Appalachian Review: Kirkwood Winery

 Hello Appalachia!

    I try to do three posts a month, and here we are at the end of June. I somehow lost all track of time, so hopefully you won't mind getting two posts in the same week. The power is out here due to the crazy weather (I came home to a tornado warning last night), so I'm writing this entire post from my phone. That's how I dedicated I am. I also cooked lunch using a candle and the grill off of the toaster oven. It's about to be a long day. So due to time constraints and the fact that I'm working on my phone, this one will be short.

Appalachians don't need electricity to cook!

     A few months ago, I was visiting Nicholas County (a lot of my blogs start this way), and I decided to check out the Kirkwood Winery in Summersville, WV. I'll be sure to attach the link for their website where you can read about the history and events, such as the Grape Stompin' Festival.

    It was a miserably rainy day when we went so we didn't look into a tour, but I intend to see these acres of grapevines for myself before I move away from this region. We just visited the Country Store and I bought two bottles of their wine to sample.
     I have never seen so many different types of wine. Ramp wine, dandelion wine, wine from every fruit you could ever imagine.

The store also sells merchandise such as wine glasses with their logo, cork holders, and stuff you'd expect to see in a wine store. They also have products I guarantee you won't find outside of Appalachia, such as Ramp Mustard. 

     Their wines can be purchased all over the state of West Virginia. I've seen it in gas stations and grocery stores everywhere. I'm not sure if you save money by purchasing directly from Kirkwood Winery, because the prices of the wines at the Amish Bulk Food store in Flatwoods were pretty consistent with the prices at the Kirkwood Winery Country Store. 

    As I mentioned earlier, I got two different wines to try. I got a small bottle of Cherry and a small bottle of Elderberry. They were 8 or 9 dollars per bottle, and you get about two glasses per bottle. 

    These two wines were quite sweet compared to your standard reds and whites, and I am far from being any kind of connoisseur, but I would use them for a dessert type of beverage. The Cherry was actually quite good. It tasted exactly like liquid cherries. It didn't have the artificial taste of Maraschino cherries, but a freshly picked from the tree type of taste. I really liked it. 

     The Elderberry was not as enjoyable for me. It was sweet enough to be syrup, and I've never tasted actual elderberries, so there's a possibility I just don't like that flavor. That being said, I definitely want to try out some more of these wines, particularly Strawberry and Dandelion. Thanks for reading! 

Link for Kirkwood Winery website:

https://www.kirkwood-wine.com/

**I am not affiliated with Kirkwood Winery. This is just a review of the two wines I bought. 

Have you ever tried any products from an Appalachian vineyard? Do you have a favorite specialty wine?  Do you make your own wine? I'd love to hear about it at mountainbloodwv@ gmail.com or on Facebook, MountBlood WV. 

    

    

Makeshift Appalachia: DIY Pepperoni Rolls

Hello Appalachia!

    This month is flying by, and I have 3 more days to get you a few more blogs. Yikes. Anyway, let's talk about my favorite thing, food. The Appalachian Mountains served to isolate groups of people from each other for a long time, and that is the main reason our unique culture was born. The mountain dwellers grew up in a place all their own with very little outside influence before the days of internet, TV, and even radios. Our ancestors created a world and culture all their own, and just like with any culture, food is a major component. Some readers may ask themselves, what exactly is considered Appalachian food? I would say ramps, venison, beans and cornbread, and my favorite, pepperoni rolls. Apparently they're hard to find outside of West Virginia. The rest of the world is missing out on the Holy Grail of snack foods, and since my readers now span all four corners of the earth, I decided to let them in on the secret. I hesitate to call this recipe my own, since I'm sure other people have made them this way, but I got the idea to do this just by looking at what I had in my pantry.

Let's get cooking. (The list of ingredients and recipe will be posted at the bottom of the page).

I started by spraying some muffin tins with cooking spray. I used frozen yeast rolls, shredded cheese, and sliced pepperoni.

I put two rolls in each cup of the muffin tin, covered them in plastic cling wrap, and allowed them to rise for 2-3 hours. Depending on the temperature, they may rise faster or slower, so check them a few times. 

