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If you’d asked me how I liked living in Birmingham five years ago, I would’ve responded with a practiced diplomatic answer. “There’s hardly any traffic,” was a go-to. Or I might have praised the city’s proximity to other destinations: “If I leave in the morning, by lunchtime I can be in Atlanta, Nashville, Memphis, New Orleans, or Asheville.” But with each passing year, I grew to see how lucky I was that the cosmos dropped me off here instead of any other place....

In November 1966, gravediggers working in a cemetery in Clendenin, West Virginia, spotted a strange, man-like figure in the trees above their heads. A few days later, two young couples from Point Pleasant reported a large creature with 10-foot wings whose eyes “glowed red” chased them while driving near a former military munitions site outside town. Sightings of what area newspapers dubbed the “Mothman” continued throughout the following year, often leaving witnesses with a deep sense of dread....

Of all the cooking breakthroughs to come out of the pandemic, this old-school cake might be our favorite. In the summer of 2021, a recipe that’s been delighting lucky dessert-lovers for generations popped up on Reddit’s /Old_Recipes forum, courtesy of St. Louis resident Jamie Moranz. Moranz shared a photo of her go-to birthday cake, the so-called Whipping Cream Cake, along with a recipe passed down by her mother-in-law from an Iowan town’s centennial anniversary in 1979....

My earliest memory of using wax paper outside the kitchen was a childhood favorite. My parents bought us an old swing set with a slide way back when (this was before plastic swing sets were invented). Unfortunately, the slide was so old that it was next to impossible to slide down without getting stuck. My father had the brilliant idea of having my little brother and I sit on wax paper to be able to slide down seamlessly....

Jessica Cloukey has held onto a guitar pick given to her by Garth Brooks since 1992. Thirty years later, at a Massachusetts concert over the weekend, she gave him to opportunity to take it back. Cloukey attended the Brooks’ May 21 show at Gillette Stadium with a special sign for her favorite country crooner. “Bangor, Maine 1992: I’ve saved your guitar pick for 30 years! Need it back?” the poster read....

February marks Black History Month, a time to commemorate and reflect on remarkable African American trailblazers who have left enduring legacies by igniting a desire for hope and change. In honor of Black History Month, we’ve gathered the most inspiring quotes from powerful Black leaders such as Toni Morrison, Frederick Douglass, and Martin Luther King, Jr. These leaders have shared thought-provoking ideas that have forever impacted us and continue to encourage us today....

When you walk into a Chick-fil-A in the South, you are offered service with a smile, even if you’re asking for a spicy deluxe minus the spice plus extra pickles, extra ketchup, and extra lettuce. Would it be possible for other professionals to learn from their great customer service? Sounds like the city of Charleston might be heading in that direction. When the Charleston Police Department recognized that they could and should treat people with more courtesy and respect, they decided to reach out for help from the professionals—Chick-fil-A....

At low tide, the wild oyster reefs along Tybee Island’s marshy shore stand out like gnarled stalagmites in a vast cave. One misstep, and the flinty clusters of shell can cause serious injury. So chef Steven Satterfield comes prepared: rubber boots; thick gloves; and a knee-length, waterproof trench coat. Below his salt-and-pepper beard, not an inch of skin is showing. Armed with a weathered roofing hammer, he climbs the craggy buttes of Chatham County’s Oyster Creek....

Start warming up those vocal cords, y’all! Today, ABC announced that The Disney Holiday Singalong, the third iteration of its beloved musical franchise, is headed to a television near you. Ryan Seacrest will return to host the star-studded night of merry music on Monday, November 30, at 8:00 pm EST. The jolly one-hour musical event will once again include animated on-screen lyrics to allow viewers at home to sing along to the beloved Disney melodies and classic holiday carols....

