Folklife Meeting

Last week, from Tuesday until late Friday, I was in Cullman, Alabama for an Alabama Folklife Community Scholars meeting. There were wonderful speakers there, and classes to update our information on gathering and documenting folklife.

We stayed at the beautiful retreat center here. The rooms were spacious and clean, but no televisions or computers, although they did have Wi-Fi for our laptops and cell phones. We ate at the cafeteria for some of our meals and enjoyed seeing the church, Ave Maria Grotto, and cemetery that are part of the campus.

To me, the best thing about these meetings is seeing old friends and making new ones, people who love our heritage as much as I do. The next few days will be spent working on the data we collected while we were there. It makes me happy that this information will be archived and be available forever for those seeking to know their beginning, to understand why they are who they are.

Does anyone have a story, a particular method of doing a job, a memory that you want to be saved forever? Don't let it die with this generation. One of my biggest regrets is that I didn't write down all the stories my Daddy told us before he passed away, and there is nothing I can do to change that now.
Alabama Folklife

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Amish in Stantonville, Tennessee

Last week, my sis and her hub went with us to the Amish community near Stantonville, Tennessee. It was a beautiful day, and we love driving to new places and finding new treasures. We enjoy these mini-trips we take together, where we giggle a lot and get caught up on everything. Also, the squirrels ate all our tomatoes, so we needed to find some to buy. You know the food you are buying is fresh when they bring it from the field while you are standing there waiting for it. Here is part of what we brought home, and it was all delicious. Stantonville is located in McNairy County, Tennessee, northwest of Shiloh National Military Park.

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I think it was in the late seventies that I first had Holy Smoke Pie. It was at a party at Debra Morris Harville's house. After we ate, Debra had to give the recipe to everyone there. I came home and made it for my family, and it has been a favorite since then. I always make it at holiday dinners, because I believe tradition is important. It has become a favorite of our granddaughters. I've heard it called Chocolate Delight, Four-Layer Chocolate Dessert, and other odd things. We call it Holy Smoke. Here is how I make it: Chop us a cup of pecans; set aside. Add a stick of softened butter (NOT margarine) to one cup of self-rising flour. Cut the butter into the flour. Add the chopped pecans, and work it all together. Save two tablespoons of the pecans to sprinkle on top. Pour into a 9" x 12" pan that has been sprayed with cooking oil. Spread it over the bottom of the pan. It helps to use your hands (or hand, if you have t

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Faith, Folklore, and Friends

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