A loaf of banana bread can fix many problems in a Southern household. Need a gift to give to a new neighbor? Wrap up a loaf of banana bread. Want a great option for your ladies’ luncheon on Saturday? Slice up a loaf of banana bread. Looking for a nice gesture to send a grieving friend? A loaf of soft, moist banana bread is always welcome as Southern comfort food....
During this working from home lockdown, like many of you, I’ve been cleaning out closets, drawers, and storage spaces but one thing I’ve put off is my oven. Because it was so gross, it literally took a pandemic to finally tackle this job. To give you a good mental picture of the shape of my oven (sorry), there was bubbled-up burned food all over the bottom and sticky, dried-on brown residue on the walls and door....
Peek through the glass to see a little magic—vibrant color guaranteed to brighten winter’s gray light. To make a terrarium, choose a glass container with an opening wide enough for your hand. Gently add an inch or two of washed, fine gravel. Top gravel with a thin layer of activated aquarium carbon. (You’ll find both items at your local pet store.) Next, add moistened potting soil, and you’ll be ready to plant....
We’re always hearing about new ways to perfect the at-home blowout and finally achieve salon-worthy results. News flash: We have never once found this to be true. I mean, we can achieve a nice blowout at home, but salon-quality? Not quite. We’re not going to tell you that these tips will help you finally master that salon blowout at home so you can save your $50 for other pursuits, but we will say that these little tricks will most assuredly step up your home style—substantially....
Home decorators, renovators, and design enthusiasts alike, take note: Sherwin-Williams has revealed the 2021 Color of the Year. Today, the paint giants announced that Urbane Bronze SW 7048 receives this year’s place of honor as the color to watch in home décor trends. 2020 has been a difficult year amid the coronavirus pandemic and it forced us to all slow down, and spend a lot more time in our homes. Many have realized the need to revamp that space as we have shifted our focus inward....
Key lime pie is unquestionably Florida’s most popular, best-loved dessert. But there’s another, lesser-known pie from the Sunshine State that is just as creamy, tart, and delicious: sour orange pie. Like its Key lime cousin, a sour orange pie also has a rich filling made with citrus juice, sweetened condensed milk, and egg yolks and a simple graham cracker crust. A pile of whipped cream or burnished meringue on top is optional, but helps balance out the puckery flavor....
What defines a VSCO girl? It could be the vibrant hair scrunchies, the large Hydro Flask bottles, retro backpacks or the shoes that no one thought would ever make a comeback—Birkenstocks. The VSCO girl, in short, is the “It” girl of Gen Z (generation born between 1996-2010). These girls are known for their laid-back character and pastel-forward wardrobe. A VSCO girl can be seen wearing Nike shorts, repping an oversized shirt that says, “save the sea turtles,” and statement sunglasses....
Millions of visitors flock to The Sunshine State every year to explore the most magical place on Earth: Orlando! While Central Florida’s theme parks provide unrivaled fun, they can get pricey. That’s why savvy travelers spend time exploring the many free things to do in Orlando. And as a long-time Orlando area resident, I know just where to go. I often recommend these activities to out-of-town visitors looking for some affordable, beyond-the-theme-park-gates fun....
An abundance of aromatic fresh herbs is a blessing—until you run out of ways to use up all that mint, thyme, or basil before it goes bad. When stored properly in the refrigerator, fresh herbs will usually last about five days before they start to wilt or decay. So once you’ve made a batch of Thyme Simple Syrup or Summer Sauce, a few jars of dill pickles, or some Lemon-Rosemary Chicken, preserve the rest of your herbs to use in future recipes by drying them....
Christmas in July (or as some people call it, Half Christmas) has become such a cultural staple each year that you may not have even thought about who first dreamed up such a cheery, potentially cheesy, midsummer celebration. Well, as it turns out, per Country Living’s reporting, it started right here in the South. (No, it wasn’t marketers!) We can’t say we’re surprised though. Christmas in July started 84 years ago on July 24th and 25th in 1933 at a girls’ camp called Keystone Camp in Brevard, North Carolina....
