20 Forgotten 3-Ingredient Suppers Appalachian Widows Made When They Lived Alone

There was a widow woman lived up the creek from us, Dessie Combs, and I never knew her to put more than three things in a supper. Yet I never once saw her go to bed without one. So here are twenty suppers, three real things in each, the way the widow women up our holler made them when they lived alone — the deer meat a neighbor boy carried to her door every November, salmon patties out of a tall can with the little bones mashed right in, the Hoppin' John she cooked every New Year's Day at a table set with one cloth napkin, and the cup of egg custard that was all she could get down the week her husband passed. And number one is the pot she kept going on the back of her stove all afternoon, not because she was hungry, but so the house would sound like somebody was still coming home. Salt, pepper, water and a little grease for the pan don't count. These are told the way I watched them made, by feel more than by measuring cup. Where it's just how the women up our creek did it, I say so. Now tell me down in the comments what your people called the supper they made when there were only three things left in the house, and what county they made it in. I'd love to know. I can't carry it all in my head the way Dessie did, so I measured out a hundred old mountain recipes, with a small batch on every one, in my book Like Mama Made It — the fried corn and the pot roast from this video are in there, wrote out: https://lulamaggard.com Three things and a pot was all the recipe she had. Goodnight, honey. Historical and educational. This is one family's memory of how we cooked; please follow current food-safety guidance — cook pork, chicken and wild game all the way through, and keep potato salad and custard cold in the icebox. ⏱️ CHAPTERS 0:00 Intro — Dessie Combs and her three-thing suppers 0:48 #20 Venison and onions 2:15 #19 Kraut and smoked sausage 3:28 #18 Fried okra 4:48 #17 Fried yellow squash and onion 6:14 #16 Mustard potato salad 7:26 #15 Fried corn 9:00 #14 Cucumbers and onions 10:04 #13 Green beans and new potatoes 11:06 #12 Salmon patties 12:18 #11 Hoppin' John 13:38 #10 Neck bones and potatoes 14:50 #9 A little pot roast 16:18 #8 Spoonbread 17:37 #7 Creamed peas and new potatoes 18:34 #6 Skillet chicken and rice 19:54 #5 Corned beef hash 21:01 #4 Creamed turnips 22:13 #3 Blackberry dumplings 23:23 #2 Egg custard 24:31 #1 Butter beans #Appalachia #AppalachianCooking #CookingForOne #ThreeIngredientRecipes #SouthernCooking #GrandmaRecipes #OldFashionedCooking #DepressionEraCooking #CountryCooking #SalmonPatties #HoppinJohn #ButterBeans #ComfortFood #VintageRecipes