Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2015 - 41

when the Huskies are working
their hardest, they have to consume
somewhere between
7,000-8,000 calories a day!
In 10 years the Herderings have
only had one person fall out of a
dogsled - a Washington Post
reporter who stood up while trying
to take a picture.
Mike's unofficial title is "CEO" -
for Chief Excrement Officer, in
honor of the amount of time he
devotes to shoveling.
Sled dogs are trained to respond
to a variety of commands.
Nomination for Best Mushing
Command: "On the run!" -
instructs dogs to go to the bathroom
while running.
Huskies will pull anything and
everything - ATV's, cars without
engines, their owner's baskets of
laundry and bicycles. -SF
IF YOU GO
Where: 2008 Bumble Bee Road,
Accident, MD 21520
Website: huskypowerdogsled
ding.com
Contact: 301-746-7200 or
linda@huskypowerdogsledding.
com
What they offer: a variety of educational
tours. Visit the website
to see which tours are currently
being offered.
While you're in the area: A visit
to Husky Power Dogsledding will
place you just a few short miles
from scenic Deep Creek Lake
where inns, hotels, and recreation
options abound. For dining,
the Herderings suggest you
"go local" and recommend
these great spots: Canoe on the
Run, a coffee/sandwich shop, the
Moonshadow Café, offering
locally grown food choices, and
Brenda's, Italian dining overlooking
the lake. More info at visitdeepcreek.com.
-SF
EVENTS 2015*
These festivals and
events in our eight
states offer ways to
play, but also to learn
and do new things
through demonstrations,
workshops and more.|
*Dates subject to
change.
GEORGIA
DAHLONEGA TRAIL FEST,
MARCH 13-15.
Hiking, canoeing, kids activities
and lectures are part of this
annual event that celebrates
the Appalachian Trail.
Dahlonega.
706-864-3513.
LEARNING TO COOK
THE LOVE IN: SHATLEY
SPRINGS BISCUITS,
CRUMPLER, NORTH
CAROLINA
In a small room off Shatley
Springs Inn's kitchen - a
room dedicated to the making
of the restaurant's legendary
Southern biscuits
- Geraldine Turner is about
to teach me the secrets of
making terrific buttermilk
biscuits. No cookbook lesson
this; I'm learning biscuit-making
is an art that
could take years to truly
master.
"The recipe is simple -
flour, baking powder, lard,
buttermilk and salt," Turner
says. "All you do is mix it."
This is where it gets
tricky, where the art comes
in.
"I use my hands," she
says. "I work the lard in but
not too much - I don't want
tough biscuits - and see if I
need more buttermilk. I can
only tell by feel."
Turner has been making
WOOL AND FARM
FESTIVAL, MAY 1-3.
Learn about sheep shearing by
watching demonstrations, and
get free samples of wool. Also
enjoy interactive farm
demonstrations such as
spinning, hoof trimming and
animal training. North Georgia
Zoo and Farm, Cleveland.
706-348-7279.
SORGHUM FESTIVAL, OCT.
10-11, 17-18.
In addition to syrup-making
demonstrations, the festival
biscuits since she was 8, for
more than 50 years. Lee
McMillan, who has owned
Shatley Springs a few years
longer than Turner has been
making biscuits, says he
hired her for her perfect biscuits,
light and crumbly
with a buttery taste.
"If she can do that, she
can make about anything.
She knows country cooking,"
McMillan says.
Turner has another secret
she'd like to impart to me,
and it too can't be measured.
Geraldine Turner: "It's simple
- flour, baking powder, lard,
buttermilk and salt."
As she squishes the lard
between her fingers, breaking
the fat into small flourcoated
lumps, she turns to
me with a mischievous grin.
"This is where you put
the love in," she says.
Her biscuits do indeed
taste like they're made with
love; that seems the secret
extra ingredient that makes
white flour, lard, sour milk
taste so good and seem so
nourishing. (Is it something
in my fat-craving soul that's
being nourished?) So how
do I do it?
"It helps if you love what
you're doing. The food will
just taste better," she says.
Turner did also give me
some more tangible tips: the
lard is best cold; use a
combo of light, cake-type
flour and all-purpose flour
for lightness; and pour
The recipe is simple - flour, baking powder, lard,
buttermilk and salt. All you do is mix it...It helps if you
love what you're doing. The food will just taste better.
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015 | 41
http://www.huskypowerdogsledding.com http://www.huskypowerdogsledding.com http://www.visitdeepcreek.com http://www.visitdeepcreek.com
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2015

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