Gold in the Dasher: The Quiet Power of the Appalachian Butter Churn ​If you listen closely to the history of the Appalachian mountains, underneath the sound of fiddles and coal trains, there is a rhythmic, wet thump-swish, thump-swish. It is the sound of a cedar dasher plunging into a stoneware crock. ​For generations, the image of the "Appalachian Granny" churning butter has been painted as a simple rustic vignette—a symbol of a slower, quainter time. But to view it merely as nostalgia is to mi

Medieval cats churning butter and monkeys turning spits. | Tasting History