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If you’ve ever gazed out your window into the inky blackness during a nighttime flight, you’ve probably wondered how the pilots are able to see anything from the cockpit. Flying a plane is nothing like driving a car, and pilots do not use headlights to guide their way when they’re at cruising altitude, tens of thousands of feet in the air. The blinking LED light visible from the ground actually serves a beacon to help other pilots spot the plane in the air....

Last minute dinner plans are a reality in today’s world. We work late, skip grocery runs, or just plain forget to plan supper until the last minute. If this happens to you, there’s no need to pick up the phone and call in for takeout. If you’ve got chicken in the freezer, you can still make a quick and easy meal. According to nutritionist and Fresh Starts Registry expert Allie Echeverria of Atlanta, Georgia, it’s possible to cook chicken from frozen....

Can you freeze cookie dough? The answer is definitely, maybe. Some types of dough freeze beautifully. You’ll have the best success with dense, moist dough, especially chunky drop or ball cookies. You can also freeze buttery shortbread, slice-and-bake ice box cookies, and cut-out cookies. Just think of freezing as an additional prep step; otherwise, you’re making and eventually baking the cookies the same as you always do. How Do You Freeze Cookie Dough?...

A good cranberry sauce completes any Thanksgiving meal, lending its perfectly complex sweet and tart flavors to the spread of roasted meats and savory sides on your annual holiday table. Leftovers can easily be smeared on turkey sandwiches, added to bowls of Greek yogurt granola or pancakes at breakfast, or drizzled over ice cream for dessert for weeks to come. When stored properly, both canned and homemade cranberry sauce can last for two weeks in the refrigerator....

It’s certainly a very fitting time for self-reflection. With many individuals having more downtime than we’re used to, it’s no surprise that more and more people are using this moment during the trying times of the coronavirus pandemic to reevaluate their lives and contemplate their purpose. Some of our favorite celebrity couples better are doing this as well, and letting us in on their process. Now, we’ll get to see country star Carrie Underwood and her husband, retired NHL player, Mike Fisher, take time for such self-reflection....

Hairstyling technology has come a long way from the curlers your mom used to sleep in every night. Now, you can turn to an assortment of hot tools to get your hair just the way you like it, whether that means pumping up the volume with a blow dryer, straightening locks with a flat iron, or drying and styling strands at the same time with a hot air brush. (Though there’s nothing wrong with sticking to tradition....

Every year, right after Thanksgiving, plastic tubs filled with paper-towel-wrapped Christmas ornaments and sparkling holiday decorations are pulled from an upstairs closet at my parents’ house to make their annual debut. Around the same time, so too do the iron and decades-old ironing board appear—less festive than the candle-powered German Christmas Pyramid and the glittery macaroni crafts we made in preschool, but essential, nonetheless. The iron may not get much play the rest of the year, thanks to wrinkle-releasing sprays, wrinkle-resistant fabrics, and handheld steamers; but when it comes to preparing tablecloths and cloth napkins for the holiday table, there’s just no substitute for a classic iron....

At first glance, ice cream and gelato don’t look all that different. But for anyone who says these desserts are the same, I’d wager they’ve never tasted the two next to each other. The recipes and churning process for ice cream and gelato are distinct, resulting in two frozen desserts with unique qualities. Ice cream and gelato both include milk and sugar in their bases, but that’s where the similarity in recipes stops....

Is any flower in the garden more powerfully intoxicating than the gardenia? No. Raising a blossom to the nose and inhaling once can make a strong man swoon. Gardenia is such a classic Southern plant that many Southerners assume it originated here. It did not. Traders in the Far East discovered it growing in China, Korea, and Japan. So sweet were its blooms they decided to bring it back to Europe....

Chris Stapleton songs already make us cry, but a Chris Stapleton song about dogs? Oh, are we goners. Alas, we hate to be the bearer of sobs, but the Kentucky singer has released a tearjerker of a tribute to his late dog, Maggie, titled “Maggie’s Song,” off his new album, Starting Over. The touching song shares the story of his family’s pup Maggie, who died last year at the age of 14, per Taste of Country....

