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How to get the most out of chicken to save money and eat well, and share some stories along the way. Guests are: Lois Shuler Caughron and Ruth Davis Caughron – memories of Cades Cove and they share a family recipe for chicken and crackers Aliceson Bales of Bales Farm in Mosheim TN shres her recipe for buttermilk chicken and how to make chicken broth. Ronni Lundy (James Beard Award-winning Food Writer) reads from her book “Shuck Beans, Stack Cake and Honest Fried Chicken”, The Heart and Soul of Southern Country Kitchens, 1990.” Ronni reads her chapter on honest fried chicken prepared in cast iron.

Today we are setting the table with Livermush and news about the Annual Livermush Festival that takes place June 7 in Marion, NC. Our guests today are Natalie Bell and Alena Carson. Natalie Bell is the Events and Outreach Coordinator for the Marion Business Association, and Alena Carson or (Lena) is co-owner of “Mama T's Rolling Snack Shack” Lena has won the Trophy for “Crowd's Favorite” for she and her team's Livermush dishes in 2022, 23, 24 and she aims to win it again this year.

Today we honor Memorial Day. We are so very appreciative of the service members who gave the ultimate sacrifice for our country. If you are fortunate enough to be able to go to a backyard cookout, I have some recipes for foods that go along with cookouts.

The mission of the Farmer Veteran Coalition of Tennessee (FVC-TN) is to mobilize Tennessee veterans to feed America. We assist veterans by finding resources that will help them in starting their agricultural dream. The Farmer Veteran Coalition is a national organization with state chapters. Membership is available to both veterans and non-veterans. If you wish to join, please click here to join, then email us at membership@fvctn.org.

Prohibition and how it affected TN Agriculture – the hard numbers of how Tennessee Vineyards are an important part of our state's economy, and how vineyards preserve the family farm. Our guest is Rick Riddle – Co-Owner of The Winery at Seven Springs in Maynardville, TN, in Union County. TN Whiskey Experience. As part of the Southern Skies Musical Festival, Saturday, May 10th, from 2 – 5 p.m., The TN Whiskey Experience, a new collaboration with the TN Distillers Guild bringing the top distilleries from across the state to Knoxville during the Southern Skies Music Festival. The distillers will be there if you would like to learn more about the art of distilling, barrel aging, and the history and growth of each distillery. This takes place at a private tasting tent on the North end of the Festival Lawn with comfortable seating, shade, and a bar. Each participating distillery will do its own tastings and bottle sales for you to take home after the music show. This is a ticketed experience with tickets purchased in addition to the Southern Skies Music Festival tickets

Today, we are setting the table with Bluegrass music and food associated with Easter. We visit with three guests: - Evie Andrus, Founder of the East TN Bluegrass Association. She will let us know about this association, and also the 3rd annual College Bluegrass Band Showcase at the Pellissippi State Community College - Strawberry Plains Campus - Saturday, April 26th, beginning at 11 am. A Free Event with college bluegrass ensembles from Pellissippi State Community College and the University of Tennessee. Admission is free and they will have food trucks and activities for children. Bring a folding chair. In the event inclement weather the performances will move indoors. - We also hear from Karen Zorio on the topic of hot cross buns and she will share her recipe. - And Aliceson Bales of Bales Farm on Greeneville Tennessee shares some history on the deviled egg and her Mother's deviled egg recipe.

Our first guest is Beth Nelson. She and her husband David own and operate Hoof and Harness (located in Jefferson County) a nonprofit organization that provides therapeutic equine experiences for special needs individuals. Hoof and Harness are hosting a “Cowboy Carnival” April 12, 11- 3 p.m. Our second guest is Vicki Baumgartner, Trails and Gardens Program Manager for Dogwood Arts. Vicki shares the 70 year history of the Dogwood Trails in Knoxville and Dogwood Arts Bazillion Blooms campaign that keeps the Dogwoods blooming.

