters between them, Faith Hill and Tim McGraw have been through a lot together. But the country duo hasn’t let money, fame, or professional obligations get in the way of cherished Christmas traditions. And one of those traditions involves meatballs. That’s right. In the McGraw-Hill house, Christmas Eve means spaghetti and meatballs. Passing Down Traditions “Our family tradition for years has been pasta,” McGraw revealed in a 2020 interview with the Country Music Association, per Taste of Country....
It seems that Garth Brooks finally paid the piper and got the tattoo he promised daughter Allie Colleen. During a recent appearance on Country Countdown USA with Lon Helton Garth shared that he recently got inked to fulfill a vow he made back in 2014. Except instead of one tattoo, he ended up with several. The country megastar initially promised Allie that he would get a tattoo when he headlined Croke Park in Ireland in 2014....
Hallmark is working on a new primetime series that will have Yellowstone fans raring to go. The feel-good network has ordered a new rodeo-themed family drama series, set to premiere on Hallmark Channel in 2023. Described as a “multigenerational family ensemble,” Ride follows the Murray family, part of a rodeo dynasty going back a generation, as they struggle to keep their beloved ranch afloat. “After a tragic loss, each character embarks on an empowering journey of transformation and self-discovery while also uncovering a twisted web of secrets, threatening to tear the family and their small Colorado town apart at the seams,” the official description reads....
