Bayou Icon | The Gifted Cook

article by Georgiann Potts
photography by Kelly Moore Clark

It is easy to understand why Erma Irene Hudson is something of a celebrity in her hometown of Ruston. Her own “Erma’s Restaurant” became a landmark for many in search of a good, home-cooked meal. Her to-die-for cinnamon rolls (made from scratch from her own recipe!) are worthy of the fame that they enjoy. Until recently, Erma spent much of her time cooking delicious meals from recipes handed down to her from her maternal grandmother to her mother and then to her. Along the way, Erma created a few special dishes herself – her homemade pralines are legendary! Because of the significant role she has played in the culinary world of Lincoln Parish and beyond, Erma Irene Hudson is our BayouIcon for August!

Erma Irene Hudson was born in Pulaski County, Arkansas, in a small community about 5 miles west of Cabot. Her father, Thomas Edward “Ed” Jackson, was 21 years old when he married Erma’s mother, Ruth Irene Loux. Ruth was 20. The two met at a “candy-pulling” party – a popular pastime in that day. For the party, candy canes of different colors were broken in two. The boys took a piece, and the girls took a piece. Then the two groups searched for the other half of the candy cane. When they found that matching half, the two would be together for the evening. After that evening, Ed and Ruth dated, fell in love, and married.

Early Life
Ed farmed about 40 acres on which he planted vegetables for the family to eat and to sell. His grandfather had a truck farm, so farming was a family tradition. In 1935 President Franklin Roosevelt established the Work Progress Administration (WPA) and Ed went to work for them. 

Erma’s mother completed her public education in the 8th grade. “My mother was very smart, and wanted to be able to finish 8th grade,” Erma explains. “Her father relieved her from some of her farm work so that she could finish. Shortly after her graduation, her family was told that Ruth qualified to be a teacher. She was not able to pursue that because she was needed for work at home.”

When World War II began in 1941, both Ed and Ruth went to work in Jacksonville, Arkansas, at the munitions plant there. That was the first time that Ruth had ever worked out of the home but – like so many women at that time – she willingly went to work. Ed was too old to be drafted, plus his work stateside was considered essential to the war effort. While working at the plant, Ed learned the electrical trade. This education was a blessing as it led to a lucrative career for the rest of his life. As was the norm at that time, Ed had also completed his public education in the 8th grade. That made this extra skills training very important.

After WWII was over, the family moved to Little Rock where Ed worked until he retired. He worked for a company that set poles in Missouri and Arkansas for the coming promised electricity. Later when the wires were strung, Erma’s dad was in great demand preparing the old homes to receive electricity. Ed was the only electrician around. Erma was about 10 years old when the electricity “miracle” happened. “It was nothing like we have today,” Erma explains. “Each room had a single bulb hanging from a wire in the middle of the ceiling. There was a chain that we pulled to turn the light on and off. There weren’t any wall switches.”

Sisterly Love
Ed and Ruth had two daughters, Helen Louise and Erma Irene. Helen Louise was 18 months older than Erma, and the two remained close for decades until Helen Louise passed away. When asked what her favorite memory from her childhood was, Erma was quick to respond. “Spring – that’s when it got warm and we could walk barefoot all the way through until the fall!” she says with a laugh. 

The two sisters each had two pairs of shoes – sturdy brogans and MaryJane slippers. Each fall their mother would pick cotton to earn enough extra money to buy her little girls new shoes. “My sister absolutely hated the brogans,” Erma remembers. “She would leave home wearing them, but as soon as she got to school, she would take them off and put them in her desk. When it was time to get on the bus to go back home, she would put them on again!” The brogans were their “everyday” shoes while the MaryJane slippers were strictly for “special occasions.” They were happily worn to church, weddings, and other similarly important events. “Mother ordered them from the Sears Roebuck catalog,” Erma adds.

Remembering her school days elicits a chuckle from Erma. Her first thoughts are of recess. “We played hopscotch at recess when the weather allowed,” Erma says, “but if the weather were bad, we’d play Jacks indoors. Jacks was the only real game that we had growing up, and we all got pretty proficient with tossing that little rubber ball and picking up those jacks.” Erma attended elementary school (back then grades 1-9), graduated, and then attended high school (grades 1o-12) and graduated a second time.

Love Changes Everything
Erma’s hope was to become a nurse, but that dream was foreshortened when her father suggested that she needed to check out a young man who was working at the Arkansas Theatre just around the corner from the Pulaski Theatre where Erma was working. Both were Robb & Rowley theaters. Erma was interested, so she went with her dad to the Arkansas Theater. There Ed introduced her to Harold Faulkner, a 6’4” very good-looking fellow. The two hit it off quickly and before long Harold started coming to the Pulaski Theater during his breaks to visit with Erma. As their friendship deepened, they began going to the “preview” showing at a third theatre, the Center Theatre. The show began at eleven o’clock in the evening after their regular jobs were finished. Their first meeting was in January 1949 and they married on July 1, 1949. Erma was 17 years old. The young couple moved to Little Rock where Harold was learning how to become a radio technician.