They should look like buttcheeks when they're ready. 

Next, you just spread the rolls and stuff some cheese and pepperoni into the opening. You can also add other fillings like mushrooms, black olives, or banana peppers. Today I did half pepperoni and cheese, and half with banana peppers. Close the "pocket" in the two rolls by pinching the dough together. Bake them at 375 F for 20 minutes. 

The final step is optional, but I don't think these pepperoni rolls are complete without honey butter. I smear it all over them when they're piping hot out of the oven. 

The final step is to try to resist eating ten of them at once. I hope you try this and like the results! 

Ingredients:

Frozen yeast dinner rolls

Sliced pepperoni

Shredded cheese (any kind)

Banana peppers (optional)

Honey butter (optional)

Recipe:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 375 F.

2. Put two of the frozen rolls into each cup of a greased muffin tin, cover with cling wrap, and let them rise for 2-3 hours. 

3. Stuff the rolls with cheese, pepperoni, and any other fillings you choose. 

4. Pinch the rolls closed. 

5. Bake for 20 minutes. 

6. Glaze with honey butter (optional). 

7. Enjoy! 

Do you have an Appalachian recipe you'd like to share? Do you have a favorite cultural dish? What's your favorite food? I'd love to hear about it at mountainbloodwv@gmail.com or on Facebook, MountainBlood WV. Thanks for reading! 

June's Featured Appalachian!

Hello friends!

    We're halfway through June and I still haven't given you a featured Appalachian. To be honest, they are getting harder to come by with each passing month, so if you're reading this and know someone you would like featured, please don't ever hesitate to contact me. I need participation from the MountainBlood community to keep this segment going. Help a sister out.

    With that rant being over, let's get to the good stuff. Our featured Appalachian this month is my paternal great-grandfather, William Hubert Griffith. To those who knew him, he was just Hubert. He was born to Clarence and Melinda Griffith in 1896 in Kanawha County, WV. His father was a coal miner, and his mother died of Bright's disease in her early twenties. His father remarried a woman named Edith, and Hubert had 8 siblings overall.

Hubert's father and stepmother, Clarence and Edith Griffith, approximately 1900. 

    Hubert completed elementary school, and he started working in the coal mines when he was 13. I believe he worked with the horses and mules that pulled the wagons. A few years later, he fought in World War I, where he spent time in France. When he was 25, he married 15-year-old Christie Johnston. They started their family in Clay County, West Virginia. They had several children: Edith, Alice (my maternal grandmother), Freda, Ercle, Clarence (deceased), Ralph (deceased), Tommy (deceased), Bert (deceased), Charles (deceased), Wesley (deceased), Donna (deceased), Harold (deceased), Okey, Doris (died in childhood from pneumonia after being burnt in a fire), Evalee (died in childhood from an intestinal disease), and there were also twin girls who were stillborn after Christie suffered a fall. I don't dare try to count up their grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren, but my grandma tells me the number is in the hundreds.

Hubert and Christie with some of their children. 

     Aside from working in the mines, Hubert also ran moonshine with his brother Ralph. Ralph would make it, and Hubert would take it to Kanawha County to distribute it. Legend has it that a revenuer caught Ralph and was shot dead for his trouble. Aside from moonshine and coal mines, Hubert also called the local barn dances.

Hubert in his mining clothes, smoking a pipe. 

     Hubert died in 1981 of black lung complications. He has hundreds of descendants scattered all over the globe. He lived through hard labor, WWI, The Great Depression, Prohibition, and many other historically significant events. He has quite a legacy, and I am pleased to share it with you. Thanks for reading. 

Do you have a relative or friend that fought in a war? Ran moonshine? Grew their own food? Came to the mountains from Ireland to find work?  I am always on the lookout for the next Featured Appalachian, and if you would like to nominate someone, I can pretty much guarantee they will be featured. Please don't hesitate to get in touch, and we can share the story of your parents/grandparents/relatives/friends. You can contact me at mountainbloodwv@gmail.com or on Facebook under the name MountainBlood WV. Thank you!