Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2024 i Southern Living

IF I’VE LEARNED ANYTHING from all the natural disasters that have hit us in recent years, it’s that the people of this region show up in a crisis. As we were putting to bed a December issue full of holiday recipes, decorating ideas, and ways to celebrate, Hurricanes Helene and Milton had just ripped through huge swaths of the South, decimating towns and carving paths of unthinkable loss and destruction. The storms got organized quickly, gaining historic strength and then slamming into businesses, neighborhoods, and communities that had little time to prepare. No one could have imagined what happened in western North Carolina, where around 100 died, roads and bridges collapsed into rivers, and whole towns washed away, but one thing became clear: The response was as powerful as the…

THE SPIN Ikat + Blue and White PALOMA CONTRERAS Houston, Texas @palomacontrerasdesign “A blue-and-white look is something that works year-round. It’s timeless,” says Contreras. “I figured, why couldn’t you use it for the holidays? It actually lends itself to this season very, very well.” To keep this combo (shown at left) from feeling too fussy, she established the scene with an ikat tablecloth and then topped it with sage place mats and punchy napkins. Her floral picks (black-and-white anemones and burgundy ranunculus) help too. “The flowers feel a bit crisper in contrast to the crystal glasses,” the designer says. “They’re classic, but there’s something about them that says, ‘This isn’t your grandmother’s setting.’” HER CLEVER PREP MOVE “The table is integral to creating a beautiful atmosphere for a party, and…

BEAUTIFUL SPACES FOR A BETTER LIFE KATIE AND JARED HYATT planted roots in Madison, Georgia, by chance. On their drive back to Atlanta from looking at a house in another Peach State city, the couple passed through the small town and decided to stop for a bit. “It felt like a mini Savannah or Charleston with the grand homes and the beautiful gardens,” Katie says. “I’ve always wanted to live in an old house since I was a little girl.” She landed her dream in the form of an 1886 cottage on Main Street, complete with original windows and exterior trimwork. “The first woman who owned it was named Minnie Few, so it’s kind of like Many Few,” she says. “We got a plaque and called it The Few House…

HIGH SCHOOL SWEETHEARTS and Dallas natives Elizabeth and Charlie Bernet knew they wanted to end up near family when kids came along—they just didn’t realize how close it would be. “I grew up on the same street [as this house], and Charlie’s parents live a mile away, so it’s pretty special to come full circle back here, surrounded by helping hands,” says Elizabeth. Upon hearing rumblings about an old Tudor home being advertised as a teardown in their desired neighborhood, the Bernets took one look and knew it was meant to be. “We get sad whenever we see old houses torn down, so saving one was a goal of ours,” she says. Although the English cottage-style facade was exactly what the couple was looking for, they knew it would take…

ADVENTURES IN TRAVEL AND CULTURE IF MARDI GRAS is New Orleans’ bread and butter, Christmas is the dessert. Come December, hotel lobbies are illuminated, palm trees shimmer, and restaurants roll out seasonal specialties. Carols swirl into the song of the Vieux Carré, adding to the familiar strains of jazz standards that pour through the streets. It couldn’t be simpler to plan an over-the-top getaway here—it is the Big Easy, after all. TURNING UP THE FESTIVE TUNES The city’s soundtrack changes ever so slightly this time of year. The notes of a saxophone playing “Silver Bells” tumble through the French Quarter, carried along on an almost-cool breeze. At the corner of St. Peter and Royal Streets, a tuba begins its rumbling and a trombone squeals; the instruments sparkle in the sunlight,…

IT WAS not love at first sight for Amy Studebaker and her family’s would-be St. Louis house. Rather, it was pure weariness and nagging potential that won her over. “We spent about a year looking at homes,” says the decorator. “We probably toured over 100.” None of them felt right. Finally, exhausted by the endless search, she and her husband, Nick, revisited a 1950s brick Colonial with easy backyard access to a beautiful park. “I remember saying, ‘Let’s just buy it, and I can do something with it,’” she remembers. They altered the irksome elements—opening up some spaces and closing off others—and added a Louisiana-inspired balcony and columns to the exterior to deliver what she calls a “more Southern” first impression. They then highlighted its existing charms, like the original…

