Posts

The 1970s and 1980s brought us plenty of memorable gelatin-based desserts—Orange Sherbet Salad, Christmas Snow Salad, Cherry Cola Salad, we could go on and on. There are even a few congealed sides and main dishes we remember fondly (Sea Breeze Spinach Mold, anyone?). However, most of these congealed dishes aren’t recipes we regularly reach for, because they tend to steal focus from dinner’s main event. That said, there’s one congealed dessert that has claimed a permanent place in our recipe boxes....

Luck be a lady — and a whole lot of hard work — for Mr. Willie Nelson, whose album That’s Life, made its Billboard charts debut at number one for both the Jazz Albums and also the Traditional Jazz Albums charts. Nelson’s newest collection of Frank Sinatra covers is a follow-up to his 2018 Sinatra tribute album, My Way, and includes familiar favorites like title track “That’s Life,” “I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” “Nice Work If You Can Get It,” “Luck Be a Lady,” “Lonesome Road,” and more....

There will never be a game show host quite like Jeopardy!’s Alex Trebek. Though the beloved TV personality died at the end of last year from pancreatic cancer, his legacy lives on in many ways. Now, one such meaningful way is through his wardrobe. A large amount of the late TV star’s clothing items of were recently donated to The Doe Fund. “Jeopardy! and Alex’s family have donated a large portion of our late host’s wardrobe to @TheDoeFund, an organization that provides paid work, housing, and training to underserved Americans with histories of addiction, homelessness, and incarceration,” a Tweet from the Jeopardy!...

These dish cloths are super soft and ultra absorbent. They’re made of natural bamboo fiber, which creates a fabric much more absorbent than classic cotton. That means you’ll be able to dry a whole sink of dishes without breaking a sweat—or stopping every other moment to wring out your dish cloth. They come in a pack of six, which will keep you stocked all year. These multipurpose cloths are great for kitchen tasks, but you’ll likely also find plenty of places to use them throughout the house....

A line from Steel Magnolias might tell you that I don’t meet the definition of a Southern lady. I don’t grow tomatoes. Sorry, Ouiser. I’m getting older, and I make my own rules. My avoidance is not a lack of tomato love. It’s the opposite: I adore them too much to subject them to my indifferent skills as a gardener. When I was young and foolish, I tried valiantly to grow juicy tomatoes and eventually learned a bitter lesson: The greatest by-product of the Southern summer is a terrible thing to waste on blossom end rot, uneven watering, and squirrel battles....

A few months ago, one of the chefs in the Southern Living Test Kitchen gifted me a bag of dried morel mushrooms. I graciously accepted, but I had no idea what to make of them. Unlike other big-name mushrooms varieties—portobellos, oyster, shiitake—I’d never heard of morels or even seen them on grocery store shelves. It was only once I did some investigating that I realized what a treasure had fallen into my lap....

There’s no easy way to say this, but months of particularly wet weather mean that the “toe-biter” bug is having one heck of a summer. The toe-biter—whose real name is Belostomatidae—also goes by giant water bug, Indian toe-biter, electric-light bug, alligator tick, alligator flea, and a whole host of expletives, we’re sure. Experts report an increase in sightings in the Atlanta area, though the fearsome water-dwelling insect is found throughout the United States....

Jerrelle Guy is a deeply sensory baker—she pays close attention to the feel, the sound, the touch and texture of her doughs and batters. Guy divides her James Beard-Nominated cookbook, Black Girl Baking: Wholesome Recipes Inspired by a Soulful Upbringing, into sections based on the five senses; with vivid, lyrical imagery, she describes the pop of a biscuit can, the mesmerizing curves of a Bundt cake. Guy now lives in Dallas, Texas, where she runs her own food photography studio (with her partner, Eric, and her cat, Christopher), but she grew up in Lantana, Florida, and many of her recipes pay tribute to the sunshine state’s culinary landscape....

What if we told you that you’ve been cutting your bagels all wrong? Like all wrong. In a video for Business Insider published earlier this year, mathematician Eugenia Cheng demonstrates a groundbreaking bagel cutting hack for optimal cream cheese schmearing. Spoiler: you will never look at a bagel the same way again. Traditionally, we cut bagels straight down the middle, resulting in two separate halves: one with all the seasonings and a relatively plain bottom half....

