PineStraw Magazine

12/26/2025

Welcome Old Man Winter’s cold, dark days and nights the delicious way by sipping hot drinks and nibbling tasty treats in the great indoors. We asked eight local coffee and bake shops to warm our souls with piping-hot drinks and seasonal sweets from their winter menus.

CUP O’ JOY Home Cup o’ Joy Served hot, with a side of sweet By Jenna Biter • Photographs by Tim Sayer Welcome Old Man Winter’s cold, dark days and nights the delicious way by sipping hot drinks and nibbling tasty treats in the great indoors. We asked eight local coffee and bake […]

12/24/2025

Every year after Thanksgiving, adults dust off the same threat: behave, or Santa won’t come. It’s a tradition as old as Christmas itself. But what if we’ve misunderstood the point of Santa all along? Robert Inman says Santa's coming, regardless.

SOUTHWORDS Home Santa’s Coming, Regardless By Robert Inman It starts every year, without fail, the day after Thanksgiving. Grownups begin to threaten young people over Santa Claus. The air is full of dire predictions about what might happen Christmas Eve if children aren’t something close to sai...

12/23/2025

Long before flavored lattes at Starbucks, there was another creamy and sweet beverage that went hand-in-hand with cold weather.

The Tom & Jerry, named after the punch bowl and mugs, not the cartoon, is a warm, frothy variation of eggnog made with eggs, sugar, hot milk (traditionally hot water), brandy and rum. Though recipes have existed since the early 1800s, it was famed American bartender Jerry Thomas who was responsible for its revival in the Northeast.

Learn more from Tony and get the recipe for your holiday celebrations below:

DISSECTING A COCKTAIL Home Tom & Jerry Story and Photograph by Tony Cross Long before flavored lattes at Starbucks, there was another creamy and sweet beverage that went hand-in-hand with cold weather. The Tom & Jerry, named after the punch bowl and mugs, not the cartoon, is a warm, frothy variation...

12/23/2025

The spirit of giving, celebrating all the good in this world, is never felt more profoundly than during the holidays. We’re fortunate to have a plethora of charitable organizations — far too numerous to mention here — that embody this spirit every month, every day, of the year.

Each of the volunteers featured here was quick to insist that they were just one of many who donate precious time to help others. To us, they represent a veritable legion of the kindhearted. Their service delivers a simple message: A life of giving is the best present of all.

SEASON OF GIVING Home Season of Giving By Lara Sierra • Photographs by John Gessner The spirit of giving, celebrating all the good in this world, is never felt more profoundly than during the holidays. We’re fortunate to have a plethora of charitable organizations — far too numerous to mention...

12/08/2025

Happy December! Our cover by highlights our Cup o’ Joy feature where we asked eight local coffee and bake shops to warm our souls with piping-hot drinks and seasonal sweets from their winter menus.

✨ See what other magic awaits in this month’s mag✨

12/04/2025

December is here! Here are some ways to make the most of it this month:

PINEPITCH Home December 2025 Another Santa Sighting The annual Southern Pines Christmas Parade is Saturday, Dec. 6, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. up and down Broad Street. There will be marching bands and Santa, of course, who dances to his own tune. For additional information go to www.southernpines.n...

11/21/2025

Nature’s Wildlife • In our November issue, Todd Pusser takes us through his search of wonders in the dark.

11/10/2025

Fill your November calendar with some of our picks:

PINEPITCH Home November 2025 Swifties Unite Get November off to a Swift start with “Are You Ready For It? A Taylor Experience” at 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 1, in BPAC’s Owens Auditorium, 3395 Airport Road, Pinehurst. A national touring Taylor Swift tribute band recreates the pop star’s Eras Tour...

11/01/2025

November magazine are out now. Inside this issue you’ll find story of a house, history on NC Wyeth paintings in the Sandhills, how a local set designer creates TV magic and more.

10/30/2025

Sometimes a solution is just as scary as the problem. This hilarious column explores just how much it sucks when cleaning goes awry.

SOUTHWORDS Home The Monster And other commonsense solutions By Ashley Harris It was a delicate operation. The patient sat dejected on the floor, his “arm” dangling uselessly by his side. Just five minutes earlier, I had innocently slid the hose of my precious vacuum along the floor under the nig...

10/26/2025

What are your October comforts?

SIMPLE LIFE Home The Comforts of October Cooler days, evening fires and scary-good cookies By Jim Dodson My late mother liked to tell how, once upon a time, I loved to stand at the fence of the community-owned pasture behind our house in North Dallas feeding prairie grass to a donkey named Oscar. I....

10/26/2025

The champions from coal country, a history.

MAROONED BY THE NFL Home Marooned by the NFL The Champions from Coal Country by Ron Johnson In the sweltering late summer of any given year, frenzied and potentially delusional NFL fans wake up thinking this might just be their year. Inside the generally hospitable confines of establishments like Ji...