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You can’t get through the Christmas season without hearing about it, but have you ever stopped wondering what figgy pudding is? In Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, you read that Mrs. Cratchit proudly presented to her guests her Christmas pudding, resembling a speckled cannonball. It was ablaze with brandy and garnished with holly leaves. When gamely Christmas caroling with your family, you sing, “Oh, bring us some figgy pudding, oh, bring us some figgy pudding…,” but do you know what you are requesting?...

A Southerner’s diet can be a mystery to those unfortunate enough to live in other parts of the country. From fried okra and cheese grits to tomato pie and the ever-controversial pineapple casserole, our cuisine is as diverse and delicious as it gets. Recently, actress Courteney Cox, a native of Birmingham, Alabama, brought one of our more obscure dishes into the spotlight while on Hot Ones, a YouTube series where celebrities answer questions while eating increasingly hot chicken wings....

For many veterans and active duty military members who suffer from combat-related injuries, they may struggle with physically healing their bodies and mentally finding their sense of self and community. Blaze Sports, a nonprofit organization based out of Atlanta, provides that safe community for veterans through its uplifting, therapeutic, and energetic adaptive sports programs. “Our mission is to impact veterans’ health and lifestyle,” Dawn Churi, Blaze Sports Executive Director, told Southern Living....

If there’s one fact that is not up for debate, it’s this: Dishwashers are one of the greatest inventions of all time. That is, if you’re actually using them properly. While most dishwashers are pretty simple to use, sometimes loading them up properly can get tricky.The best way to really maximize a dishwashing load is to use the dishwasher correctly. Below, we’ve asked multiple experts for common mistakes you may be making when loading your dishwasher....

Are you up to date on your cast-iron know-how? To be sure, not a lot has changed if you haven’t brushed up on the topic in a few decades—perhaps only that many new pans come pre-seasoned. But if your cast-iron knowledge wasn’t passed down along with your skillet (lucky you if you find yourself in possession of a true heirloom), we’re here to enlighten. We’ve already uncovered the great myths surrounding our favorite cooking tool and yours, but now we’re taking it a step further with the things that no self-respecting Southerner ever cooks in cast iron....

Cowhide, goatskin, canvas, rubber–there are gloves for every garden task. If you want to garden, the toughest things about you had better be your hands. After all, you’re going to be digging, pruning, weeding, and spraying. But this doesn’t mean you have to put up with hands that look like country hams. Just buy a good pair of garden gloves. Pick a PairSpraying chemicals or handling liquids? You need some rubber gloves....

BUY IT: $25.79 with coupon (orig. $49.99); amazon.com When did you last update your pillows (and no, seasonal throw pillows don’t count)? The Sleep Foundation recommends replacing your bed pillows every one to two years. While that sounds great, it can quickly get expensive, especially if you have multiple bedrooms and guest rooms. Luckily, these top-rated pillows are available for $26—that’s only $13 per pillow, and nearly half off. If you don’t think bed pillows are anything to write home about, you haven’t experienced these cloud-like contraptions....

100 years ago, in the spring of 1921, one of America’s favorite snacks was born. It was then, in Dayton, Ohio, that the Cheez-It® was created by the Kellogg Company. That cheesy, bite-size, crunchy cracker has remained one of the most beloved choices on the snack aisle for a century and counting. Ideal for an after-school snack, a tailgate, or movie night, it’s the perfect bite to delight the taste buds of snack connoisseurs young and old....

In October, while the rest of the South gets ready for Halloween, in Corsicana, Texas, they are prepping for fruitcake season. The weeks between late October and early December are the busiest time of the year for the 123-year old Collin Street Bakery in Corsicana, as they ship some 800,000 pounds of fruitcake to every corner of the globe. Fruitcake has a bit of a bad reputation thanks in part to Johnny Carson’s crack that “there is only one fruitcake in the entire world and people keep passing it around....

Remember that year when Dolly Parton saved the world? When she’s not busy partially funding Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine, which is thought to be nearly 95% effective against coronavirus, she’s raising our spirits with a new Netflix Christmas movie or her new album of holiday music, A Holly Dolly Christmas. But wait, there’s still more! Now, we’re pleased to learn that Dolly Parton will be headlining a virtual holiday special with Pandora Live on Friday, December 4, at 9 p....

