Category: southern

Allan Benton: A Tennessee Country Ham Legend

In a small roadside smokehouse in Madisonville, Tennessee, Allan Benton crafts what top chefs across the U.S. consider the gold standard of country ham and bacon. The potent, provocative smell of hickory smoke draws in any visitor—and anyone who tries the finished product. Since Benton started the business 47 years ago, Benton’s Smoky Mountain Country…


Cookware to Cherish: An Ode to Cast Iron

Unlike many other cooking tools in the kitchen, cast iron is part of the family. It tells a story, and especially in the South, it’s one that may go back generations. “I feel like I’m cooking with history when I cook with cast iron,” said North Carolina native Elizabeth Karmel. “It brings back memories of…


Cast Iron Skillet Cornbread

When Tamie Cook was growing up, there weren’t many days when her mom didn’t make a fresh pone of cornbread. Cook loved nibbling around the crispy edges. Her dad preferred his crumbled in a glass and covered with fresh buttermilk—a much-loved Southern tradition. Here is her recipe. Makes 6 to 8 servings 1/4 cup melted…


Why Are so Many Migrants Rushing to the Southern Border?

Changes in Mexican asylum laws and modifications to U.S. immigration policy combined with exploitation by smugglers are causing an increase in migrants at the southern U.S. border seeking entry, according to reports. The Biden administration suspended the ‘remain in Mexico’ program allowing some asylum seekers to enter the U.S. and ended a policy preventing unaccompanied…


Power Cut Across Texas as Snow, Ice Blanket Southern Plains

DALLAS—A winter storm dropping snow and ice also sent temperatures plunging across the southern Plains, prompting a power emergency in Texas a day after conditions canceled flights and impacted traffic across large swaths of the United States. Rotating power outages were initiated by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, early Monday morning, meaning…