It is a tradition to have “Appetizer Day” at our Publisher, Elizabeth Millen’s home each year prior to the holiday issues coming out. This year, with the hurricane and the fact that Elizabeth's home was severely damaged, we decided to dive into our archives and bring back our favorite recipes to share in a "Best of Party Favorites." Little did we know it would be very hard to choose. 

Are you ready to have an authentic Lowcountry dining experience, featuring bona fide Southern cuisine? A restaurant concept, based on owner Dave Peck’s nostalgic love for the experiences and tastes of simpler times and Southern heritage, A Lowcountry Backyard Restaurant is a must try!

As the holidays draw near, stained and well-loved cookbooks get pulled out for tried and true family recipes. And if you're like me, when I pack my bags to head home for Thanksgiving, my McCormick spices are sure to be in them.

You may have already discovered The Pearl, so appropriately named, as it truly is an unexpected treasure nestled right in the heart of Old Town Bluffton. If you haven’t experienced The Pearl yet, then get ready for a night of fine dining in one of the area’s newest and most happening spots. But be warned—you might want to call ahead for reservations because word is spreading fast!

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.