In Erin Lippert’s Georgetown, South Carolina, neighborhood, the sanitation crew might as well be celebrities. “They are such a delight,” the mom-of-three told Southern Living. “They honk, they wave, ask how you are—the friendliest bunch of guys ever! The kids all throughout the neighborhood look forward to them.” On Monday, Lippert’s four-year-old son Finn was waiting for the famous sanitation crew to roll by the family’s Maryville house when he looked at his mother and said, “I feel like dancin’ mama!...

Hallmark is headed to the Biltmore! This week, the feel-good channel announced its first original holiday movie for the 2023 season: A Biltmore Christmas starring Bethany Joy Lenz and Kristoffer Polaha. Production is set to begin this January in Asheville, North Carolina, at the historic Biltmore Estate. Although America’s Largest Home has hosted numerous productions over the years, this movie marks the first time Biltmore Estate itself serves as the actual setting....

Fragrant fresh herbs are one of the best things about summer. Whether you get them by the bunch at the farmers’ market or grow your own, it’s easy to find yourself with big aromatic bouquets of mint, basil, parsley and more on your hands. And not enough ways to use them. If stored properly, fresh herbs usually last up to five days before they start to wilt or decay. And after you’ve made a few batches of mixed-herb pesto or chimichurri, or some tasty basil syrup, you might still have a lot of herbs on your hands....

There’s a peony that’s been charming our gardens, and in the summer months, it has lush double yellow blooms on beautiful deep green leaves. It’s Paeonia ‘Lemon Chiffon,’ a.k.a. ‘Lemon Chiffon’ peony. Now an all-time favorite perennial for the cutting garden, it’s distinctive thanks to its pale yellow flowers, sweet perfume, and attractive foliage. This combination is the reason gardeners have, for years, counted on ‘Lemon Chiffon’ peonies to add a dose of cheer to their gardens....

The average person finds deer lovable. You, however, are not average. You are a gardener and one thing you hate is turning out the lights on your beauteous garden at bedtime and waking the next morning to find it chomped to the ground. By deer. By sneaky, loathsome, insufferable deer. You can fight back. One way is to surround your property with a 10-feet fence topped with razor wire. The downside to this is that your house will likely be confused with a correctional facility, causing some awkward moments....

If you like to incorporate seafood into your weeknight dinners, give scallops a try. You don’t need to wait for an evening at a high-priced restaurant to enjoy succulent, seared scallops; ready in just minutes and paired with pasta, rice, or grilled vegetables, scallops can add a touch of elegance to a midweek supper. Before we start cooking, let’s talk about how to buy the right scallop. How to Buy the Right Scallop You will find both jumbo scallops and bay scallops at the market....

When buying avocados, timing is everything. In the span of just a day or two, they can turn from semi-firm to overripe. A soft, super-ripe avocado won’t hold up when diced for a salad, and a firmer one won’t make great guacamole. Unlike other types of fresh produce, you really have to think ahead to when you’ll actually be eating the fruit. (Yes, avocados are a fruit!) If you’re making guacamole that day, you need super-soft avocados that will mash up smooth and creamy....

Tricks for making flowers stay fresh and look good are a dime a dozen. Whatever wives’ tale you’ve fallen back on to keep your blooms looking fresh-cut and lively, the aim of all of them is the same: to keep the bacteria, yeasts, and fungi that suck the life right out of your flowers from growing in their water. Some say a little shot of vodka will get the job done; others argue that aspirin is the answer....

A Kentucky writer has been selected as the next poet laureate of the United States. Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden announced Ada Limón’s appointment as the nation’s 24th Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry on Tuesday, calling the Lexington resident “a poet who connects.” “Her accessible, engaging poems ground us in where we are and who we share our world with,” Hayden said. “They speak of intimate truths, of the beauty and heartbreak that is living, in ways that help us move forward....

Even as the novel coronavirus spreads, the travel industry continues to shuttle anxious fliers to and from their destinations. But, with a growing number of travelers questioning whether or not it’s safe to fly and more countries implementing travel restrictions, airlines are trying to reassure passengers that their planes are as hygienic as possible. CNN spoke with a variety of experts to get a handle on what it is that airlines are doing to sanitize their planes during the coronavirus outbreak....