mulligan

Food is the essence of culture

The food of Appalachia no exception

Hard times forced about new recipes

Big families needing to be fed

Currency in the form of Coal Scrip

Struggles create stories and warm meals

Oatmeal sat out overnight on the radiator

The childhood joy of sugar toast

Simplicity in melted butter and egg noodles

But none other more loved than Mulligan

A Miner’s Stew hearty and cheap

Meat, Potatoes, and Onion was all it was

Served with store bought italian bread

Generations later, the whole family still gathers

News of Nana’s Mulligan brings them in dozens

Laughter shared over a large boiling pot

Tales of coal times passed on

Of swimming in sulfur creeks

Of selling leftover scrap for pennies

Of exploring railroads and tunnels

Of all the hard times and the good