John Coykendall on Starting a Spring Garden and Planning for Tomato Sandwiches Today, we are setting the table with the spring garden and planning for tomato sandwiches. My guest is Master Gardener, seed, and story saver John Coykendall. We discuss when to put our plants out, a word about the last frost in East TN, ways of planting, and the best seeds to select for our future Tomato sandwiches. In the second half of the show, John discusses rotating crops and adding nutrition to our garden soil – practicing good stewardship. He also discusses how to grow our crops to avoid cross-pollination and what happens when the varieties cross. I also ask him about how to save tomato and cucumber seeds when the season is over. John is also an artist and has a pile of journals in which he has written stories in the dialect of people he writes about, along with pencil drawings on the pages of those journals that reflect the stories he writes. There may be a drawing of a method of root vegetable storage under a pile of straw and dirt to stay fresh through the winter from back in the early part of the 20th C. He might have a drawing of a structure that used to stand on his farm in Bybee, TN. Landscapes of places he has visited, drawings of root vegetables and seeds…all sorts of interesting drawings and recordings of people's lives, wisdom, and dialect. I have added some pictures of John and his drawings from his journals seen in this post.

Today, we are setting the table with a traditional food of Appalachia, “Apple Butter.” Each year in the fall time of the Mountain South, you can find pockets of people who get together, and cook down bushels of apples, sugar, and sometimes cinnamon into this biscuit-slathering favorite. It is one of those old-fashioned foods that is still a favorite on dinner tables near and far and makes a favorite gift for the holidays. Almost as important as the final product is the sense of community and preservation of culinary traditions that these “Apple Butter makings” preserve. Our featured guest is Derek Blankenship, an Orthopaedic Therapist at an East Tennessee long-term health and health care facility. Derrick and his family keep a family tradition of making apple butter each year at this time of year in Fall Branch, TN. The recipe that they use dates back to 1905. Fred Sauceman - Professor of Appalachian Studies, ETSU, Johnson City, Tennessee with a 
And also Amy shares a recipe for “Apple Butter Pork Roast” by way of “All Recipes”. And I (Amy Campbell) also share a recipe for “Apple Butter Pork Roast”, and Fred Sauceman shares a segment of Apple Butter making in the Mountain South, and a recipe for sausage balls with apple butter.

Today we are setting the table with the pig. We visit with Dr. Tom Gallaher of Knoxville. He and his wife Caryn are well-known doctors in Knoxville - and he is also a farmer - and he and his family are hosting the Third Annual Hog Creek Cotillion in Waynesboro TN Saturday, November 9th with an all-day whole hog roast, BBQ, and all the fixings, and live music which benefits two non-profit organizations: Southern Foodways Alliance and the Tunnels to Towers Foundation.   And back by popular demand - we also hear from Barry and Aliceson Bales of Bales Farm in Mosheim TN and how Barry smokes his pork shoulder and makes his BBQ Sauce.

Our guests are Rick Riddle of the Winery at Seven Springs Farm, and JD Dalton, Vineyard Manager of Tsali Notch Vineyard, in Monroe County, TN. They will let us know of the history, taste, and the nutritional properties of this ingegenous grape to the South East and both Rick Riddle and JD Dalton will both speak on the topic of Muscadine wine.

I (Amy Campbell) share Minnie Pearl's recipes for Curry Pickles and Mustard Pickles from her cookbook Minnie Pearl Cooks. -Fred Sauceman shares a pickle recipe from Distiller Jack Daniel's great, great, gran niece, Lynne Tolley. -Who was John Egerton? Elizabeth Simms lets us know who this man was & Robert Gipe tells a humorous story of his days working in a pickle factory. Amy recorded Elizabeth & Robert at the Appalachian Food Summit in September of 2016.

Today, we are setting the table with a discussion about land. Agricultural land, and the problem of the fast disappearance of this land across our country. Our guest is Brooks Lamb, Author of Love for the Land, Lessons from Farmers Who Persist in Place. Published through Yale University Press. This book is deeply related to Tennessee, Southern, and American agriculture. At its core, Love for the Land shares the power and potential of people-place relationships. To do so, the book explores why some small and midsize farmers continue to care for their land, even in the face of tremendous adversity. In terms of adversity, he pays particular attention to farmland loss from sprawl and haphazard development, agricultural consolidation, and, for farmers of color, injustices in the past and present. Despite these challenges, some small and midsized farmers persevere. In dozens of interviews with farmers in two Tennessee counties, which serve as microcosms of agrarian communities across the country, Brooks found that love for the land and devotion to place -- virtues that align with Wendell Berry's writings on imagination, affection, and fidelity -- fuel their persistence and stewardship. Brooks writes that we need to better support these farmers -- and that we all have something to learn from them, no matter where we live.

