Barbara Swell’s post-college crash pad after Virginia Tech was a bit unconventional: an abandoned pre-Civil War farm house with no running water, and only wood that she chopped herself for heat and cooking. Instead of paying rent, she rose at 5 am each day to feed the cows. She slept under feedsack quilts from the 1830s. The arrangement started as a way to save money but it resulted in a life-long passion: the preservation of the old ways of self-sufficiency that had once been the norm in the Blue Ridge. The author of ten books on traditional Appalachian cookery, Swell teaches cooking courses at her home and at the John C. Campbell Folk School. She’s particularly known for her pies, the recipes for which can be found in her book The Lost Art of Piemaking.
Swell moved to the Asheville area in 1981 and in 1985, she and her husband, old-time and bluegrass musician Wayne Erbsen, bought a five-acre property tucked away in a neighborhood of ‘50s ranch houses in Haw Creek. The main house — a converted 1880s barn that had been covered over with stucco — and what’s now the studio — a 1930s Montgomery Ward kit cabin — both proved to be long-term projects. Swell now offers cooking lessons in the cabin’s kitchen while Erbsen teaches traditional Appalachian music in the big front room of the house. They’ve even combined their two skills and taught a pickin’ and pies class.
Swell’s cabin studio kitchen is outfitted with a wood-fired, enamel stove. Vintage linens and dishes from the ‘30s through the ‘50s line the open shelves. Her extensive collection of vintage aprons hangs on the back wall. “I stage nostalgia,” says Swell. Walking into the kitchen reminds students of beloved cooking with their mothers, grandmothers or aunts a generation ago and keeps that connection alive. Swell gives us a tour of some of the kitchen highlights here.
Barbara, what’s the story with the stove?
It’s from 1928. This kind of stove was common around here, but we got this one from near Kingsport. These stoves typically lasted about 25 years. Electricity didn’t come to rural areas till around the 1950s, so the local ones had all worn out and been discarded before electricity came along. They got electricity earlier up there, so you can still find some functional models. We have an off-the-grid cabin in Madison County and we have the exact same stove there.
This stove has everything you need. There are warming areas on top. The area over the heat source gets really hot, but you can move what you’re cooking to one of the other areas if you need low heat. Baking in this oven takes the same amount of time that it would take in a gas oven. I teach a wood-fired cooking class just for women where we start from the beginning and everyone gets to chop their own wood.
What can you tell us about that little handmade stove?
It’s a portable Everhot stove that I found in an antique store years ago for $15. These stoves were designed to fit over the burners of ovenless oil stoves in the early 20th century. You could stick this little insulated two-shelf gizmo over a burner, and voila…baked ham and sweet potatoes at your service. Essentially, it’s an Easy Bake Oven for grownups.
My little Everhot will bake a cake over a campfire, an electric burner, and the wood cookstove. You might be able to use it with a grill, but don’t quote me on that.
What a gorgeous guitar, Wayne. What kind is it?
It’s a 1931 National Duolian. A lot of people call them “steel guitars,” and as a matter of fact, they’re actually made from solid steel. They were first introduced in the ‘20s to take advantage of the boom in all things Hawaiian. A lot of the early Nationals had images of palm trees and Hula dancers etched on the back and were often nickel or chrome plated. When the Great Depression hit, the company produced cheaper models that were more affordable. Instead of nickel or chrome, the National that I have was spray painted with kind of a tacky grey color. As you can see, much of the paint has flaked off, which gives it that well-worn look. In fact, this guitar is so funky-looking and has so much character, that when I show up to a gig and take this thing out, I always wait to hear the “ooos” and “ahhhhs.” Although the guitars were created to play Hawaiian music, other musicians were attracted by how loud these guitars can be. In particular, the Nationals were the favorite instrument of many of the old blues players like Son House and Bukka White. Some of the cowboy singers like Carl Sprague used them too.
So where do you stand? Are you a blues guy or a cowboy guy?
I wouldn’t call myself either, really. I think it’s safe to say that I’m a bluegrass and old-time music guy who really loves the non-slicked down roots music. I like my music somewhat rough-hewn and rustic sounding. That’s what has attracted me to the traditional sounds of the old music. Over the years, I’ve had fun recording almost 20 albums that feature different genres of American folk music. I’ve recorded five albums of music of the Civil War; I did one on cowboys and another one on the music of the outlaws. In between I recorded three albums of music of the railroads. And of course, I’ve done bluegrass and old-time country music albums too.
Where did you get the vintage dishware, Barbara? Do you scour flea markets for your collection?
Actually, I really don’t like to shop. Half of this just stuff just showed up here. People give it to me. A lot of it comes from my relatives. Every dish has a story. I know I need to get rid of some of it, but each piece is connected to a person.
What about the aprons? Is there one that has particular meaning for you?
A lot of them are given to me by people who come here for cooking classes. The one that’s most special to me is from my grandmother Maudie. She was my inspiration, a storybook grandma. I grew up cooking next to her standing on a chair, wearing a child’s version of her apron. She had a lot of great words of wisdom to pass on. “Better the guests wait on the biscuits than the biscuits wait on the guests” she always said. “Take two and butter ‘em while they’re hot” was another one. I used that as the title of one of my books. Wearing Grandma Maudie’s apron is like getting a big hug from her and I get to hug her back.
Did this quilt come from someone in your family?
No, I just bought it because I liked it. It’s a 1939 signature friendship quilt, most likely made as a wedding gift.
Wayne, Barbara’s interests and your interests appear in total alignment – a fondness for days-gone-by. Did you start out that way or did your marriage grow into it?
Barbara and I weren’t exactly spring chickens when we got married. We were each fully-formed adults with our own strong interest in the old ways of doing things. Both of us had lived in shacks way back in the mountains and that way of life has always appealed to both of us. Well before Barbara and I even met, I was writing old-time and bluegrass banjo books and editing and publishing songbooks. Somewhere along the line I realized that my little book publishing company could use some old-timey cookbooks to sell. I asked Barb about it, but she flatly refused. After all, in addition to being the mother of our three rambunctious toddlers, she was a full time student at Western Carolina University. To egg her on, I threatened to write the old-time cookbook myself. Barbara laughed in my face when I told her that, knowing full well that I can’t cook at all. As she tells it, to save me the embarrassment of writing a cookbook of my own, she “volunteered” to write one. The result was Log Cabin Cooking, which became a best seller for our company, Native Ground Books & Music. Since then, she’s written nine more cookbooks, which we’ve published and done very well with.
I understand you’re celebrating your 31st wedding anniversary. Any advice for a new couple starting out?
Wayne: I don’t claim to know the secret of having a happy marriage. If I did, I’d bottle and sell it. I will say that I’ve always thought it important to be supportive of whatever Barb wanted to do, and never rain on her parade.
Barbara: Wayne and I have had a Friday night date every single week for 29 years, since our first child was born. Nothing fancy, just a couple hours of “us” time that we always look forward to…keeps the romance alive.
Barbara Swell’s blog on cooking and lantern-lit living is at www.logcabincooking.com. Her books and Wayne Erbsen’s books, CDs, and articles can be found at www.nativeground.com.