MUSEUM OF APPALACHIA FALL HOMECOMING

JOHN RICE IRWIN HAS INVITED ME TO DO A BOOK SIGNING AT THIS YEARS HOMECOMING. IT IS SUCH AN HONOR. MY FATHER-IN-LAW WAS THE LEATHER CRAFTSMAN FOR THE HOMECOMING SINCE IT FIRST STARTED.

He passed away last March and will be remembered at the Memorial Service on Saturday.

Homcoming is a wonderful tradition. Authentic, old-music fills the air at the Museum of Appalachia’s Tennessee Fall Homecoming in Norris, TN, Oct. 7-9. With musicians performing simultaneously all day on five different stages, seasoned festival-goers stop at the information tent for the daily music schedule to plan their day. Some 400 nationally and regionally known musicians will perform traditional mountain, folk, Gospel, and bluegrass music throughout the three-day event. The Homecoming is internationally renowned as one of the oldest and most authentic festivals of its kind.

Homecoming also includes demonstrations of pioneer skills, a large craft fair with authentic Appalachian artisans, and traditional Southern foods.

Tickets are available at the gate; plenty of free parking is available.The Museum offers a picturesque backdrop, with dozens of authentic log buildings, display halls filled with artifacts, and garden and farm animals surrounded by split-rail fences.

All Homecoming proceeds go toward the Museum’s mission to preserve Appalachian culture & heritage. A non-profit organization, the Museum is an official affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution.

ACADEMY AWARD WINNING AUTHOR TOM RICKMAN

ACADEMY AWARD WINNING AUTHOR TOM RICKMAN

In Gathering recipes for my Tennessee Cookbook, I have started collecting recipes from authors, writers, etc. I received a recipe from Sam Pickering (Robin William’s character from Dead Poet’s Society was based on him), John Rice Irwin Appalachian author and founder of the Museum of Appalachia in Norris, and a recipe for Banana Pancakes for Frances Hidgson Burnett (author of The Secret Garden). Her Biographer sent this recipe, she found while researching the book. The Tennessee Cookbook should go to the publisher in September.

I also said earlier, I would do blogs on various contributors for my Kentucky Cookbook. I am doing this on Academy Award winning writer Tom Rickman He sent a funny story that had to be edited to the publisher’s format and therefore I was unable to include. I am posting it today. If you want the entire recipe, you will have to get a copy of the cookbook “Favorite Recipes of Kentucky Celebrities. ENJOY!


MEATLOAF WELLINGTON

I tried this recipe once on a group of friends from whom the reviews were somewhat, well, guarded. It was, admittedly, an experiment: I wanted to make a down-home version of a Beef Wellington, substituting for its upscale (expensive) ingredients some very downscale (cheap) equivalents – meat loaf instead of a choice cut of beef, braunschweiger (or liverwurst) instead of pate de foie gras, etc. My guests applauded the political statement I was trying to make (they were Californians) while politely not asking for second helpings. I liked it though.

Make the meatloaf the way Mama made it (mine, anyway): a couple of pounds of hamburger, some diced onions and celery, maybe a carrot, and a can of tomatoes.

Tom Rickman from Sharpe, Ky ,whose screenwriting/directing feature movie credits include Oscar Winning “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” & “Truman,” for which he received an Emmy nomination, “Breakfast with Morrie,” “Berry Gordy’s Motown,” a miniseries.