Growing up in this region of Appalachia, you likely ate certain foods you might not find elsewhere in the country.

Appalachian cuisine is a style of food from the central and southern sections of the Appalachian Mountains in the eastern United States.

For example, most of us grew up eating soup (pinto) beans and cornbread. Throw in a slice of onion or some fresh green onions from the garden, and it does not get any better than that. I believe my wife Vicki would eat this meal every day. (I cannot blame her for that.)

At night, for a snack, my dad, Sam Lovern, would often eat crumbled cornbread with a glass of buttermilk. I also enjoyed this, but not with buttermilk. I had to go with “sweet” milk from a ½-gallon carton back then, not from a plastic gallon jug. My mother-in-law, Louise Hughes, also did this.

Almost everyone had a garden back in the day with fresh vegetables. But one thing that I still try every summer is fried green tomatoes. Roll them in cornmeal with some salt and pepper, fry them in a hot pan of grease, and you have a real Appalachian delicacy.

“Kilt” lettuce and greens is a side dish that complements heavier meals, showcasing local greens and using hot bacon grease to wilt them. Some may even put a little vinegar on their greens for flavor.

My wife Vicki and I recently made our first pot of half-runner green beans this season with some small new potatoes. Talk about good eating. It does not get much better than this. Throw in an ear of corn on the cob, some cornbread muffins and maybe a pork chop and, man, do you have a great country meal.

Our European ancestors brought recipes like chicken and dumplings and homemade stew across the Atlantic. Appalachian food traditions reflect a mix of Scotch-Irish, British, German, Italian, Native American and African-American influences.

We did not always have the store-bought snacks most people have today, but there was always something to eat for a bedtime snack.

I can recall eating square saltine crackers (not round Ritz crackers like I prefer today) with Velveeta cheese, or a butter-and-jelly sandwich. (Not peanut butter, but that was good too.)

Then there were those Vienna sausages in the little aluminum can. Open that small container, add some crackers, and you had a great snack.

How many of you remember potted meat in the little cans? That was also a tasty little meal on crackers or “light” bread. Fried Treet or Spam sandwiches were also on the menu when we were young. Nowadays, I am sure we could not get our kids or grandkids even to try these.

We have not even talked about breakfast yet. How about fresh, warm homemade biscuits and sausage gravy? After frying the sausage (or bacon) and using the grease with flour, salt, pepper and milk, some folks added a little water to make good old country gravy at its best. It might not be good for your cholesterol, but once again – it cannot get any better than this.

Fried chicken, wild greens, and a variety of wild game like venison (deer), rabbit, squirrel and fresh fish were particularly common with many country families back in the day.

Women (and some men) would can vegetables to last through the winter months. They also made foods like chow-chow. Chow-chow is a sweet or spicy pickled relish made from a variety of chopped vegetables, most commonly green tomatoes, cabbage, onions and bell peppers.

Of course there were desserts, many made from fresh blackberries, blueberries or apples. Talk about good – a freshly made cobbler or pie from these fruits is to die for. We also had fresh honey from the beehives that many families kept back in the day.

Appalachian food culture is a rich tapestry of history, community and resourcefulness, shaped by local ingredients, diverse cultural influences and mountain traditions.

I am sure many of your families had similar meals growing up in this region of eastern Kentucky and southwestern West Virginia.

I hope this brought back some good memories for you. As for me, it has made me hungry. Until next time.

(Kyle Lovern is a retired journalist and a freelance writer and columnist for the Mountain Citizen.)