I HEREBY CONFESS to throwing away a whole box of Christmas decorations. Before you pelt me with candy canes, let me explain. Entering into my first year with an empty nest after 20 years of raising children, I have suddenly found the time and space to take a proper inventory. Here on my living room floor, I can finally hold a small handmade ornament in my palm and say, “What in the Sam Hill is this?” A reindeer? Santa? It’s impossible to tell. A wad of yellowed cotton balls held together with hardened clots of brown glue that were applied a decade and a half ago, it has no signature, meaning it could have been made by either of my kids. In fact, it might have been made by someone…

WHAT WE’RE LOVING, SHARING, AND CELEBRATING Take a “The More The Merrier” Approach “There’s nothing more stunning and simple than a big, beautiful container of paperwhites,” says Birmingham floral designer Brooke McAfee, who nestled as many bulbs as possible in the brass pot above. “You can plant them side by side, though I always leave a tiny bit of breathing space between them.” To help fill up the planter, the stylist put a block of florist foam at the bottom. She then added a thin layer of pebbles and soil on top to root the flowers and covered the surface with mood moss. Spread Good Cheer “I love giving paperwhites to people during the holidays,” says McAfee. “So many folks don’t have fresh flowers in their houses all the time,…

IF SANTA CLAUS knows if you’ve been bad or good, he must not have been keeping a very watchful eye on a little house in the Lansbrook neighborhood of Oklahoma City in the 1970s. Inside, my dad and his three brothers were doing their best to test the limits of the nice list every day of December. There were tantrums, bouts of roughhousing, and even the unimaginable—voluntary early-morning alarms—all in the name of one goal: Each boy wanted to be the one who got to hang the ornament on the Akin family Advent calendar. To this day, it is one of our most beloved and storied heirlooms. It was created in 1971 by my grandmother Sally Akin, better known as Big Mama. Compared to some of the more intricate…

FORAGED FINERY Grab your clippers, and take a walk around the yard. This affordable combination, which will last from November through early January, pulls together all the natural elements of the season and works in any container you have on hand. “Clean out the old plants, leave the existing soil, and water it well,” says Thompson. “The dirt will act like florist foam to hold in moisture and keep all the cut ingredients in place.” Snip branches at a sharp angle to help make them easier to maneuver into the planter. “Start with a big, branchy center using pine and magnolia leaves. Then layer in deciduous holly branches at the top and American holly at the bottom,” he says. “Try to keep the layers separated a little to let each…

’Twas the night-before chaos of the holiday hurrah when you finally realized, this would be the last straw. The floors how they glistened, and the walls so pristine, yet still you wondered, “Is this guest-worthy clean?” You swore it’d be different this time around—no stressing or sweating, you solemnly vowed. You should’ve tackled things slowly, each room inch by inch. Instead, last-minute dusting has made you a grinch. Preparing for company can bring joy; it’s true. These tips will save the day—and boost your spirits too. One Month Before “Four weeks out, think big picture and set the scene for a stress-free experience,” says Cohoon. This is your best opportunity for a deep clean, so invest your energy wisely. You don’t want to be scrubbing switch plates 24 hours before…

PRESERVING BLACK CULTURE Jarred Howard II 2REQUINE Fort Worth, Texas @2requine JARRED HOWARD II isn’t from the country. He was 13 years old the first time he rode a horse, but that experience sparked an “immense passion” in him. Prior to opening 2REquine, an equestrian center in Fort Worth, Howard spent years as a “sponge,” soaking up whatever he could learn about horseback riding from local elders. Now, with six horses of his own (and another on the way), plus chickens, cats, cows, and more, he’s a Black cowboy through and through. As a businessman, Howard is just as happy shoveling manure and wrangling steers as he is speaking at a seminar. He is also a role model, proudly introducing Black children to a world many didn’t know existed. At…

