The holidays are right around the corner—crazy right?  It’s time to whip out your recipe book and start planning for the multitude of fun parties that come along with it. Whether you are planning your own shindig or bringing along an appetizer, everyone is always looking for something new to surprise friends and family.

The seasons in the South are less than predictable, but there is one season that gets bigger and better each year...football season. That's right folks, it's time to break out the tents, tables and boundless amounts of food and drink. Each year we always try to find new, innovative recipes for our football get togethers, but there is one essential element that is always included—French's Mustard.

Warm, succulent biscuits, a southern tradition often handed down from mother to daughter through generations, are one of the many rituals we often take for granted. Whether we ate them for breakfast, with supper every night or at Sunday family dinners (like I did), their presence at a meal was a must and they were definitely always made from scratch.

Stick it to run-of-the-mill skewer recipes and instead pile on unexpected ingredients.

Kabobs remain one of my all-time favorites because all it takes is imagination or a peek into cultures outside your own. Summer dishes that are light, easy and quick-cooking (due to the small cubes involved) are the results.

Ted Allen, host of Food Network’s hit series Chopped and author of In My Kitchen: 100 Recipes and Discoveries for Passionate Cooks pinpoints new arenas in which to take a stab.

Meet the owners:
It all started with the Lowcountry Chairs. Ed and Rindy Jerue once owned a NASCAR imaging company, and they made wooden chairs on the side that they donated to be sold at charitable events. The chairs were bringing in $300 to $500 each. Ready to try something new, the couple sold the imaging company and began their Lowcountry adventure. They needed a building for constructing the chairs, and that’s when they found what would later become Lowcountry Store. Before long, the store was filled with all kinds of locally made items—furniture, home décor, art, pottery, books and the chairs, of course.

The Jerues have always loved to entertain a crowd and good food is a must! Ed started making gumbo and a few other meals they began packaging and selling, and soon the couple decided to open a café in the back of the store—Blue Dog Café. Ed developed the entrée recipes, while Rindy worked on pies and desserts. Recently they added a young cook by the name of Carina Papallardo, whom they say is a natural.

In the South there are many things we revere. Near the top of the list is our heritage and a good juicy watermelon. Watermelon lovers, have we got news for you; The Bradford watermelon is on the scene, offering flavors that are sparking chefs’ creativity and rediscovering food enthusiasts’ love of a slice of sweetness.

In the 1850s, Nathaniel Bradford of Sumter, S.C. developed a unique watermelon breed known as the sweetest and most flavorful, right down to its dark green skin. However. by the early 1900s, watermelons were bred for a tougher, thicker skin, sacrificing flavor in order to be shipped more easily. With these new cultivations, Bradford watermelons fell to the wayside commercially, but the original Bradford watermelon continued to be grown by the family.

One of my favorite foods is a sweet potato tot. Is this surprising, since plain tater tots (without the infusion of sweet potato antioxidants and fiber) are so decadent and diet busting? Not at all; the slight sweet flavor that comes along with the sweet potato makes it perfect for the addition of innovative sauces, like the honey-mustard one below.

Summertime is here and with it comes fun days out, boat trips and family picnics with beautiful heaps of fruits and veggies. Usually located at the center of the crowd is sweet, luscious strawberries. With u-pick strawberry season coming to a close and everyone’s kitchen counters laden with berries, we reached out to the Florida Strawberry Growers' Association (FSGA) for some top-notch strawberry recipes for you to enjoy.

Did you know we are lucky enough to have delectable, pure, gourmet honey, right in our own backyard?
Located in Savannah, the Savannah Bee Company offers a variety of artisanal honey, everyday honey, raw honeycomb and beeswax body care.

Founded among the hills of Tuscany, Pompeian Olive Oil Company has been bringing olive oil to the American table for more than 100 years. After establishing headquarters in Baltimore, Pompeian began importing olive oil in bulk, then blending and bottling it fresh daily right here in the U.S.

The South has its share of true originals. By that, we mean quirky, eccentric characters who add color to their local communities. We have people who are crazy for college football, people who are crazy for NASCAR racing and people who are crazy for whole-hog barbecue. And then there are those people who are crazy for Duke's—Duke's Mayonnaise, that is. Most of the time, fans of Duke's Mayonnaise live quietly among us. The only way to identify them is to sneak a peek inside their refrigerators. But ask them if they'd like a tomato sandwich, and they're likely to show their true colors—the yellow and black of the Duke's Mayonnaise label. For thousands of people around the South, there is no other mayonnaise but Duke's.

If your goal in life is to sample every style of barbecue in America, you don’t have to travel across the country to do it. Just visit South Carolina, the only state in the nation where you'll find all four of the basic types of barbecue sauce, sometimes on the same menu. It’s the sauce that determines what kind of barbecue you’re eating in the Palmetto State.

Photos and recipes provided by
The Hershey Company

It’s a fact that even just the smell of chocolate increases theta brain waves, which trigger relaxation. What better reason to eat chocolate as often as possible, other than the delectable aroma and decadent taste?

The Hershey Company is the leading North American manufacturer of chocolate and non-chocolate confectionery products. Milton S. Hershey started making chocolate in 1894 only to produce a coating for his caramels, not knowing that the company would develop into more than 80 brands and drive more than $7.4 billion in annual revenues. With Valentine's Day upon us, be sure to enjoy some chocolatey goodness!

Star Wars: The Force Awakens may not have gotten a best picture Oscar nod in the recently announced nominations for the February 28 event. However, the film vying to become the highest-grossing movie of all time, is certainly a popcorn-worthy flick that has fans vying for how many times they can view it. One Austin, Texas, enthusiast saw it nine times in the first weekend alone.
If you are in such a viewership race, or just in a sprint to see as many nominated films as possible before the big night, why not spice things up a bit and bag your own zesty popcorn blends? Snack on them as you complete your own ballots, bring along as hostess gifts to an Oscar party or serve at your own bash.

The cheddar cheese popcorn that follows gets a further perk from cayenne pepper and mustard powder. Sweet caramel corn-peanut clusters enhance their performance with curry powder.

With cooler, cuddly weather here, my body begins to crave delicious soups and buttery, golden slices of cornbread. My pantry shelves always stock the signature "blue box" of JIFFY's Corn Muffin Mix ready and waiting to be whipped up. While most of our nation knows JIFFY for it's cornbread, there are many more facets to their baking mixes. In fact, their repertoire includes: brownie mix, cake mixes, corn muffin mix, crust mixes, frosting mixes, muffin mixes and multi-purpose baking mixes.