by Sarah Loudin Thomas | Jul 4, 2016 | Appalachian, Family, Food, Friends, Love, Memories
Back home in West Virginia there was always a bean supper at Lucille’s for the Fourth of July. George and Lucille were first cousins to my dad and they had a little, white house up on the ridge above the church. Each year, Lucille would organize the event with a big...
by Sarah Loudin Thomas | Mar 31, 2016 | Appalachian, Family, folklore cures, Food, Nature
Flowers are blooming, afternoons are warm, the sun moves more slowly across the sky . . . It’s the time of year when the old folks start shunning preserved foods for something fresh. Something green. Poke sallat. Fiddleheads. And ramps, which are somehow getting to be...
by Sarah Loudin Thomas | Feb 18, 2016 | Appalachian, Food, Uncategorized
At the grocery store these days, I can buy strawberries and asparagus. This (along with a few days in the 60s) adds to my delusion that it’s spring. I could even try to trick myself into thinking it’s summer with corn-on-the-cob, tomatoes, and okra. My...
by Sarah Loudin Thomas | Nov 12, 2015 | Appalachian, Family, Food, Friends, Nature
It’s almost holiday time in West Virginia. Oh, sure, there’s Thanksgiving and Christmas, but the REAL festivities begin on the Monday before Thanksgiving. The first day of deer season. Many schools are out all week because, well, no one would come if they were open....
by Sarah Loudin Thomas | Nov 5, 2015 | Appalachian, Family, Food, Love, Memories
I like Thanksgiving almost as much as Easter. It combines gratitude with amazing food and those are two of my favorite things. And Thanksgiving at our family farm has long held a special place in my heart. When I was a kid, Thanksgiving most years centered on my...
by Sarah Loudin Thomas | Oct 12, 2015 | Food, Friends, Memories
A friend from church used to bring the most amazing apple crumb pies to potluck dinners. I took pride in my homemade pie crust and had to confess, her’s was better. Not to mention those melting apple slices and sweet sugar topping! So I broke down and asked...
