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Appalachians call the process of making molasses a 'stir-off.' The word 'molasses' becomes 'lasses' or 'molassey' in the local dialect, a vernacular blend resulting from English, German, and Scotch-Irish migrants who flooded the Appalachian mountains in the 18th and 19th centuries.  Kentucky writer Jesse Stuart was among the first to put 'molassey' to print in his 1938 memoir Beyond Dark Hills. Whether they are talking about several jars or just a teaspoonful, 'molasses' is referenced by central Appalachians in the plural, a southern grammar pattern recorded as early as 1895, according to the Dictionary of American Regional English.

Molasses-making was an annual event in my family for years, so I'm sharing the process of a molasses 'run' and why we count it among our favorite memories.

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Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Steam Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain