Radio Bristol’s Farm and Fun Time is the flagship show of Radio Bristol’s programming, and it continues to grow in popularity as we begin reaching a broader audience through television! Though the top-notch musical guests and host band Bill and the Belles often steal the show, music is just one part of the cultural celebration that is Farm and Fun Time. Each show also includes “Radio Bristol Farm Report” and “Heirloom Recipe” segments, which bring attention to regional food and farming.
The “Radio Bristol Farm Report” showcases regional farmers who are using innovative and sustainable ways to provide the best and safest products possible to people across Appalachia, while the “Heirloom Recipe” highlights the significance of food in our region’s culture. Just as one ingredient can be used to make many dishes, a recipe can mean many different things to different folks. Each recipe presenter, ranging from park rangers to professional chefs to writers, brings a distinct recipe with a meaningful history behind it. To cap it all off, Bill and the Belles plays and sings a new original jingle written to commemorate each recipe.
Cooking and passing down recipes is a big part of Appalachian culture, and the stories that go along with them often become part of our family – and wider – lore. With this first “Heirloom Recipe” post, we want to share a few of our past Farm and Fun Time segments that are exemplary of the rich food culture of Appalachia. But check back here as we’ll be sharing a new “Heirloom Recipe” post, written by our contributors, every few months on the BCM blog, plus of course, tune in to future Farm and Fun Time’s for new “Heirloom Recipes” – and then get cooking!
Kinney Rorrer: Banana Pudding
Kinney Rorrer is a renowned scholar of traditional music, the great-nephew of Posey Rorer and Charlie Poole, and a fine old-time musician in his own right with his group The New North Carolina Ramblers. A masterful storyteller, Kinney fondly recalls his mother’s banana pudding recipe. Learning to cook from her grandmother, Kinney’s mother helped prepare meals that her grandmother sold to cotton mill workers to earn extra money during the Great Depression. Kinney can be heard on Radio Bristol each Monday at 12:00 noon ET and Saturday at 3:00pm on The County Sales Radio Hour.
Chuck Gordon: Dr. Enuf
Not all “Heirloom Recipe” segments are homespun favorites; sometimes our contributors explore a regional favorite instead. Dr. Enuf has been bottled in Johnson City, Tennessee, since 1949, and we were fortunate to have Chuck Gordon stop by to talk about the history of this sparkling regional favorite.
Toni Doman: Cherry Pie
BCM staff member Toni Doman wears a lot of hats at the Birthplace of Country Music, including being one of our favorite “Heirloom Recipe” presenters. In her spare time, Toni likes to bake, especially pies, and she shared a recipe for cherry pie that she learned from her grandmother with the Farm and Fun Time audience. The recipe was great, but what made Toni’s presentation really special was the choreography with Summer Apostol who helped Toni with some visual aids and other special effects that made this an especially fun-filled segment! You can hear Toni each Thursday at 4:00pm ET on Mountain Song and Story on Radio Bristol!