Southerners are the easiest people in the world to get along with, but there are some things that just stick in our craw. They’re our shared fingernails to the chalkboard, our collective white shoes after Labor Day. They remind us that, despite surface differences between, say, Texans and Georgians, we are virtually united when it comes to rude kids and other things we “just don’t go along with.” (A Southern mama’s disapproving “I just don’t go along with that” can strike fear and shame in her children, long after they’re old enough to get the senior discount at the movie house....
Blame it on COVID-19 squashing vacation plans or the stifling heat suffocating our front porch happy hours, but we could really go for a perch by a pretty hotel pool right now—and we’ve got our sights set on the old-school yellow umbrellas and matching loungers at the new Commodore Perry Estate, Auberge Resorts Collection in Austin, Texas. The sunny pool scene, which conjures up wistful thoughts of Slim Aarons’s iconic photos of the famously leisurely, is just one of the dreamy elements of the newly reimagined Commodore Perry Estate....
Pies are one of the most delicious, flavor-packed desserts out there, not to mention a Southern staple. But one of the worst things about pies? There’s never enough! It doesn’t matter how much mouthwatering filling and flaky crust we load into our pie plate—every single slice is still gone in a flash, leaving too-slow guests sad they missed out. Enter the slab pie. Put simply, a slab pie is the solution to this entertaining conundrum, the pie version of a sheet cake....
Once the holidays are over, it means it’s time to pull down the holly and take down the tree. Whether you’ve put up your first Christmas tree or 20th, the inevitable question “What do we do with it now?” always comes around New Year’s. If you’re wondering what to do with the enormous fir that has integrated itself into your living room for the past month, we have a few ideas....
Billed as one of the finest (and largest) fireworks shows in the South, Nashville’s fireworks extravaganza is also a star-studded affair, with free country music concerts performed throughout the day on July 4 of each year. The whole of downtown Nashville is oriented towards this event, and it draws thousands of attendees of all ages each year; later in the evening, the city’s main fireworks show is also accompanied by an original medley of songs performed by the Nashville Symphony....
Donuts—or doughnuts, if you prefer—have been around in some form or another for so long that, according to Smithsonian Magazine, archaeologists have found “fossilized bits” of something closely resembling doughnuts in prehistoric Native American settlements. However, in their long and illustrious and deliciously fried history, some donut shops have proven themselves to be better than others. Case in point, Southern Maid Donuts. As the Great Depression finally loosened its grip on the South, a young Louisiana couple looked around their town and decided that what Shreveport needed was a great donut shop....
Prepare to be charmed by these pretty flowers. The Southern Living Garden Book describes anemones as “a rich and varied group of plants ranging in size from alpine rock garden miniatures to tall Japanese anemones grown in borders.” They come in all shapes and sizes, making them a winning choice for gardens. Read on for a few facts you may not have known about anemones, and consider planting a few to add interest to your backyard garden this year....
The holidays are filled with special moments spent with family and friends from near and far, but there’s one person you should always be sure to make time for, and that’s your mama. We’ve learned (from many, many holidays past) that once late November hits, our Southern mamas are busy with holiday prep. The constant decorating, baking, shopping, traveling, and celebrating is fun, but with so much going on, the holidays tend to slip right past, and before you know it, it’s New Year’s Day and you and your mama might not have had time to do something memorable together....
There are several ways I likely disappoint the Southern women of my grandmother’s generation: I opt for the handheld steamer instead of the hot iron; I resort to safety pin handiwork since I can’t sew a button; and I’ve never made a pound cake. But there’s one thing I do of which they’ll surely approve: Send handwritten thank-you notes. From the moment I could hold a pencil, my mom drilled into me the importance of writing thank-you notes....
If you find yourself feeling like us during these dog days of summer, sitting on the couch with the AC turned up full throttle, then streaming Netflix’s The Crown probably sounds like an excellent idea. Unfortunately, we are still waiting for the much anticipated fourth season of the hit series. Until then, you’ll find us re-watching our favorite episodes of seasons past (“Aberfan” in season three or “Wolferton Splash,” the premiere episode of season one, anyone?...
