Food Talk, Country Style

Last New Year's dinner. There were leftovers
then too.

We have so many leftovers in the fridge that these will be today's meals, except for breakfast. There's ham, green beans, corn, applesauce, turkey in gravy, mashed potatoes, pickles, pumpkin pie...

I have heard people call this kind of eating "piecing around."

As in, "What did you have for supper, Roy?"

"Oh, I just pieced around. Had some soup, some green beans, some pie."

Which might be followed with,

"Well, I'm feeling a mite peckish myself. Think I'll have a look-see and grab a bite of something."

"There's a little dab of that turkey left. You might fancy that."

And after the meal:

"Reckon we'd better redd up the table, for if we don't Mom will just rare."

"I was fixin' to do just that. We'd best wash up the dishes too."

"Okay, you wash and I'll wipe."

Does any of this sound familiar to you? Tipper over at Blind Pig and the Acorn calls this Appalachian vocabulary and often writes posts on the terms we use here that are a little different from what you might hear in other parts of the country. I got to thinking on this topic as I looked at the containers in the fridge, and thought, "we'll just piece around today." I'm not a native Appalachian, but after living here for 40+ years, and living with my mountain-born man for the past 32 years, it's rubbed off on me and I find it a comfortable fit.

I doubt we'll get all of our leftovers eaten, but that's okay because the chickens are willing recyclers of whatever we don't want. They don't mind piecing around one bit.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Celebration, Appalachian Style!

Stories. Music. Singing. Dancing. Good food. Fine people. It all adds up to a celebration of life in these Appalachian Mountains. Tipper Pressley of Blind Pig and the Acorn blog put together a fine event, and over 70 people turned out at the local community center to hear, laugh and enjoy the evening. Gail demonstrated how to play the spoons and was joined by a young guy who added washboard rhythms to the mix.

The music was by Tipper's family: her father Jerry Wilson, brother Paul Wilson, and her twin daughters who perform as The Pressley Girls (you can find them on Facebook), while Tipper herself played bass.

Young cloggers known as The Kudzu Kickers showed us just how mountain dancing is done. Look at those feet! Nothing but a blur! These kids can dance! Can you imagine the energy it takes to clog?

The twins did triple duty, not only singing and playing but also dancing with the Kickers.

Tipper's brother Steve did the introduction for the evening and I told stories, sang ballads and MC'd.

We. Had. Fun! Highlights for me were the girls singing and hearing Paul and Jerry ("Pap" on Tipper's blog) in person. I've listened to them for several years online and I can tell you that they're all even better in live performance. Family harmonies are known to be something special and the Wilsons prove that adage to be true.

Larry found several former Marines in the crowd--including Tipper's father Jerry Wilson. The two of them connected immediately and spent some good time sharing memories and experiences. There were two other Marines in attendance that evening and Larry enjoyed talking to them too.

People lingered long after the program was over, sampling the desserts and visiting. I heard several say that they thought this should be an annual event. What a great idea. This is the kind of thing that brings a community together and what better way to celebrate the uniqueness of this culture and heritage?

To hear the girls singing, check out Blind Pig's post. And to hear me telling the old favorite Rindercella the next morning in Tipper's kitchen (WARNING: I hadn't brushed my hair or put on makeup when we filmed this! Talk about natural storytelling!) you can find it in this post or on YouTube. Videos of my storytelling at the event didn't work out, but when I told the girls Rindercella the next morning, they immediately said, "We've got to film this!" So, here it is.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

In Blind Pig Country: Post 1, Overview

The trip we'd been planning for weeks finally became reality this weekend. We packed up Thursday evening and headed out, bound for Brasstown and Tipper Pressley's homeplace in the southwestern North Carolina mountains. Tipper, as most of my readers know, is the author of the blog Blind Pig and the Acorn, and we've been online friends for seven years. Now we'd meet in person, and I couldn't wait.

Our route took us across southwestern Virginia, then into Tennessee and finally North Carolina, with stunning scenery at every bend of the road. I swear, I could spend a year just taking photos of all the barns, houses and outbuildings, the mountains and rivers and green fields. I felt like I'd over-indulged in dessert.

We tarried in Abingdon a few minutes so I could take pictures of two old log cabins in the town. (Everything we saw made me say "Must come back to see more." So much to see, so little time!)

Here is a photo collage of some of what we saw and did on this trip. This week I will be posting about each in more detail:

In Abingdon, Virginia:

Nantahala Gorge:

Brasstown and the Possum Drop:

The Folk School:

Parade:

May Day:

Appalachian Celebration:

Kudzu Kickers:

Old Marines get together:

Telling tales:

Stay tuned!

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Augusta, Day 4: Ballads and Stories, Poems and People

Today was a little more low-key than yesterday. I slept well last night and that was a blessing. I was up and out early to get to breakfast because mealtimes at Augusta are a great time to meet people. And I've met some great people. Like the couple in the Road Scholar program who have only been married 2 1/2 years and are traveling all over the place together, having a wonderful time; a librarian at the University of Maryland who talked with me about our mutual concern about the future of libraries as reference services fade and the e-books gain popularity; the dance instructor who, at 84, is as fit as anyone I know and dances all the time; the young girl who came to an impromptu poetry group and turned out to be a double major (English and Biology) as well as editor of her college literary journal; Sean who at 11 years old is as comfortable on this campus as a college student and equally at ease talking to adults or kids, the people from New England who were so curious about our culture and geography that we spent all of lunch talking and I almost forgot to eat...and so many others.

It would seem that Augusta is about taking classes and learning or developing skills and it is certainly that, but it is also about making connections and getting to know people from all over the country and all agers and backgrounds.

One of the most fascinating and nice people I've met this week is Bobby McCormick, a ballad singer and storyteller from North Carolina. He's plain folks, a man raised in the mountains who recognized the uniqueness of his heritage at a young age and has studied and preserved it as his life's work. Comparing ballads with him has been a joy. I took my class to a special session he held today so they could hear his stories and singing. He told a version of a story many storytellers know as The Great Hairy Toe, but told it in such a lively way, with details, colloquialisms, asides and droll expressions that the story was completely his own, a crafted and exceptional telling. His singing of Sweet Williams Ghost had about 34 stanzas! What a memory. What a treasure he is.

Another outstanding presenter is Elizabeth LaPrelle, who is coordinating many of the vocal activities and teaching a mini-course in ballads as well as holding a nightly song swap. Hmeat er voice is beautiful and again she also sings many ballads that are variations of ones I know.

Today my class worked on a story to tell. I selected stories for them short stories that I thought had enough meat in them to be easily visualized and learned. My students studied their stories, made notes and after about 30 minutes gave telling them a try. Their presentations were very good; we then discussed how to deepen the stories, what might need clarification, tweaking of presentations re more active language, using dialogue, adding description, and strengthening beginnings and endings, and identifying key points to give special emphasis in the telling. When the Road Scholars joined us, one of my students told her story to them and got an excellent response. We talked then about how to prepare a story for telling, what is different between telling and reading a piece, and then I told a story that is one I wrote and don't often tell, and we further discussed elements of telling that audiences often are unaware of. It was a good, relaxed afternoon, a conversation and sharing time, very like being on the porch and just talking. And yet, we covered so many interesting and important aspects of storytelling.

The poetry group today was a spur-of-the-moment idea. Several of us (about 6, I think), gathered to read poems and talk about poetry. As any poet knows, opportunities to read are rare and we tend to grab hold of them!

This evening I am resting; I may wander out later to listen or to find a singing group to share songs. Or I may just sleep! Tomorrow is our road trip to explore a historic little town and follow up with discussion of a story connected to that place. It will be my last afternoon hour with the Road Scholars and I am sorry to see it end. It's been a pleasure for me, and I hope for them as well.

Copyright 2012 Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Augusta, Day 3:Nature and Family

Nature walk, old time Victrola, concerts, ghosts and geneology were the order of the day yesterday.

In the morning I took my class for a nature walk. Well, it was more like a stroll as we took our time just walking along the road and identifying useful plants. In truth, there aren't many that are not useful in one way or another. We identified about 40 plants and trees that could be used for food, medicine, basketmaking, etc. I suppose my favorite woodland plant is the spicewood wood, which I wrote about a couple years ago in this post. It is a pretty bush, the leaves have a spicy scent, it can be used for medicinal purposes and the red berries can be dried to make an allspice substitute.
After our walk we discussed how to incorporate such information into stories; I talked about weatherlore and other folklore that I've written about on this blog in the past. Check the folklore, weatherlore and wildflower labels to read more.

