Our Charming Banning Court House Plan Is Like Stepping Inside A Storybook

Here’s why we’ll always love Southern Living House Plan 1254. This house is quaint and charming and might even be your dream home. This house may be the closest you’ll ever come to stepping inside a storybook. Credit: Southern Living MeetBanning Court,one of our favoritecottagesbrimming with old-fashioned character and quintessential Southern charm. Here are a few reasons we love this house plan so much. This 1286-square-foot blueprint is for a fresh build packed with storage, private spaces, and room to roam....

May 4, 2025 · 1 min · 200 words · Nathan Miller

Our Easiest Pumpkin Pie Ever

Nothing complicated, everything delicious. This easy pumpkin pie really delivers. We sent ourSouthern LivingTest Kitchen on a mission to find the easiest pumpkin pie recipe on the planet. Credit: Greg Dupree; Styling: Heather Chadduck Hillegas And, boy, did they deliver. Learn how to make our easy pumpkin pie. What Sets This Pumpkin Pie Recipe Above Other Recipes? We also skipped the pumpkin pie spice blend and chose to highlight the classic flavors of cinnamon and vanilla....

May 4, 2025 · 2 min · 233 words · Jessica Mahoney

Our Easiest Shower Recipes And Ideas Ever

Our menu features items that take less than 30 minutes to make. From cocktails to desserts, we’ve got you covered. Salty and sweet, it combines fresh juicy strawberries, crispy prosciutto, and creamy burrata. Credit:Victor Protasio; Food Styling: Torie Cox; Prop Styling: Heather Chadduck Hillegas Crunchy toasted walnuts, fresh mint and basil, and tangy vinaigrette top it all off. It’s easy, but still an elegant side for your shower menu. A hash brown crust holds a filling of eggs, spinach, onions, tomatoes, and cheese....

May 4, 2025 · 3 min · 507 words · Leah Moody

Our Editors Tasted 8 Chocolate Chip Brands—And The Winner Surprised Us

We promise it isn’t a brand you’re expecting. But perhaps even more importantly, chocolate chips should taste delicious to snack onthroughoutthe baking process. What is the best overall chocolate chip? Credit:Photo: Robbie Caponetto; Stylist: Mary Beth Wetzel What brand feels like it can deliver on both counts? Our editors gathered to determine the best tasting chocolate chips. There was one clear winner, and it delighted and surprised us. Credit:Photo: Robbie Caponetto; Stylist: Mary Beth Wetzel...

May 4, 2025 · 1 min · 193 words · Mary Taylor

Our Editors Tasted 9 Different Brands Of Ketchup To Find The Best One

Are you surprised by the winner? After tasting all of the ketchups, they were then tasked with choosing their overall favorite. One tester who said they don’t particularly care for ketchup even gave Heinz their seal of approval. Credit:Robbie Caponetto; Stylist: Mary Beth Wetzel Some noted that it was too sweet while others were just not impressed with the flavor. A smidge sweet but is the traditional flavor and it works, shared one tester....

May 4, 2025 · 2 min · 217 words · Patrick Larson

Our Editors Tried 10 Brands Of Cream Cheese—And There Was A Surprising Winner

The winner struck a perfect balance of good texture and flavor. Our editorial team set about a taste test to figure that out. We’ll be honest: This taste test was difficultand we’ve done many! Credit:Photo: Robbie Caponetto; Stylist: Mary Beth Wetzel Tasting 10 different brands of cream cheeseall with similar textures and flavorsis not for the faint of heart. After tasting all the cream cheese, they determined their favorite overall....

May 4, 2025 · 2 min · 252 words · Alison Benson

Our Editors Tried 6 Apple Ciders And There Was A Clear Favorite

This is the only one we’d buy again. Each cider was poured into cups and labeled with a number to keep the taste test anonymous. After trying all of the ciders, editors were instructed to select their overall favorite. Photographer: Robbie Caponetto; Stylist: Mary Beth Wetzel. We tallied up all of the results to determine the winner. The Contenders We visited the grocery departments of six conventional stores. But even among the crowd, there was one very clear winner that was quintessentially spiced and cidery....

May 4, 2025 · 2 min · 220 words · Charles Carpenter

Our Editors Tried 6 Brands Of Chocolate-Hazelnut Spread And This Was Their Favorite

They vary more widely than you think. They tasted each spread on its own on a spoon. Each spread was ranked on a scale of 1 to 5, and the winner amassed the most points. Credit:Photo: Robbie Caponetto; Stylist: Mary Beth Wetzel Each tester was asked to choose their overall favorite and explain why. Most tasters appreciated that this spread had a nice taste and was not too sweet or overpowering....

May 4, 2025 · 1 min · 179 words · James Guzman

Our Editors Tried 9 Different Brands Of Mayo—And A Tie Surprised Us

Can you guess the winners? You may already have your favorite mayo, but perhaps you’ve wondered the others are all about. At the end of the day, two clear winners rose to the topand tiedfor the best choice. Credit:Photo: Robbie Caponetto; Stylist: Mary Beth Wetzel Another taster called it “sharp, but not so much tangy.” Ultimately, this mayo was rather divisive, with tasters either rating it very high or very low....

May 4, 2025 · 1 min · 210 words · Monique Cooper

Our Editors Tried 9 Hot Dog Brands To Find The Best One—The Winner Surprised Us

A taste test revealed some surprising results. It turns out that flavors, textures, and even aromas vary widely across different hot dog brands. These are our picks for the best hot dogs. Credit:Robbie Caponetto; Stylist: Mary Beth Wetzel They also provided their tasting notes and opinions, before finally selecting an overall favorite. The winner amassed the most points. Other editors appreciated this hot dog for its noticeable smokiness and just-enough saltiness....

May 4, 2025 · 1 min · 179 words · Derrick Lopez

Our Editors Tried All The Little Debbie Christmas Snacks And This Was Our Favorite

‘Tis the season for Little Debbies. Little Debbie/McKee Foods Theholidaysbring much excitement. People across the South look forward to the Little Debbie Christmas cakes hitting the shelves every year. Credit:Little Debbie/McKee Foods All of the snack cakes were placed onto separate plates for our editors to taste. The results were then gathered and combined to produce the overall score of each. Many mentioned the dense texture of the brownie with the amount of icing as the chief complaint....

May 4, 2025 · 1 min · 180 words · Cynthia Wilson

Our Editors’ Favorite Products Of 2024 Are On Sale For Black Friday—Shop Casper, Lodge, And More

If you press links we provide, we may receive compensation. Save on the cookware, tech gadgets, and cleaning tools that made our lives easier this year. But no one else comes close to the amount of deals Amazon has to offer. Credit:Southern Living / Henry Wortock / Tyler Roeland Scroll down to grab more of the products we swear by while prices are at their lowest. The 4.5-quart capacity allows me to make soups, stews, and even easy one-pot dinners....

May 4, 2025 · 1 min · 120 words · Brian Smith

Our Fall Reading List Is Inspired By The Imagined Shelves Of The Steel Magnolias

If you press links we provide, we may receive compensation. For starters, Ouiser would surely appreciate a guide from the Grumpy Gardener. So its only fitting that his beloved cast of characters would inspire some reading of our own. Credit: Aaron Rapoport / Contributor/Getty Images No rom coms here. Gruff exterior with a heart of gold? Its precisely the kind of tea Clairee would spill with delight. Credit: TriStar Pictures/Rastar Films 1989...

May 4, 2025 · 1 min · 161 words · Jane Johnson