Stained Glass Snowflakes ACTIVE 55 MIN. - TOTAL 2 HOURS, 25 MIN., PLUS 2 HOURS CHILLING MAKES ABOUT 2 DOZEN 1¼ cups unsalted butter, softened1 cup granulated sugar2 large egg yolks1 tsp. almond extract3½ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for surface1 tsp. kosher saltHard candies (such as Jolly Rancher), finely crushed1 large egg white, beatenSparkling sugar 1. Beat butter and granulated sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in egg yolks and almond extract until just combined, about 30 seconds. Add flour and salt; beat on low speed just until combined, about 30 seconds. Divide dough in half. Shape each half into a 6-inch disk, and wrap each disk tightly with plastic wrap. Chill until dough is firm, at…

IT STARTED WITH A MISSING SALAD. Back in 2021, a reader named Susan posted this message to the 30,000 plus members of our What’s Cooking With Southern Living Facebook group: “I am missing page 325 from my 1984 SL annual cookbook and it has my favorite salad (oranges, bacon, nuts) on it. Ugh!! If anyone has that page could you please post a photo of the front and back? Thank you.” A salad? From the 1980s? Sounds like a long shot request. But within minutes, readers were coming to Susan’s rescue, sharing images from their own 1984 Southern Living Annual Recipes cookbooks. Our food-section archive, which is sold annually in hardcover volumes, occupies a special place on many people’s shelves. Often handed down through the generations, they are not just…

FOR JASON CARTER, one simple sandwich evokes special Christmas memories of his late grandmother, former First Lady Rosalynn Carter. Instead of reflecting on her numerous social and political accomplishments, Jason chooses to remember Rosalynn as he saw her: a humble Southern grandma who had a healthy appreciation for mayonnaise. She was the type of woman who always packed a lunch—with enough to spare. And like most Georgia-bred ladies of her generation, she also had a killer pimiento cheese recipe. “My grandmother was like everyone else’s in a lot of ways: She was kind and loving, and almost all of her recipes called for mayonnaise,” says Jason, the chair of The Carter Center and eldest grandson of President and Mrs. Carter. He fondly recalls how his grandparents used to take the…

ONE OF MY favorite Southern traditions is the “happy” (some call it a “surcee”), which is a small, unexpected gift designed to make someone smile. A good one shouldn’t cost much money or even require wrapping. It could be as simple as a box of tea left on a coworker’s desk, a cookie from a bakery for your child, or a pack of seeds tucked inside a card for a faraway friend. It’s a caring gesture that’s worth more than the item itself, a way to say “I’m thinking of you” when life gets tough—or for no reason at all. While I enjoy this type of giving, holiday shopping sends me into a tizzy. As soon as Santa makes his appearance at the end of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade,…

SOME FOLKS like to change up their holiday menus from year to year, but not the Odoms. So when Christmas Eve rolls around, we know exactly what is going to be on our table—Mémère’s lasagna. Like all the best family recipes, this keeper was passed down by word of mouth, to my dad from his Mémère, my great-grandmother. In her thick French Canadian-in-Connecticut accent, she would say the layers out loud as she assembled them. Eager to learn the secret to her famous dish, my dad would listen to her chant, “meat sauce, cottage cheese, cheese, noodles.” For my entire childhood, this is how we made lasagna, until one year my mama pointed out—to our chagrin—that most recipes use ricotta. In search of the truth, we called my Great-Aunt Bobbie…

EVERY SPACE in this Fredericksburg, Texas, house was thoughtfully crafted with the homeowner’s Cavachons, Addie and Milly, in mind, but none more than this utility room—a multipurpose area designed to serve as the laundry room, office, and side entry, plus the animals’ home base. The tile pet-washing station was the launching point, and Texas designer Lila Malone considered their sizes when planning the shallow basin for maximum function. “The counter height is great from a usability standpoint because it’s easy to get the dogs in and out without breaking your back and you don’t have to bend over to clean them,” she explains. “It also keeps them from trying to scurry away.” In addition, this room is outfitted with an under-counter doggy door that leads to an enclosed courtyard;…

IF YOU GO to Old Salem looking for a Christmas tree in December, you’ll really have to search for one. The beautifully preserved area of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, that was founded by the Moravians in the late 1700s doesn’t decorate for the season like we usually do today. You won’t find a lot of twinkling lights, unless you count the lanterns on the candlelight tours. There are no shiny strands of tinsel and almost no ornament-covered evergreens, yet visitors flock here for a festive experience unlike any other. With its historic houses and costumed docents, Old Salem is immersed in the past all the time. Blacksmiths hammer iron over forges, making sparks fly; women in caps and aprons cook over open hearths; and families take in the sights from horse-drawn…