Artwork brings blank walls to life. Hanging framed pieces can be tricky, so we polled the pros at Well + Wonder Artist Collective, a curated online collection of original art by emerging Southern artists. Along with helping buyers of all ages and price ranges curate a unique collection for their homes, the Well + Wonder team recently launched Walls of Wonder to help clients frame, hang, and install their pieces. Mollie Creason (founder and chief curator) and Emily Magevney (director of Walls of Wonder) share four easy steps for hanging artwork in your home....

Miranda Lambert’s MuttNation Foundation has been hard at work helping shelter dogs since 2009. Now, the nonprofit organization has just shared some big news that’s sure to help many dogs in need: MuttNation will be distributing $250,000 to animal shelters in all 50 states. One shelter in every state in the country will be gifted a surprise $5,000 grant from the organization in partnership with Tractor Supply Company, a retailer that sells tools and equipment in the home improvement, farming, lawn, and animal care categories....

About Robert Earl Keen Storyteller, songwriter, and a man who helped define Americana as a musical genre, Houston native Robert Earl Keen started playing guitar and writing music while attending Texas A&M University. He would eventually go on to tour for over four decades, including a brief stop at the Southern Living offices back in 2012. On this episode, Robert talks about his mother’s dump cooking, his Americana podcast, living with Lyle Lovett during college, and what it felt like when The Highwaymen named their album after his iconic song, “The Road Goes on Forever....

No matter what you’re shopping this holiday season, chances are it’ll be on sale right now, before Cyber Monday even starts. And that includes must-have Le Creuset cookware, Madison Park cozy bedding, and smart home gadgets from Google that’ll make life easier at unbeatable prices, starting at just $18. And fashion lovers, get excited because you’ll also get to save nearly $90 on cute jeans, flannel and jackets, booties and more....

Fried Okra Recipes Fried Okra Salad Fried Okra Tacos Fried Pecan Okra Deep-fat frying, a no-no today, isn’t the problem when serving fried okra. The main concern is fending off the folks waiting to eat the crispy morsels. Louis Van Dyke of Blue Willow Inn in Social Circle, Georgia, credits his mother for his fried okra recipe. His mother left him and his wife, Billie, a legacy of recipes that yield all the tasty dishes savored at the inn’s restaurant....

As much as our Southern mothers and grandmothers espouse the importance of hand-grating for the pimiento cheese and brining the chicken in buttermilk, there are some things that even they respect keeping simple. Take pepper jelly (the cool, colorful, spicy, slightly sweet condiment that doesn’t get nearly enough praise), for example. While you can mix it into fancy salad dressings and slather it on a luxurious panini all you want, it’s really a classic that doesn’t need anything to dress it up....

Spending ample time outside is one of the only prerequisites of summertime. The weather is hot and steamy, yes, but still perfect for plenty of pool days that lead into tasty backyard barbecues. For anyone gearing up for a summer of laying by the pool, on the beach, or atop a lake, a fun inflatable float can keep the sweltering heat from making you want to hide inside. While any flimsy raft or pool noodle can do the trick, why not take a sunny snooze on something a little more plush?...

Your favorite houseplant suddenly isn’t looking too great. Maybe it’s dropping leaves or you found some weird sticky substance all over it. Or perhaps you discovered something that looks suspiciously like cotton but seems to be moving! Ick! Your plant has pests, and you’ve got to act fast to save it. You also should check nearby plants for signs of infestation.Houseplant pests typically hitchhike a ride into your home. “Insects can be present when you purchase a plant, though you may not see them,” says Shimat Joseph, Ph....

Even if you’re not excited to trim the tree or hang Christmas lights on your house, everyone enjoys the baking that accompanies this festive time of year. Holiday food, specifically baking Christmas cookies, is a beloved tradition. Setting out cookies for Santa and participating in cookie swaps are two of the sweetest occasions during the season. There are plenty of times when you’ll bake throughout the holidays, from homemade gifts to office party snacks....

A California man had a rude awakening when he realized that his bottle of Texas Pete hot sauce was * gasp * not made in Texas, but rather comes from North Carolina. He was so bothered by this realization that he decided to sue. Los Angeles resident Philip White doled out $3 for a bottle of one of our favorite hot sauces in 2021, believing it was made in the Lone Star State, USA Today reported....

Artist Mark Cline has been transforming the tiny town of Elberta, Alabama, into a kitschy roadside attraction one fiberglass sculpture at a time. At the behest of his eccentric billionaire patron George Barber, Cline has been installing a peculiar array of sculptures throughout the sprawling Barber Marina property since the early 2000s. Why? Not even Cline knows for sure. But it’s definitely worth checking out on your way to the Gulf Shores area....