Chitter tuning fiddles for a group of young fiddlers
Over the years too many musicians to count have helped the girls along the way. They’ve taught them tunes, shared their favorite instruments, and encouraged their musical endeavors.
These days Chatter and Chitter are trying their best to pay it forward by helping the ones coming up behind them on the path of traditional music.
Last night’s video: A Traditional Appalachian Meal and How to Make Fried Okra.
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Love, love, love fried okra (and stewed okra and any other way it can be done. I like it combined and cooked with cabbage and in vegetable soup . etc.) We always had a Fall dish made with a mixture of new potatoes, okra, green tomatoes and onions breaded like you and Grannie prepare okra for frying, and fried in the cast iron skillet! It is made with the last pickings from the garden. So wonderfully delicious. This reminds me of something I have been intending to ask you about your garden: We always grew English peas and lots of blackeyed peas. The blackeyed peas were a staple on a par with green beans in Southern Oklahoma. Did you never grow these two, or are they not favorites with your family? We also grew sweet potatoes and collard greens. Our squash were yellow crook necked and Patty-pan or acorn squash. I don’t remember growing the large green and white, ( Cushaw?) or the butternut variety. Other than these few things, our garden produce ran pretty much along identical lines. My garden memories come from my childhood being raised by my Grandparents with my two older brothers and one older sister
Betsy-So glad you are enjoying what we do! I’m not sure why but Pap and Granny never grew black eyed peas nor patty pan or acorn squash. And in turn I don’t grow them either. I do like them as I know Pap and Granny did too.
Thank you for sharing about your family and experiences!!
The picture of Chitter with the young girls is just beautiful. It speaks volumes of the true Appalachian heritage to help, share and encourage each other with whatever the good Lord has blessed us with in each season of our life, whether it’s knowledge, skills , or talents. It builds a legacy of great memories and meaningful relationships with kindred spirits.
Thank you Tipper for all you and your family do to keep the Appalachian heritage going strong. Thank you to all who comment on her post because it’s an encouragement to read each comment that no matter what season of life we are in, no matter where we are, no matter how life has changed throughout our time, we all still have great memories surrounding our love of the Appalachian.
Good girls! Pass it on to coming generations and help kids just like they were helped.
Pretty much how my mom & I fry up okra, except adding a bit of flour with the cornmeal. Mom said flour helped the cornmeal stick. Nothing better.
Cornstarch works better that flour and and your okrie is still gluten free if gluten in an issue.
What a wonderful attribute to mentor young musicians. I remember reading the blog when Katie and Corrie were being encouraged by older musicians and how they have grown using that knowledge and then paying it forward to help other young girls.
Also, Tipper, I enjoyed your video and my Mother cooked her Okrie just as you did except I don’t remember her putting it in the oven at the end. I loved her fried Okrie but I also liked her boiled Okrie. My husband and children never did care for Okrie so I didn’t cook it and I really miss Mother’s fried Okrie. I grew some a couple years back and enjoyed cooking it but it didn’t seem to taste as good as Mothers. Your supper looked awesome!!
One idea ingrained in many Appalachians is that you will be rewarded for good deeds. I found this to be true in every aspect of life. I cannot count the vegetables I have given freely from my garden, and in return all sorts of things showed up on my porch from gardening neighbors. Chitter sharing generously of her knowledge is the same life principle, and it is my firm belief she will be rewarded down the line. My family taught me giving, sharing, and my Dad even scolded me once later in life by saying, “Young’un you are getting greedy.” In a split second I revisited my motives in what I was doing. You have done an excellent job raising your children to be sharing, and this is a good thing. Those young girls will remember this all their lives! Seems like I remember reading in the “good book” something about traits carrying down through the generations.
Tipper, I wish you could install a laugh button on your site. I get so amused by some of your commenter’s comments. Ed Ammon’s comments usually make me smile.
I enjoyed all the comments on here so far. Each one of them is so true! There is something so satisfying in paying it forward. And there is something so exhilarating about being your own boss! The picture you shared with this post is lovely!
I love to see this! Chitter paying it forward
I couldn’t help noticing the two smaller girls’ feet. 1. They have the same shoes and 2. They are standing with their feet crossed like I used to do when I had the balance to do it without falling over.
How. Rewarding.
How. Needed.
How. Right.
Nothing resonates better in the soul than a good. traditional fiddle tune, one that’s bred in the hills of Appalachia. Congratulations and thanks to Chitter and Chatter for their sharing and teaching others – to help keep the music and the traditions alive.
I am of the opinion that trying to teach someone else is one sure way to test one’s own knowledge and understanding. At least it has been so with me. Paying it forward is one way of casting bread on the waters. Has a way of coming back one way or another. (Which makes me think of the country saying about ‘having your chickens come home to roost.’)
Wishing a blessed day to all the BP&A folks and readers.
That picture of girls together is worth a thousand words. They’re learning from a skilled musician and those smiles tell of their eagerness to learn! Both my daughters have been fortunate enough to meld their passions into a living wage. One teaches SCUBA and the other teaches Math on the Yucatán in Mexico alongside their husbands. They make people smile and happy. As a nurse ( before all this you know what) I don’t think I ever made anybody smile. It was a very difficult job. The girls told me when they were teenagers they would NEVER nurse because holidays and birthdays were ALWAYS celebrated on the WRONG days and they greatly resented this. My advice find your passion and meld it to your life not the other way around. God bless all the young people today! They need lots of prayers, understanding, guidance and acceptance as they struggle to find their way in today’s super messed up society….
The only thing more rewarding than learning how to do something is passing that knowledge and skill on to others.