AS A STUDENT AT VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY IN THE 1930s, my grandmother, Marion Truett Duke, danced in the Grand Ballroom of The Hermitage Hotel. She found joy there during the throes of the Great Depression, with a full dance card hanging from her wrist. It’s easy to imagine how she felt twirling around, thanks to her college line-a-day journal and a box of love letters—items she kept close at hand even in her golden years. Decades later, I spun around the hotel as a child before Nutcracker performances at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center, attended work events there as a young professional, marked milestone birthdays with overnight stays with my mother and sister, and celebrated my wedding night. These days, I enjoy afternoon tea in the lobby with my daughter, Bea, who…

THERE ARE A FEW TELLTALE SIGNS THAT SAN ANTONIO’S HOLIDAY SEASON IS IN FULL SWING. Hundreds of thousands of twinkling lights adorn the bald cypress trees lining the River Walk and the imposing 50-foot fir that goes up each year at Travis Park. But what’s more reliable than the festive displays or chilly weather is the unmistakable smell of buttery corn masa and spiced pork and chicken that fills so many homes in the city. A staple for winter celebrations, tamales are one of San Antonio’s oldest culinary traditions. The simple dish has been passed down through generations and is now as ingrained in the city’s culture as The Alamo or Fiesta. Its origins can be traced back thousands of years to pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, appearing in Mayan glyphs and documented in 16th-century…

SOUTHERN COOKING AT ITS BEST THE BIG WHITE CAKE, as it’s referred to around the Southern Living office, is a huge deal to us each year. The dreamy desserts that have graced every December cover since 1995 involve dozens of meetings, months of planning, and a village of creative folks (recipe developers and testers, photographers, prop and food stylists, and a team of designers and editors—just to name a few) to bring them to life. But one person deserves extra gifts from Santa this year: Senior Test Kitchen Recipe Developer Tricia Manzanero Stuedeman. She collected all of our varied ideas and hopes and transformed them into an elegant cake that’s simple enough for any baker to pull off. “This project basically lived in my mind rent free for four months,”…

Proof Is in the Pudding Mix This secret ingredient improves fudge, cookies, and all kinds of other baked goods UNLIKE THE Argo or Clabber Girl cornstarch in your pantry, the type in instant pudding is formulated to thicken without using heat. Instead of turning this powdered mix into a quick dessert, you can add it as a stabilizing ingredient in recipes like the Whipped Cream Frosting (page 142) that’s on our cover cake. The starch in the white chocolate pudding mix keeps the whipped cream from losing its fluffiness on the finished cake. But these handy products are good for more than making frosting. They can improve the texture of many desserts. In the Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies (at right), the starch helps create a pillowy center and a more…

Appetizers Carter Family Pimiento Cheese, P. 159 Cheese-Bacon Crispies, P. 133 Cheesy Caramel Corn, P. 165 Christmas Relish Tree, P. 133 Chunky Onion Dip, P. 133 Classic Caramel Corn, P. 165 Crab Puffs, P. 133 Easy Latkes, P. 149 Harvest Popcorn, P. 133 Mexican Hot Chocolate Caramel Corn, P. 165 Party Cheese Ball, P. 133 Beverages Cherry Bomb Cocktail, P. 150 Cranberry-Spice Spritz, P. 150 Ginger-Citrus Sparkler P. 150 Refreshing Champagne Punch, P. 133 Mains Bourbon-Braised Short Ribs, P. 146 Christmas Eve Lasagna, P. 16 Red Snapper in Creole Court Bouillon, P. 157 Slow-Cooker Bourbon-Braised Short Ribs, P. 146 Sides Heavenly Angel Biscuits, P. 162 Smoked Gouda Grits, P. 147 Winter Salad with Fennel and Oranges, P. 147 Sweets Blood Orange Upside-Down Cake, P. 119 Checkerboard Cookies, P. 96 Cherry…