Corn, Corn Relish, and Corn Cob Jelly recipes with Rachel Abbott Davis of J and R Farms, plus a beautiful audio essay on corn from author and gardener Kelly Smith Trimble.

Aaron Goss, Founder of the Carolina Malt House located in Cleveland North Carolina. Aaron works with local farmers within 10 miles of the Malt House who grow grains that the Carolina Malt House then makes into different styles of malted grains for breweries. Aaron also works with a Tennessee Farmer in Coffee County Tennessee who grows a specific barley for the Carolina Malt House named Tennessee 2 Row. Several award-winning Tennessee breweries use malts from the Carolina Malt House such as Blackberry Farm Brewery,Tennessee Brew Works, Common John, Yee Haw, and more.

The 2nd Annual Appalachian Homecoming celebrates Modern Appalachian Cuisine, Music, and Art. August 1-4. My guest, Chef Jeff Carter, Executive Chef with Dancing Bear Appalachian Bistro talks about the 2nd Annual Appalachian Homecoming. Including: - Jim Lauderdale and the Po Ramblin' Boys and Dinner on August 1st at Dancing Bear, Townsend. - Bacon at the Brewery Dinner with Darrell and Allan Benton of Bentons Smoky Mountain Cured Hams, Chef Jeff Carter of Dancing Bear Appalachian Bistro, Chef Trevor Stockton of RT Lodge, Chef David Rule of The Appalachian at the Peaceful Side Brewery, Maryville August 2nd. - Appalachian Homecoming August 3rd at Dancing Bear beginning at 9:00 am with Panelists, Chefs, and an Appalachian Lunch followed by immersive workshops in foraging, art, mountain craft, and music. - Bluegrass Brunch, August 4th. - Ending with the 15th Annual Pesto Festo benefitting Slow Food TN Valley Sunday evening at Dancing Bear. All events are ticketed @dancingbearfor more information.

Corn, Corn Relish, and Corn Cob Jelly recipes with Rachel Abbott Davis of J and R Farms, TN, plus a beautiful audio essay on corn from author and gardener Kelly Smith Trimble.

Keep that kitchen cool; cook it outside!. How to cook juicy chicken and trout over live fire with Chef David Olsen of Live Fire Republic and Chef Joseph Lenn, owner of J.C. Holdway, Knoxville, TN. Also, news about the Appalachian Homecoming event at Dancing Bear Lodge, Townsend, TN. A grouping of chefs, farmers, and friends discussing and focusing on modern Appalachian cuisine.

On this episode of the Tennessee Farm Table, Amy sets the table with berries of the season, locations of regional pick-your-own farms, recipes for fruit desserts, blackberry jam, and a Blackberry slump grunt from Dee Dee Constantine. Amy's guests are Farmers Susan and John Keller of Blount County, TN, Dee Dee Constantine, Ruth Davis, and Lois Shuler Caughron (known as the last woman out of the Cove)⁣ ⁣ Lois and Ruth share memories of Kermit Caughron, how he enjoyed making “dew” from fruits of the season when a resident of Cades Cove, and news about a book signing at the Cades Cove Preservation Association.⁣

From University of KY Press - Sown in the Stars brings together the collective knowledge of farmers in central and eastern Kentucky about the custom of planting by the signs. Sarah Hall interviews nearly two dozen contemporary Kentuckians who still follow the signs of the moon and stars to guide planting, harvesting, canning and food preservation, butchering, and general farmwork. Hall explores the roots of this system in both astrology and astronomy and the profound connections felt to the stars, moon, planets, and the earth. Revealed in the personal narratives are the diverse interpretations of the practice. Some farmers and gardeners believe that the moon's impact on crop behavior is purely scientific, while others favor a much wider interpretation of the signs and their impact on our lives. Featuring photographs by Meg Wilson, this timely book bridges the past, present, and future by broadening our understanding of this practice and revealing its potential to increase the resiliency of our current agricultural food systems.