Early afternoon brought a concert with Junior Holstein, my husband's cousin and one of a dying breed--an old-time fiddle player who knew old mountain tunes and songs from the older days. It was an excellent concert and he played my favorite, Mockingbird, in which he incorporates bird songs played on his fiddle. I got to wondering just how he was related to Larry. Neither of them really knew, so during my late afternoon break I did some geneology. What I found was surprising. Even though they had the same last name, lived only a fe miles apart and knew they were related somehow, the last in-common relative I found in the straight line of descendancy was born in 1802! So how many times removed is that cousinship? There may be other links through marriages over the years but the blood relative they share is a long ways back. There is more to that story I will write later.

Before doing geneology, I had my afternoon session with the Road Scholars. Yesterday I focused on ghost stories and told several--and heard a couple good stories from the scholars themselves. Then after dinner was the Masters concert, featuring Junior. He was got a standing ovation, well deserved in my book. I also got to spend some time talking with Junior's nephew Gary Jordan, who looks after Junior as best he can--the man is an independent soul. Gary is a great guy; we exchanged contact information and I hope to get together with both Gary and Junior soon.

Another evening program featured an old crank victrola and 78 rpm records. It was an experience to listen to old songs played on the technology they were created for. Carter Family and other singers were on the recordings. I loved it. Talk about a green machine!

I stayed up a while longer to attend a song swap. One girl asked if anyone knew Silver Dagger, and do you know in that fairly small group (about 10 people) there were 5 different versions of the song? Fascinating to hear all the others, especially the Irish one.

I finally gave it up and headed for bed around midnight. Daylight seems to come quickly to start the next day. Today? All kinds of adventures ahead.

Copyright 2012 Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Update: Found the Ballad Singers

I found them! I went looking for singing last night; everywhere there was music. The air was filled with a great cacaphony of sound as one group and another played on the porches, in front of the tiny campus bar called the Icehouse, and even in the back of a pickup truck. As I wandered and listened I ran into a couple other ladies who were also looking for singing, so we meandered to a stairwell known for its incredible acoustics and started singing.

It didn't take long for a few others to join us. And as usual with ballads, different versions were shared or one song reminded someone of another. A reference to a willow tree, the words "and the rocks melt in the sun" brought forth other ballads.

It was a great time. I made it back and to bed by 1:30 to be ready for today's class, and who knows what else might come?

Copyright 2012 Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

At Augusta: Day One

Well, my word. There is wi-fi available all over the Davis & Elkins campus, so getting online is no problem, Finding time to blog might not be as easy as linking up, though. The schedule is full; there is so much to do here.

This is a combination of Old-Time Week, Vocals Week, and Dance Week, with traditional Appalachian craft classes and culminating with the Augusta Festival. The class I am teaching starts at 9 am and goes until 4pm. Within that timeframe, there is an hour or so for lunch, and the Road Scholars (formerly Elderhostel) folks come for a storytelling presentation. After class there are activities of all kinds: dancing, porch parties, special one-time classes, concerts, mini-courses and more.

I was up early today to shower and get to breakfast, then to the library to set up for my students. It's a small class but that doesn't impact planning. I hooked up the CD/cassette player (some of what I want to share with them was only available on cassette) and my laptop, rearranged the furniture and was ready to begin.

We started, as many things do in the mountains, with conversation. I wanted to get to know my students, their background, why they came and what they wanted to learn. We discussed what they thought "Appalachian storytelling" is and why. We watched some short video clips from Melissa Rogers' West Virginia Storytelling Project and discussed the storytellers and the material on the video. Then it was already lunch time.

After lunch we talked a bit more about storytelling, how to turn an anecdote into a story and I gave some examples. In no time, it seemed, it was 2:30 and the Road Scholars began arriving. What a fun group they are! We again started with a little conversation, and then I told stories, leading from my story of coming to West Virginia with such naive expectations, learning how to live in the old-time way, and leading into a few tall tales, a ghost story and a traditional Jack tale. The time passed swiftly and the hour was over.