Cameras rolled as Harry Connick Jr., wearing a face mask and gloves, led a “socially distant second line” on an empty Bourbon Street in the French Quarter on Thursday. The New Orleans native is shooting a TV special for CBS titled “United We Sing,” in which he pays tribute to frontline workers amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a press release from Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s office. The production is shooting in six public locations around the New Orleans area through Sunday....

Prime rib, sometimes called a standing rib roast, is the cut of choice when you want to pull out all the stops for a special occasion. You can’t beat serving rosy, juicy meat for an anniversary, birthday, or holiday dinner party. Since prime rib is so delicious, you want to ensure you have enough to serve your guests generously. Here is how to determine how much prime rib to buy, how to select it, and why it is so special....

Avocados have a very short window between rock hard and squishy. It’s such a fleeting moment of perfection that I once jokingly emailed my boss that I couldn’t come to work that day because my avocado was going to be ripe and I didn’t want to miss it. Luckily for me, my boss had a sense of humor—and no idea how easy it is to freeze avocados at their peak and save them for later....

With happy hours being traded across the country for Zoom cocktail dates with friends during the coronavirus outbreak, we’re all looking for creative drink recipes to imbibe at home these days (okay, and maybe to intrigue interest from our loved ones on video chat). That’s why we’ve recently taken to the “pickletini.” Served up in a classic martini glass, we love the playful pickle garnish, but what we love even more is how good it tastes....

Maybe I should rephrase that headline: Does anyone have time to smock anymore? I’m venturing to guess the answer is largely no, but I’m also venturing to guess that our grandmothers might be quick to point out that the days have not become shorter in the passing years, but maybe our attention spans have. If there is one thing I have learned in my six short years of parenting, it’s that you have to pick your priorities....

Like the cherry on top of an ice-cream sundae, gravy is the finishing touch that brings many a Southern meal together, and we’re not just talking about Thanksgiving. We’ve got sausage gravy, tomato gravy, and even chocolate gravy—but no Southern gravy is quite so depended on and versatile as classic brown gravy. And when we think back to our grandmother’s kitchen, she wasn’t making it from scratch every single time, and we don’t blame her....

My sweet daughters, this is a letter about motherhood, a word that you don’t yet truly understand. Sure, you say the word “Mama” countless times a day—it is a word I will never tire of hearing. But motherhood—and the unconditional love and longing (and the anxiety and guilt) that come along with it—is something you won’t know about for many years. My mama, your Grammee, is one of the all-time greats....

Decorating your home is a deeply personal endeavor, but when it comes to insights on trends, we can always count on Southern interior designers to deliver inspired advice. With the new year on the horizon, we asked a few decorators from across the region which kitchen trends they feel are on the way out, and which ones are swinging back in. Here’s what they told us about kitchen design trends for 2023....

Since Wednesday, March 10, we have held our collective breath and said many prayers for the Drummond family following a terrible accident on the ranch that left both Ree Drummond’s husband Ladd and their nephew Caleb in the hospital. While attempting to put out a grass fire in conditions that created poor visibility, the two were driving in separate fire trucks and collided head-on, as People first reported. We got an update from the Pioneer Woman herself the following day, “I want to thank you all for your prayers for our family....

It may have been Inauguration Day, but Laura Bush knows all too well that comfort is key when you’re embarking on a long day of events. That’s why we love that the former First Lady opted for comfy — yet stylish — flats for Joe Biden’s Presidential Inauguration this past Wednesday, January 20. Her daughter Jenna Bush Hager agrees with this practical sentiment: “I respect my mother in this way — she was wearing flats!...

Family, friends, and fans gathered together on the front lawn of Graceland to honor the life of Lisa Marie Presley on Sunday morning, while upwards of 75 thousand people streamed it live from around the world. The weather was cold, gray, and dreary but the service began with a soul stirring performance of “Amazing Grace” by Jason Clark and the Tennessee Mass Choir. Then, Elvis Presley Enterprises’ managing partner Joel Weinshanker, made some opening remarks and he told the crowd that Lisa Marie’s wish was, “don’t make it sad....