Church Basement Suppers Granny Used to Bring, and the One Plate She Never Ate

Church suppers were the heart of our community, but there was one ritual at the table that I never understood as a child. Everybody who grew up going to a little country church remembers the table after preaching. It was a place for traditional meals where fried chicken and green beans were always on display, but the real rules were the ones nobody ever said out loud. My granny cooked for that table like company was coming, because it was. Before the blessing, she filled one plate for someone who wasn't there, and she never once ate from it. I am Ada Fugate, raised on Rockhouse Creek in Letcher County, Kentucky, and I am setting down Granny’s kitchen year, one Sunday at a time. This look at Appalachian food is about the people who made these church suppers happen and the quiet traditions that held our community together. It was never just about the country cooking, but about the care we took for those who couldn't be at the table. Tell me down in the comments if your church held dinners like this, and what county her kitchen was in. Granny’s kitchen year is going into a book, and it is coming soon. 0:00 The Sunday the table ran on 1:56 1. Country ham, sliced thin 2:47 2. Half runners, cooked down 3:33 3. Potato salad in the crock 4:47 4. Deviled eggs, riding the road 5:35 5. Skillet cornbread, last out 6:18 6. Chicken and slick dumplings 7:25 7. Chow-chow, and the war over it 8:30 8. The first plate 9:55 9. Food for a house of grief 10:53 10. The bowl nobody had touched 12:08 11. Banana pudding, the real kind 13:06 12. The bowl going home 14:01 So that's the day #churchsuppers #appalachianfood #oldways