My students and I finished the day discussing research techniques to find stories and variations of stories and how to find a story within an everyday conversation.

The first day of class was over. I took a walk along a nature trail to prepare for tomorrow when we will take a nature walk and discuss plant lore and folklore and the impact of environment on life in the mountains and the stories told here. After my walk I returned to my room to write some notes, catch up on email and  rest. Then I skipped dinner and walked down the hill to a class on Appalachian dialect. Fascinating! It was a casual give-and-take conversation between listeners and the instructor, and the room was full. I was glad to meet Bob McMillion who taught the class; he is a storyteller, balladsinger and folklorist from North Carolina, and an interesting man.

I have tried to find balladsingers here interested in getting together to swap songs but so far no luck. There is plenty of singing going on--group and harmony singing which is fun but I had hoped to find other balladsingers too. If they are here I have not found them, but this is only day one and I am still learning my way around.

Now I am resting a bit before going back out to hear some fine old-time music, maybe watch some dancing and then joining a late-night singing circle. Who knows? I may find the ballad singers there.

Copyright 2007 Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Packing Up!

Today is packing and getting ready to leave for Augusta tomorrow. I'll be teaching Appalachian storytelling for a week, and telling stories for the Elderhostel (Road Scholars) program each day too. My workshop coincides with Old-Time Week at Augusta, and ends with the Augusta Festival, a celebration of mountain folklife and music.

So I better get back to packing. I may be able to post a little while there; we'll see how the week shapes itself. If not, I'll be back next week with lots to show and tell you.Meantime, you may want to check out these two intriguing websites. One is an article about the Mountain Dance Trail developed by Gerry Milnes of Augusta; the other is from Asheville, NC and is a wealth of stories and information about Appalachian foodways.


Have a good week, my friends.

Copyright 2012 Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Canning Time and a Review of What's In and What's Not

 The big pots are invading my kitchen once again but this year their onslaught is both late and limited. The green beans never sprouted (last time I buy seed from that place) so there were no beans to can. The peaches have only a few scattered fruits on them, enough to eat fresh but nothing to can. The tomatoes are coming on so slowly that we went across the river to the Ohio truck farms last weekend and bought a few bushels to put up. If mine come later, I'll have more to can and that's fine, but I was getting nervous about the few remaining jars of tomatoes in the cellar so this eased my mind.

The cucumbers came on, unfortunately, at the height of the drought and heat. What they produced was warped and mostly bitter. We had enough to eat fresh, but none for pickle making. The second planting doesn't look much better. I made quarts and quarts of them last year, but they were so popular with my family that I now have only 6 jars left out of about 75-100 that I made. I try to keep a two-year supply of everything in the cellar, but the pickles were just too well-liked.

I have made some jam--blackberry, cherry, strawberry and raspberry--and we have plenty left from last year. We also have lots of pears and peaches still in the cellar, but I am waiting anxiously for the apples because the apple butter is almost gone; we didn't make it last year because there were no apples due to frost. I need applesauce too, and cider.

The grapes are hanging heavy and ripening. I am hoping they can hold for another week or more because I will be away at Augusta Heritage teaching storytelling all next week. Being a storyteller is good and bad in the summer. Lots of work, but right in the peak of canning season!

A biggie on my canning list is vegetable soup and beef stew. Those will be on the to-do list when I return from Augusta. We have pulled the onions and they are drying in the shed; I'll cut them up and freeze them when I get home, and I may do some in the dehydrator. My sister Maggie gave me some dried onions a few years ago and I loved them for adding to sauces and soups. The basil will be ready to dry when I get home too; the oregano and peppermint were victims of that bad storm and then the drought finished them off. No peppermint tea this winter <sigh>. The oregano might recover enough to be picked and I still have a good bit from last year.

We are slowly rebuilding our stock in the freezer. I have lots of broccoli, peas and carrots put up this year and have been buying some meats each week to replace what we lost during the power outage.

It's been strange to not be buried in produce this summer but I have to admit it's been a nice break. My cellar is still pretty full even if I don't can another thing, but like most other canners I like to fill every jar by the end of the summer. This might not be the year for that, but we will certainly will not starve. Even in a bad year, there is still plenty and I am grateful for what we have.

Copyright 2012 Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.