The hydrangea is the undisputed Queen of the Southern Garden. Whether you grow a big leaf hydrangea, panicle hydrangea, smooth hydrangea, or oakleaf variety, a well-tended hydrangea will give you lots and lots of gorgeous blooms throughout the summer. Looking across a yard at a bank of hydrangea bushes in full bloom is certainly a site to behold, but consider looking upward to the climbing hydrangea, a flowering vine that produces fragrant, lace-cap white flower clusters....

This seemingly bland and inexpensive starchy vegetable can be cooked any way you can imagine – boiled, broiled, baked, or fried, and served up in breakfast casseroles, side dishes, and even loaves of light and airy potato bread. Learn how to store potatoes correctly so you don’t wind up tossing valuable food in the compost pile. Give Them Proper Air Flow If you buy a pre-packaged bag of potatoes, the plastic bag should already have air holes....

As is tradition, a new actress will be taking on the role of Queen Elizabeth II for the next installments of The Crown. And somehow, in the midst of the crazy year we just lived through, we seem to have missed the news that Imelda Staunton will take on the role of regent following the footsteps of Claire Foy and Olivia Colman. “I have loved watching The Crown from the very start,” Staunton told the Hollywood Reporter when her casting was confirmed back in January 2020....

JoAnna Garcia Swisher celebrated 12 years of marriage to former New York Yankees player, Nick Swisher, with an emotional social media tribute over the weekend. On Sunday, the Sweet Magnolias star shared a video of her and Nick enjoying a smiling moment together, along with a call to action for fans. “No matter how long you’ve been married… never stop dating,” a message superimposed on the clip reads. “Send this to your forever date....

Kamala Harris’ bright purple inauguration ensemble was significant for a number of reasons. Harris, the first woman, first woman of color, and first woman of South Asian descent to serve as vice president of the United States, donned a coat by Black fashion designer and Baton Rouge native, Christopher John Rogers. Rogers graduated from Savannah College of Art and Design in 2016 and has since dressed a host of celebrities including Zendaya, Tracee Ellis Ross, and Michelle Obama....

Earlier this month a Kentucky native made history by becoming the first woman to pilot an F-35 fighter jet for the Air National Guard. First Lieutenant Kelsey Flannery is a 30-year-old former boxing instructor from Kentucky. According to the Air National Guard, she has spent the last three years training to pilot the F-35A Lightning II. Flannery was part of a small group of hundreds of applicants selected to become a pilot with Vermont Air National Guard’s 134th Fighter Squadron, also known as the Green Mountain Boys....

How to give your kitchen a face-lift without having to undergo a pricey remodel? Repaint your cabinets for a fresh new look. This project can easily be completed without calling a professional, but keep a few important tips in mind for success—like not underestimating the amount of time this task will take (longer than a weekend) and not skimping on the prep work (yes, it really does matter). Here, are 9 common mistakes to avoid when painting kitchen cabinets....

Because we love to cook, host, and eat, Southerners can take any event and make it revolve around food, and that’s precisely what my friends and I did over Labor Day weekend this year. Labor Day is a holiday that brings on a lot of emotions here in the South. It’s a sad farewell to summer (even though the temperatures will remain well above 90 for the next month) but an exciting welcome to college football....

The holidays are one of the most popular times for sharing photos on Instagram. After you’ve posted a picture of your Thanksgiving feast and the annual Christmas Eve matching pajamas photo, plus a dressed-up version for Christmas Day, it’s time for New Year’s Eve. You’ve got the perfect outfit and plans to watch the ball drop, so all you need is great lighting and a fabulous and fun caption for Instagram....

While we’ve all been spending plenty of time at home, we’ve turned to the comfort of our favorite films. We’ve been re-watching beloved titles including these superb Southern movies with one-liners and these classic feel-good fall movies. Oh, and have we had Nicole Kidman movie marathons. Far and Away. Eyes Wide Shut. The Stepford Wives. Moulin Rouge!. Practical Magic. The Portrait of a Lady. Our list goes on and on. And if Nicole Kidman would have had her way, we’d be adding Notting Hill, to that list as well....