Country Roads Magazine

12/23/2025

Since their early beginnings, Louisiana Christmas tree farms have benefitted from the branding of “cutting down your own Christmas tree” as an experience—incorporating the holiday trappings of hot chocolate, carol-singing, train-riding, ornament-decorating, and more. More than any other crop in the world, the Christmas tree industry is sustained on pure nostalgia, sentimentality, and symbolism.

Learn more about the Christmas tree farms close to home at countryroadsmag.com

Story by Jordan LaHaye Fontenot

12/19/2025

In its ongoing effort to move the needle on obesity and chronic disease, Pennington Biomedical Research Center has a tasty ace up its sleeve. The research institution boasts its own on-site Metabolic Research Kitchen, where recipes and meal plans are developed to support research studies conducted by Pennington Biomedical’s world renowned scientists.

This holiday season, the Metabolic Kitchen makes a great place to turn to find healthy recipes that taste great and incorporate nutrient-dense ingredients, like the “Lump of Coal Cookies” recipe.

Find it at countryroadsmag.com

Sponsored by Pennington Biomedical Research Center

Pennington Biomedical’s Metabolic Kitchen develops delicious solutions that support research studies and holiday baking projects alike

12/19/2025

"I’d heard tales of Charleston’s beauty shimmering in the subtropical heat of summer, its colorful architecture mingling with white-washed church steeples as a reminder of the religious freedom upon which this “Holy City” was founded," writes Kristy Christiansen. "The author Pat Conroy once said, 'Wandering through its streets can be dreamlike and otherworldly, its alleyways and shortcuts both fragrant and mysterious, yet as haunted as time turned in on itself.'

I wanted to see these alleyways firsthand, but under the slanting light of a winter day, balsam wreaths and bright red bows gracing the alleys’ shopfronts and fresh garland winds its way across the banisters of wrought iron fences."

Find the full story at countryroadsmag.com

12/17/2025

The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries describes its “Becoming an Outdoors Woman” (BOW) weekends as “a hands-on, multi-course weekend event designed to teach women basic outdoor skills in a supportive environment.” Over three days, campers take part in workshops like Backpacking, Game Cleaning, Gator Done! (Yep, that’s alligator hunting.), Campfire Cooking, Marksmanship, and ATV Safety.

Women who have attended describe it as: “heaven on Earth for women who love the outdoors,” “my happy place,” “summer camp with Jello shots.”

Read the full story by Mimi Greenwood Knight at countryroadsmag.com

12/16/2025

Did you know that most of the insects that shuffle through our gardens never venture very far? They stay close to their home base through the shifting seasons. When they do leave, it's often because resources such as food, water, or habitat are diminished or decimated. Or, because they’ve encountered a deadly chemical.

The decision to “control” our spaces using insecticides and other powerful chemicals in our homes and yards should not be taken lightly. Each of our actions has a direct impact on the health of our gardens and the larger natural world (us animals included), and ridding our spaces of insects has its consequences.

Jess Cole shares her eco-friendly alternatives to insecticides at countryroadsmag.com

12/16/2025

12/16/2025

Thank you to Country Roads Magazine for highlighting all the festive holiday happenings across the South this season! 🎄 There’s so much holiday magic waiting just off the Natchez Trace Parkway.

Don’t miss the Dickens of a Christmas celebration in Iuka on December 19 — it’s a charming Victorian-style holiday event full of carolers, lights, and community cheer. 🎁✨

12/15/2025

To be in the company of Ti Adelaide Martin and Lally Brennan is to experience the fullest extent of New Orleans’s renowned joie de vivre. Cousins Ti and Lally are co-proprietors of the 132-year-old New Orleans restaurant, Commander’s Palace, and they usually bring the fun, along with a wealth of experience and knowledge. When it comes to the restaurant business, their family’s long legacy of entrepreneurship shines forth.

Read the story by Susan Marquez at countryroadsmag.com

12/11/2025

Whatever your love language may be, this time of year the best thing you can be is an excellent gift giver. When planned with care, the task of selecting the perfect gift can be rewarding, not only because of the brownie points you are earning, but also because it is an opportunity to directly support our local artisans and businesses. In Louisiana and Mississippi, we are fortunate to live amongst some of the most creative, innovative, and fun-makers in the world—don’t waste this opportunity to stuff stockings with one-of-a-kind goldstuffs.

Find the full list at countryroadsmag.com

12/10/2025

Journalist Stanley Nelson—who died unexpectedly this past June at the age of 69—would be recognized as a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2011 for his relentless reporting on the racially-motivated murder of a Black man in the 1960s in the small town of Ferriday, Louisiana. Over the years, after receiving this honor, Nelson continued to dredge up the brutal history of K*K murders in the Ferriday-Natchez corridor, bringing some small comfort to families who had all but given up hope of learning any details about how their loved ones perished. In cases long abandoned by the FBI, Nelson found his calling.

Read the story by Jacqueline DeRobertis-Braun at countryroadsmag.com

12/09/2025

The post-midnight Mass grand holiday feast has been a tradition in New Orleans’s Creole communities for nearly two centuries now. Today, the “awakening” meal is celebrated in restaurants across the city (and often at a more reasonable hour), with special menus and creative interpretations of classic holiday cuisine. Dozens of restaurants participate, but some of the most popular destinations are Antoine’s, Gris-Gris, Restaurant August, Domenica, Galatoires, Tujague’s, Bayona, Broussard’s, Commander’s Palace, and Café Degas.

Learn more at holiday.neworleans.com/food-and-drink.

12/08/2025

Colette Bernard, educated in the fine arts at Pratt Institute of New York, had recently moved back home to Louisiana, carrying with her the “financial trauma of student loan debt” and a strong desire to use her creativity to settle it. With sales from her Career Claws—whimsical hair accessories symbolizing various lines of work—she not only paid off the entirety of the debt, she established herself as a designer and artrepreneur.

Read the story by Catherine Schoeffler Comeaux at countryroadsmag.com