The Secret Ingredient

A canning party at this writer’s home is about more than making jams and relish. It’s a time of bustling about the kitchen, bonding over boiling water, and solving the world’s problems to the ping of lids popping into place. It’s about deep friendship.

Paradise at 4,500 Feet

High on Toxaway Mountain, one of the state’s best-kept secrets unfolds like a fairytale. Southern Highlands Reserve is a native plant arboretum, a research center, a living laboratory. Most of all, it’s a place of unparalleled beauty.