CATEGORIES
WRAPPED WITH CARE
In San Antonio, Christmas isn't complete without a plate of steaming tamales on every family's table
PARTY LIKE IT'S 1984
Entertaining now is quite different than it was 40 years ago, but our recipes stand the test of time
The Joy of Letting Go
SIFTING THROUGH BOXES OF ORNAMENTS AND PILES OF TRIM, AN EMPTY NESTER LEARNS THAT LESS CAN BE MORE
Share the Love
This delicious yet doable dessert can be made three different ways
Forging a Legacy - A Fredericksburg, Texas, couple is creating a new class of heirloom cast-iron cookware
When Jay Mallinckrodt pitched the idea of crafting cast-iron cookware to his wife and business partner, Heather, in 2020, she was hesitant. I immediately said no, she recalls with a laugh. But I finally agreed as long as we made something that we would actually want to use ourselves. Like many others during the initial throes of the pandemic, their multigenerational family operation, Heartland Enterprises (which specializes in machining parts for jet engines and gas and oil equipment), was seeing a lull. “No one was flying; no one was drilling, says Jay. So we had time to try something different.
A Butterfly Haven - In the Texas Hill Country, a conservationist is helping monarchs adjust to the changing world
Twenty-four years ago, Monika Maeckle bought a small property on the Llano River in Central Texas as an escape from fast-paced San Antonio. A journalist and marketing professional by trade, she didn't at first realize the value of the location on which she and her husband would later build their ranch. She also had no idea how this decision would eventually transform her life.One October evening a few years later, a friend invited Maeckle to their nearby house, which sat on a watershed with several large cypresses. All these butterflies dropped from the sky and started to gravitate toward the trees, she recalls. Stronger people who could swing a big 12-foot-long pole began trying to capture them, and we waited. By the end of the evening, we'd tagged a couple hundred butterflies, and I left there enchanted.
Oktober Feast!
While I respect your right to serve spooky food in October, you won't find any gory grub at my house this month. Instead, I'm hosting a gathering that's inspired by biergartens across the pond. The focus of the menu is a fondue made with Gruyère cheese and crisp Riesling-like beer-cheese dip but more elevated. It's served with a smorgasbord of dippers such as smoked sausage, grapes, apples, and a few amped-up store-bought snacks, like Mustard-Glazed Pretzel Bites and Smoked Paprika Potato Chips. (Just one taste, and you'll want to add this spice to every bag you open.) Pour yourself a Cider Shandy, and get ready for a good time. Prost, y'all!
The Roast With the Most
Embrace the changing seasons with a cozy pork supper
Roll With It
Company's coming? Bake a batch of these apple-stuffed delights
VIRGINIA PASTORAL
IN MIDDLEBURG, THE COMMONWEALTH'S MOST STORIED SMALL TOWN, OCTOBER WELCOMES A HOST OF TREASURED TRADITIONS
TAKING ROOT
Turn the season's freshest veggies-beets, parsnips, sweet potatoes, carrots-into colorful fall sides
THE FAMILY PLACE
When it came time for a young Georgia couple to make an 1800s farmhouse their own, they took it apart piece by piece-then rebuilt it into a home ready to welcome the next generation
Loving Life in Fayetteville
This Northwest Arkansas college town is easy to love and hard to leave
The Road That Raised Me
This lesser-known drive offers the most breathtaking views in the Smoky Mountains
Texas Ranch Revamp
Blair Burton coaxed the cool out of a 1960s Austin house that was stuck in the past
The New Pumpkin Palette
Trade the standard jack-o'-lantern hue for a wide spectrum of shades, from deep green to blush pink
The Truth About Tomatoes
Here's how to store them the right way
When Life Gives You Lemons...
Chill out with this nostalgic no-bake dessert
She's Got the Scoop
In Richmond, Virginia, Rabia Kamara creates ice cream that celebrates Black culture and her heritage
More Is More
Designer Gray Benko isn't afraid of color, pattern, or dogs on the furniture
Changing the Game
For this North Carolina pair, pickleball is the ticket to a healthy lifestyle - and a social one
Stitched Together
For South Carolinian Andrea \"Annie\" Cayetano-Jefferson, sewing sweetgrass baskets ties her to generations of Gullah people, including her mother and daughter
Ciao Bella!
The founder of the Italianmade ceramics brand Vietri celebrates high summer with a pair of tables suited for all occasions
The Music of the Mountains
When warm weather arrives, Brevard, North Carolina's open-air concerts and cascading waterfalls fill the town with the song of summer
No Plant Sitter Required
These hardy groupings can stand up to the heat, even while you're away
A Folly Original
This young couple got scrappy to score the South Carolina beach house of their dreams
Use Your Melon
Refreshing recipes to showcase the versatile and sweet cantaloupe
From Aleppo to Za'atar
A FRESH TAKE ON SUMMER SIDES INSPIRED BY THE FLAVORS OF THE MIDDLE EAST
Grumpy's Guide to Hummingbirds
How to attract these aerial acrobats to your garden-and then enjoy the show
The FRIENDLIEST Places in the South 2024
Hospitality is a hallmark of our region, but people define it in different ways. Is it a conversation in the checkout line? A bartender who knows your order before you sit down? The way a community welcomes people who are just passing through? So we asked you, our readers, to share the places that make you feel right at home on every level. Narrowing down thousands of nominations for hotels, restaurants, stores, nonprofits, and more was no small feat, but it was very uplifting. As these 20 standouts show, Southerners go above and beyond to take care of one another.