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.

Anjali Shah is a food writer, board certified health coach, and owner of The Picky Eater—a healthy food and lifestyle blog. Her work has been featured on Oprah.com, Women's Health, Cooking Light, Reader's Digest, CNN, Food Network, Glamour, Ladies' Home Journal, Whole Foods, SHAPE, and at Kaiser Permanente. Anjali grew up a “whole wheat” girl, but married a “white bread” kind of guy. Hoping to prove that nutritious food could in fact be delicious and desirable, she taught herself how to cook and successfully transformed her husband’s eating habits from a diet of frozen pizzas and Taco Bell to her healthy, yet flavorful, recipes made with simple, wholesome ingredients. Through her blog, Anjali shares her passion for tasty, healthy cooking.

January is the perfect time of year when a hearty, rich bowl of cream of vegetable soup is much appreciated. What might not be as welcome is the saturated fat in that cream or the whole milk that is sometimes used to generate similar results.

If you’ve never tried a vegan recipe before, this might be the time to give it a shot. Cooks in that specialty have come up with delicious ways to richen your soups without adding to your health woes.
Nava Atlas, for instance, author of many vegan and vegetarian books, including the new Plant Power: Transform Your Kitchen, Plate and Life with More than 150 Fresh and Flavorful Vegan Recipes, is an expert at creating cream of vegetable soups without any cream at all.

Succulent. Savory. Southern. The Mill Kitchen and Bar  is making a mark on the map. As the holidays pass by and the calm of January arrives, it’s time to relax and what better way than a weekend get-away! This charming restaurant is tucked away in historic Roswell, Ga., amongst a small town atmosphere, surrounded by the great shopping and excitement of the city.

The holidays have arrived, and with them cocktail parties, celebrations, feasts and sweets galore! Dixie Crystals Sugar is a staple for everything from the main dish to the delectable dessert spread. This month we are featuring fabulous and festive recipes that will be sure to raise a cheer from your
friends and family.

Since 1917, Dixie Crystals Sugar has been a trusted name in family kitchens all across the Southeast. Generations have grown up baking with Dixie Crystals Sugar products. Dixie Crystals Sugar provides high-quality, pure cane sugar and sweeteners. Products include granulated sugar, light and dark brown sugar, free-flowing sugar, powdered sugar and sugar shakers.

Dixie Crystals Sugar has gathered thousands of new and vintage recipes for your enjoyment, as well as, baking tips, videos, kid-friendly recipes and crafts, printables, coupons and more.  All this can be accessed at www.dixiecrystals.com

Hot chocolate isn’t the only warm, engaging, conversation-starting wintery meal-ender you can serve in a mug. In less time than it might take you to serve up that comforting beverage, you can use it to inspire a five-minute doozy of a dessert.

Kristen is a food lover, writer, and founder of Slender Kitchen—a food blog that believes healthy eating and meal planning should be delicious, fun, and stress free.

After struggling with her own weight loss and inaptitude in the kitchen, Kristen finally found the key to her own success was learning to prepare healthy, delicious, easy recipes at home and creating weekly meal plans.  Today on Slender Kitchen, she shares these good-for-you recipes and meal plans so anyone can be a star in the kitchen and reach their health and weight loss goals.

It is a tradition to have “Appetizer Day” at our Publisher, Elizabeth Millen’s home each year prior to the November magazine coming out. This year, we decided to shake things up a bit and have a “Party Favorites Day” instead. For Party Favorites Day, the entire Pink Magazine staff chose their favorite party recipe, prepared it, and brought it to share, along with the recipe, of course! To add to the fun, we gathered an impressive, eclectic assortment of serving trays from our wonderful advertisers in order to beautifully present our creations. This also allows us to show you that if we can do it, so can you.

Have you ever whipped up your signature sauce and thought..."Gosh, I could sell this stuff"?The men behind the Lowcountry's newest saucy sensation are here to say it can be done!

Karina Allrich is publisher, recipe developer and author Gluten-Free Goddess®. Karina discovered she was gluten intolerant in late 2001—after a decade of unseemly, classic celiac symptoms. She has been cooking and baking gluten-free ever since, serving up hundreds of original recipes on her popular food blog, launched in late fall 2005.