Houston's Mineral Well is located in New Market, Tennessee. Bill Houston narrates the story of Houston's Mineral Water which is still going strong since 1931. Bill Houston is the owner and operator of this Mineral Well that his Grandfather established. This well is a treasured watering hole for the community of Jefferson County, TN and beyond. It is said to have healing properties. The water healed Bill's Grandfather after he had a dream to dig the well. Bill Houston is a gifted fine artist with a focus primarily on Tennessee landscapes. He also taught fine art to students at Carson Newman University for over 40 years. He used to teach his lecture on how to draw in perspective with the help of his Spice Girls ruler. Bill is a 3rd generation, New Market, Tennessee resident, a Tennessee treasure, and a fabulous storyteller.

Aliceson Bales of Bales Farm, Mosheim, Tennessee, with her cookbook, shares with us the cooking aspects and nutritional properties of lard from pasture-raised animals. Aliceson also shares a recipe for her white cheddar pimento cheese from her cookbook “Bales Farm Cookbook” with the forward written by Dolly Parton. Marshall Bales, currently 17-years-old and the 6th generation to farm on Bales Farm, shares how he started his egg program on Bales Farm. Molly Rochelson and Sally Buice from the musical group The Montvales talk about their group. In addition, Sally shares how she makes her biscuits. She at one time was the biscuit queen for Cruze Farm Dairy!⁣

In this episode, we are setting the table with “Kermit's Striped Stick Bean”. We visit with John and Rachel Davis, owners of J & R Farms in Blount County, Tennessee. John Davis's great-grandmother is Lois Shuler Caughron, and her late husband is Kermit Caughron. The Caughron family has raised and saved an heirloom bean for generations named the “Striped Stick Bean”. This bean comes from the last remaining descendants of white settlers and residents of Cades Cove, Kermit, and Lois Caughron. When the Great Smoky Mountains National Park was established, the residents of Cades Cove were made to move out of the area over a certain amount of years. These last remaining residents of Cades Cove are John and Rachel Davis's ancestors. This family is very involved with a nonprofit organization called the Cades Cove Preservation Association, and a link is below to find out more about this organization and the repository of artifacts and pictures of the families of white settlers who formerly lived in Cades Cove. I (Amy) am actively gathering recordings and information on the original settlers of Cades Cove and Eastern Tennessee Mountains, Native American residents who long before white settlers came to the area of East Tennessee. I hope to be sharing podcasts and radio shows on the Native American perspective through the lens of food over the next months. For his “Potluck Radio” series, Fred Sauceman recalls Tennessee memories of the Franklin Club and of Raymond Bautista owner of the former restaurant “Raymond's Fine Foods” along with Raymond's recipe for Cole Slaw. Raymond's Fine Foods was inducted into the Tennessee Restaurant Hall of Fame.

Today we are sitting around the table and visiting with a family and farm and how this family uses their skills to farm, cook, and host elevated meals for private events and, on occasion, community dinners. We visit with Farm to Feast founders Chef Jeff Jorgensen, event planner Jessica Jorgensen, and Jeff's sister Heather Fulghum, ecology teacher, farmer, and founder of She Diggs Farm, located in the Hardin Valley area of Knoxville, TN. Heather grows the food, Jeff uses it to provide farm-inspired dinners using seasonal ingredients, and Jessica uses her hospitality and event planning background to create elegant feasts on the family farm.

Searching for that fifth taste of “Umami” with a morel mushroom hunt, cook, and asparagus. My guests are Chris Burger and Chef Robert Allen of Bluestem Hollow. Plus, Author and Gardener Kelly Smith Trimble. ⁣

We welcome spring in Tennessee with Clint Smith's Small batch Tennessee maple syrup doings. And Author, Podcaster, gardener, and YouTube channel favorite “Digging It,” Kelly Smith Trimble on the topic of Asparagus.

Today, Special Growers, Maryville, TN, offers workforce development training and employment for people with learning differences who age out of high school and special education classes. Their story and Chattanooga Bakery's Moonpie on my latest podcast and radio broadcast. Hope to have the honor of your good company! Thanks! At Special Growers, they grow culinary herbs and cut flowers and are supported by area restaurants, corporate donors, and community members. Kent Davis is our guest, a founding member of Special Growers, and a parent of a child who benefitted from Special Growers. In Fred Sauceman's Pot-Luck Radio Series, he features the Moonpie, which has been made for over 100 years by the Chattanooga Bakery in Chattanooga, TN.

