A Tour through Family History: My Fourth of July Weekend at JQ Dickinson Salt-Works

Family history doesn’t run that deep for me, but for Nancy Bruns of JQ Dicksinon Salt-Works, it runs about 350 feet below her family’s homestead in rural West Virginia. Through the veins of the town, through the crags of the aquifer. Just outside of Charleston and spanning a hundred and eighty years. Through trial-and-error, through old crumbled inventories and rheumy, ancient jars. Through the Civil War and the recession.

Through it all, the water of the underground Iapetus Ocean has ran for millions of years—ambivalent to man, to woman, to the dollar store sales and graffiti on the bridges in the next county over. It flowed when the world was hot, when the world grew cold. It created an industry that sustained West Virginia for decades. It became the business of the Dicksinon family, who took hollowed tree trunks and created wells for the water. For the lifeblood, for the salt that preserved and seasoned the heritage at the heart of this Appalachian landscape.

And in the long, long stretch between 1945 and 2013 when the salt production ended, the world moved on. It no longer became a means to live. It no longer became a necessity, but a ubiquitous afterthought on the table. Throw a little over your left shoulder for good luck when it spilled and forget about it the rest of the day. An everyday talisman that lost its power.

Until Nancy created magic again. Until she and her husband researched their history and dug the old wells again. Until they tested the salt, again and again, until the crystals were pure and white and flavorful. Until the industrial wheels began to turn again for this one family, in this one town in West Virginia. And until they decided to create a product that is elemental in every sense of the world: NaCl; sun, water, earth.

And after hearing of this story, of this town whose axis was balanced on the production of salt, I wanted to visit. To see the crystals, the bite on my tongue. I drove down the highway, passed a gas station with carpeted floors and an ice cream stand that sold two-for-a-dollar hot dogs. I stayed in a hotel that was under construction and woke up Sunday to witness it all myself.

Below are a few images from this process. How the water is brought up from the well and evaporated naturally by sunlight in greenhouse tents. Then sifted, inspected, and packaged. Flavored, if they choose, and sold to top chefs. This was the way I spent my Fourth of July weekend, and how I saw the American Dream be reiterated once again. In a small farm in West Virginia.

To learn more about JQ Dickinson Salt-Works, listen to the Southern Foodways Alliance’s Gravy podcast here. You can also visit their website and their Instagram.

The video below was created during my Snapchat takeover for the Feed Feed. You can follow the Feed Feed on snapchat with their username: thefeedfeed. I am happy to be an editor for the Nostalgic Desserts feed as well!

The well and derrick

The solar greenhouse that evaporates the water naturally

The naturally-produced crystals

Look at these gorgeous crystals!

The old Salt-Works

The beautiful farm and store

Nathan Miller Chocolate: A Tour, a Recipe, a Takeover

Life works in funny ways, it has a sense of humor. I thought I was too good for everything Pennsylvania offered; so I left. I found myself trying my damnedest to recreate it any chance I had. I found a Steelers jersey at a Goodwill once in San Diego. I bought it on the spot.

I thought the Laurel Highlands and the Cumberland Valley were relics, stale, stagnant. I thought I had created a mythology around them. I feared it on the plane, when the wheels hit the tarmac, when my dad picked me up in his Pathfinder. I worried I had missed something that never existed. That I had become a refugee to my wild imagination. That my mother never loved me. That the effervescent greenery would wear me down. That there would be nothing for me to come back to in Pennsylvania.

But there was. There was a community. Whether you spend your time hanging out in gas stations or ice cream stands, there was a community I came back to. And when I drove US-30 to get to Chambersburg last Sunday, I felt that community grow.

I visited a chocolate factory. My community grew while I was there. I began to understand more about the products I love. I passed farmland and barbecue to get there and everything felt satisfyingly familiar. I questioned why I had left Pennsylvania, wasting money and years and friendships trying to leave a place I’ve loved for so long.

I visited a chocolate factory last week. Nathan Miller Chocolate invited me to see the entire bean-to-bar process in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. We toured the café, we toured the factory, too. We saw how the beans were sorted and smelled their earthy burlap sacks. Large slabs of chocolate and delicate bars being wrapped. Vats of chocolate with 55% buttermilk. Small tasting spoons weren’t enough and I bought 3 bars. I learned the difference between South American chocolates. I learned how professionals wrapped their bars. I learned everything I could and couldn’t wait to go back. For another day, another road trip. Any chance I had to see the beauty that’s in every pocket of Pennsylvania. Five years ago I left and never thought I’d see an artisan chocolate factory in rural Pennsylvania. But I’m so glad it’s there, waiting to be discovered. Waiting to share with you.

Check out the gallery above and the video of my tour during my FeedFeed takeover. You can also visit Nathan Miller Chocolate on their website, their instagram, Twitter, and their Facebook. These lovely bars are also available on Food52, because they’re just THAT gorgeous.

And speaking of FeedFeed, I am an editor over at the Nostalgic Desserts feed and it is one of my favorite things as a food blogger that I get to do. My community has grown and I have grown with it. I'm different than I was 5 years ago. I'm more me than ever before.

Happy Tuesday.

Black Forest Scones

With the Nathan Miller Cherry Pretzel bar, I was inspired to make these scones. You can view me making them in-action in the video below as well.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 TB white vinegar
• 1 TB vanilla
• 1 chocolate bar, pulsed until crumbs
• 2 1/2 cup flour, plus more if it is a sticky dough for you
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder, highest quality you can get
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 3 TB shortening, cold
• 4 TB unsalted butter, cold
• 2 cup whipped cream (I made mine from scratch, adding Gran Marnier as I had some leftover)
• 2 cup cherries, halved and pitted

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450*F and prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper
2. Combine milk, vinegar, and vanilla in a cup and refrigerate while you prepare the remainder of the dough
3. In a food processor, combine chocolate flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, sugar and salt. Pulse a few times to combine
4. Add fats and pulse 6-8 times until pea-sized and combined into flour mixture
5. Get your milk mixture from the fridge. With the motor of the food processor running, slowly pour in the milk mixture
6. Turn dough out onto a floured work surface and pat into a round
7. Cut into 8 triangles
8. Place onto prepared baking sheet and bake for 14-18 minutes, they will be done when firm and browned on the edges (but not burnt!)
9. Allow to cool from oven, top with whipped cream and cherries and enjoy!