We will be joined by singer-songwriter Verlon Thompson, his food memory of chocolate gravy, and what it meant to him as a kid growing up in Oklahoma. In addition, we will also hear Verlin Thompson's song “DinnerBell”. I'll share with you the recipe I use to make chocolate gravy - and you might be surprised, it doesn't have much fat in it. The recipe is also posted below. In Fred Sauceman's Pot Luck Radio series, he features the “Lord's Acre Sale” at Hilton's United Methodist Church in Scott County Virginia.

Tyler Rogers from Chattanooga, Tennessee, makes wooden chairs, the old-style way with hand tools. His chairs are as beautiful as they are functional. Tyler also shares his Grandmother Wyoline Lewis's squash casserole recipe. Also, Fred Sauceman shares ham smoker Allan Benton's Red Eye Gravy recipe.

Our guest is Stephanie Carlson of SoKnoSourDough - a sourdough bakery in South Knoxville, TN. Stephanie had no plans of ever becoming a baker. Today, we will hear how she got into this line of work, where her starter came from, some of her products, and how she equips the community to bake sourdough for themselves. Also, on today's program in Fred Sauceman's Potluck Radio series, he features novelist Adriana Trigiani on culinary cultures. And we have pulled up another chair to this big TN table here - Jessica Carr, the owner of Girl's Gotta Eat Good, Knoxville's first Asian Bakery, is our guest interviewer today with SoKnoSourDough - I'm really excited to welcome Jessica Carr on board here at the Tennessee Farm Table helping to interview Knoxville Food Makers. Welcome, Jessica.

The Legendary University of Tennessee Football Coach Phillip Fulmer raises bees and is my guest on this episode. Coach Fulmer is passionate about raising awareness for honey bees and was generous with his time to record this story to advocate for the importance of these bees.

Jessica Carr, a young entrepreneurial woman who created Girls Gotta Eat Good, Asian Bakery. Knoxville's first Asian bakery. Jessica turned her love of baking, many of her mother's recipes, and a daring leap of faith after prayer into an innovative business, and she is seeing good results. An inspirational story. In Fred Sauceman's potluck radio series, he visits with Ron Hawkins of Hawk Nest Farms, a wagyu beef farmer located in the Greene-Washington County area of Tennessee.

Seed Saving & Stories with our seed-saving pal John Coykendall of Knoxville, TN. John tells us how he became a seed saver, some of the varieties he has saved, where to find old-time heirloom seed like the ones he saves, and shares plus some cute stories.

Today, we are setting the table with pant-based eating and how this helps new moms. Today, my first guest is Meik Elliott, creator, and owner of Meik Meals. This young, black, Knoxville-based entrepreneurial chef creates foods that give us that comfort of taste while using healthier ingredients. Meik encourages people to make lifestyle choices that nurture the body, mind, and soul. She specifically works with postpartum Mothers to help them feel their best through food, education, and meditation with her Lotus program. Meik also speaks to groups throughout the community about her work. Fred Saucepan's potluck radio segment features Cherokee poet and storyteller Marilou Awiakta.

From University of KY Press - Sown in the Stars brings together the collective knowledge of farmers in central and eastern Kentucky about the custom of planting by the signs. Sarah Hall interviews nearly two dozen contemporary Kentuckians who still follow the signs of the moon and stars to guide planting, harvesting, canning and food preservation, butchering, and general farmwork. Hall explores the roots of this system in both astrology and astronomy and the profound connections felt to the stars, moon, planets, and the earth. Revealed in the personal narratives are the diverse interpretations of the practice. Some farmers and gardeners believe that the moon's impact on crop behavior is purely scientific, while others favor a much wider interpretation of the signs and their impact on our lives. Featuring photographs by Meg Wilson, this timely book bridges the past, present, and future by broadening our understanding of this practice and revealing its potential to increase the resiliency of our current agricultural food systems.

Cast Iron Cornbread, make your own butter, fried peach pies, Beef Stew, and “Pal's Sudden Service”. 
Guests: - Iva Spoon Wilde with Cast Iron Cornbread, make your own butter, fried peach pies. - Mary “Dee Dee” Constantine with a recipe for Vietnamese Beef Stew. - Fred Sauceman's “Pot Luck Radio” segment with Pal Kenneth Barger, the man who created an upper East Tennessee favorite eating establishment “Pal's Sudden Service”.

Today, we are setting the table with a discussion about land. Agricultural land, and the problem of the fast disappearance of this land across our country. Our guest is Brooks Lamb, Author of Love for the Land, Lessons from Farmers Who Persist in Place. Published through Yale University Press. This book is deeply related to Tennessee, Southern, and American agriculture. At its core, Love for the Land shares the power and potential of people-place relationships. To do so, the book explores why some small and midsize farmers continue to care for their land, even in the face of tremendous adversity. In terms of adversity, he pays particular attention to farmland loss from sprawl and haphazard development, agricultural consolidation, and, for farmers of color, injustices in the past and present.  Despite these challenges, some small and midsized farmers persevere. In dozens of interviews with farmers in two Tennessee counties, which serve as microcosms of agrarian communities across the country, Brooks found that love for the land and devotion to place -- virtues that align with Wendell Berry's writings on imagination, affection, and fidelity -- fuel their persistence and stewardship. Brooks writes that we need to better support these farmers -- and that we all have something to learn from them, no matter where we live. If you are moved by this podcast to help with this crucial problem of farmland loss - and are thinking about year-end-giving - there is an organization that Brooks is closely aligned and works with that is actively addressing farmland loss and conversion in the Volunteer State, this organization is called American Farmland Trust. We have also placed a link directly to that organization on our website too. It is Farmland.org

Why do we all eat Pinto Beans in Appalachia, an Appalachian Culinary discussion with Ronni Lundy. It has to do the mining camps, labor wars, the company store, & food insecurity as told by James Beard Award-winning Food Writer Ronni Lundy.

James Gann, Music Educator in Blount Co, TN won a blue ribbon for his pumpkin pie at the Great Smoky Mountains Heritage Center. James lets us know about the type of pumpkin he grows and his pie. Haylee Gibadowski describes how to process a fresh pumpkin for pies and shares her recipe for a gluten and dairy-free pumpkin pie that is delicious. (Recipe below, keep scrolling) Fred Sauceman's Pot Luck Radio series features novelist Adriana Trigiani, Author of Big Stone Gap, Milk Glass Moon, and Big Cherry Holler describes her Appalachian autumn memories and a little story involving Elizabeth Taylor and choking on a chicken bone.

Appalachian Thanksgiving recipes include sweet potato casserole and stuffing.  Our feature interview is Mary Lynn Snyder originally from Harlan Kentucky.  Mary Lynn remembers her mother Ruby's recipes and traditional ways of cooking. Dee Dee Constantine, retired food writer for the Knoxville News Sentinel has a segment on tips on how to prepare venison roast and venison steak, and she shares a recipe for venison meatloaf. Fred Sauceman's Potluck Radio series - we revisit his segment on the annual historic event of turkey herding that used to take place in Hancock County Tennessee. And I (Amy Campbell) share a story I recorded with my late father, who was an old-fashioned East TN medical doctor. He accumulated a lot of interesting stories in his 60-plus years of practicing medicine, and this story involves a turkey egg.

Bill Houston (Owner of Houston's Mineral Well, fine artist extraordinaire, and a New Market TN native shares a story of a late New Market TN neighbor who penned the tag line for JFG Coffee Company “The Best Part of the Meal”. Tinah Utsman shares memories of her father “Coffee Jack” who was President of JFG Coffee during the 1982  Knoxville World's Fair. Mary “Dee Dee” Constantine (Retired Food Editor of the Knoxville News Sentinel) has a recipe for coffee and brown sugar steak rub.

Cast Iron, and Cornbread, are two staples of the Appalachian table. My guest is Dr. Katie Hoffman who describes how she and her husband Brett Tiller created a business called Vintage Kitchen, Cast Iron and Collectibles, and how they rescue and rehab cast iron and resell their finds at their cast iron pop-up clinics that they conduct from time to time in Tennessee and Virginia. They call these sessions they hold “Cast Iron Clinics”. They sell cast iron and ship it all over the country and will also take in your old, sad, probably rusty, and pitted heirloom cast iron, and will rehab it for you so it can be brought back to its useful life once again. Also, Katie is going to let us know how she makes her cornbread in a cast iron skillet. In Fred Sauceman's potluck radio series, he his subject is “Gritty Bread”.

Setting the table with Country Ham, and how through the dry-aged process, and sliced paper thin, is then called “Prosciutto.  Our guest on the show today is Allan Benton, of Madisonville, TN - he shares his story on how he learned what the word Prosciutto meant, and how he positioned his product to the world of fine dining - and now, his prosciutto goes to toe with some of the most expensive, and well-known imported prosciuttos. And Allan Benton's dry-aged, country hams are produced in Madisonville, Tennessee.  I (Amy Campbell) share a recipe for an easy-to-make appetizer that I have named “Smoky Mountain Sushi” - It is not made with seafood, but rather country, ham, collard greens, and black-eyed peas.

In this episode, my featured guest is Knoxville Native, seed saver, artist, and farmer John Coykendall. John will let us know the origins, qualities,, and culinary uses of Cushaw squash. I (Amy Campbell) share a recipe from John's book for baked cushaw, courtesy of Mrs. Cornelia Weldon, mother of Sarah Weldon Hackenburg who took many of the photos for John Coykendall and Christina Melton's book Preserving Our Roots: My Journey to Save Seed and Stories. Fred Sauceman, Food historian, Writer, and Professor of Appalachian Studies at ETSU shares a segment on the Native American origins of Cushaw squash.

Today, we are setting the table with loving people through food, loving on the honey bee, and news of an old-fashioned fall festival taking place Friday and Saturday, September 29, and 30th at the Townsend Visitor Center in Townsend, TN. This festival includes lots of Bluegrass music, old-fashioned southern food, vendors with honey, and a church group out of Morristown making and selling apple butter. My guests are Jill Hepperley and her Mother Cheryl Free of Townsend, TN - Cheryl is an incredible Southern cook who opens her home every Sunday to the community for a good home-cooked meal. She and Jill reach people in dark places with biscuits and unconditional love. They will be serving up Beans and Hoe-Cakes (Pinto Beans and fried Cornbread) Fried Bologna, and Fried Apple Pies at the Townsend Fall Festival all for the greater good and I can't wait for them to tell you about how they love on people through food. We also visit with apiarists and owners of Smoky Ridge Apiaries, Judy and Coly O'Dell of Maryville TN. They are passionate about helping honey bees, and protecting honey bees, and freely give their time and expertise to help people set up hives and raise bees. They will also be set up at the Townsend Fall festival with their honey, Muddy Pond Sorghum, pollen, skincare, crafts, and more, and most importantly, a happy smile for everyone. The Townsend in the Smokies Fall Festival takes place Sept. 29-30, 2023 from 10-11, both days. The festival provides an atmosphere where family and friends of all ages can partake in time-honored Appalachian traditions at a free community event. This event takes place in Townsend TN. at the Townsend Visitor's Center. Crafts & Demonstrations: from 10 a.m.–6 p.m., Food: from 10 a.m.–6 p.m., and bluegrass Music: 11 a.m. With a play area for children, ax throwing, music pickers jamming, Fowler's Country Ground Cornmeal, and a huge on list of vendors. Also the Bible Aires Baptist Church will be there making and selling Apple Butter, and Cheryl and Jill who you just heard from will be cooking Beans and Hoe-Cakes , Fried Bologna, and Fried Apple Pies. There is a shuttle service from multiple locations in Townsend on both days to alleviate parking congestion. More information: Smokymountains.org/townsend fall festival.

Today, we are setting the table with artisan-made pasta and sauces made with farm-raised ingredients on a family farm. Our guests are Dustin and Stacey Busby of DSB Provisions from Maryville, TN. DSB Provisions is a family farm where Dustin, Stacey, and their 3 kids grow fruits and vegetables, raise chickens and rabbits, make homemade pasta and sauces, and offer a personal chef experience. We also hear from Mary Dee Dee Constantine on the topic of collards and her recipe for a quick meal using collard greens and angel hair pasta that she calls Asian Noodles and Greens.

Aaron Goss, Founder of the Carolina Malt House located in Cleveland North Carolina. Aaron works with local farmers within 10 miles of the Malt House who grow grains that the Carolina Malt House then makes into different styles of malted grains for breweries. Aaron also works with a Tennessee Farmer in Coffee County Tennessee who grows a specific barley for the Carolina Malt House named Tennessee 2 Row. Several award-winning Tennessee breweries use malts from the Carolina Malt House such as Blackberry Farm Brewery, TN Brew Works, Common John, Harding House, Yee Haw, and more.