Harold and Erma had three children – two sons (Gary and Mark) and a daughter (Lori). The two had a happy life together until his death from cancer in 1986. Through Harold’s company, the two traveled extensively. There was a trip abroad every year, and together they explored Russia, London, Spain, and Portugal — and loved them all.

Both Harold and Erma became very successful business people. At the time of his death, Harold owned an air-conditioner dealership. Erma had two businesses – Meryl Norman Cosmetics and a Diet Center franchise. Both of these were located in the same building that Harold’s dealership was in so Erma had to find a new location for her businesses. She located a building in a good location and renovated it to house not only her two ongoing enterprises, but also a new restaurant that she was planning to start.

Opening a restaurant of her own was a natural “next step” for a gifted cook who had been cooking – according to her – her whole life! When she and her sister were growing up, they shared duties after school while their parents worked at the munitions plant. Helen Louise would handle the farm animals while Erma cooked the family’s supper. Then on weekends, their mother would cook a wonderful Sunday lunch for after church, and would tell the girls to bring anyone they wanted to home to share that meal. “She was a great country cook,” Erma remembers. “She made the best fried chicken, mashed potatoes with gravy, and purple hull peas. Dessert was always one of her delicious cobblers, pies, or cakes.”

“Erma’s Restaurant” Becomes a Reality
With the building ready, in 1987 “Erma’s Restaurant” opened. Erma meant for the restaurant to be a “for lunch only” establishment, but even that called for very long days. She did all of the cooking herself, with one helper who cleaned in the kitchen. Other than that helper, Erma WAS “Erma’s Restaurant”! After her dough rose overnight, Erma would get up at four in the morning to wash, iron, and fold her linen napkins. “I always used cloth – it makes a difference!” she says. Then at about six she would make her cinnamon rolls plus other breads for the day. 

Although the restaurant was officially open only from eleven until two, in fact it was “open” at other times. There were several businessmen who would often come in early for coffee and her amazing cinnamon rolls to start their day. Then after the restaurant closed, there might be food left over. That’s when Erma’s generous heart  would assess what was left and look for a need for it. “There was always a need. I knew a young family where there were two small children and their mother was pregnant with twins,” she says. “I took that family supper every night until those babies were born.” Erma also found others who needed her food, and gladly shared it with many. “You don’t throw away good food,” Erma says. “There was always a need to be filled. I fed many through the years and was glad to do it.”

“Erma’s Restaurant” had some “set” menu offerings — red beans and rice on Mondays, shrimp etouffee on Thursdays, and chicken and dumplings on Fridays. She always had a variety of salads and mouthwatering desserts (her special cheesecake was always a customer favorite). For those who wanted a sandwich, Erma would cook a ham and a turkey every day for sandwiches and make oversized fresh buns to serve them on.

There was one room in the building not being used, so Erma turned it into her private office. It wasn’t long until Erma realized that there was a need for a private dining room in her restaurant. She emptied her office, brought her dining table and chairs from home, and met the needs of those customers who were requesting a more private place to eat. 

Finding Love a Second Time
In 1989 she met Dick Hudson, another very handsome but not-as-tall fellow. (“He liked to say he was 5’ 11 ½” tall,” Erma says with a laugh.) As with the first time that love came calling, the courtship was short. Six months after meeting in July 1989, the two became husband and wife in December of the same year. Through her marriage to Dick, Erma gained 3 step-children – Della, Marta, and Greg (now deceased).

Dick loved the restaurant, and especially loved helping when they were catering for engagement parties, wedding receptions, or any special occasion. As a surprise, Erma had a white chef’s jacket made for him and had “Mr. Erma” embroidered on it. He loved it!

In the early 1990’s, tragedy struck. There was a string of bad weather with heavy rainfall over many days which — combined with a design flaw in the building’s roof — resulted in extensive interior flooding. The restaurant was located on the ground floor of the multi-storied structure, but the water still managed to cause that ceiling to collapse. The kitchen was spared, but the restaurant was badly damaged – ceiling, carpet, tables, chairs, everything. “Everything was ruined,” Erma remembers. “I was devastated, and closed the restaurant. We continued to cater from the kitchen, but there was no more seated dining. The restaurant was gone.”

Dick owned an Airstream travel trailer so the two packed it up and traveled the country. “We went to all 48 states plus Hawaii, Canada and Nova Scotia,” Erma says. They also traveled to Europe for Christmas one year, and explored Germany and Ireland. Of all of their travels abroad, Erma’s favorite was Ireland. “We drove all around the country and stayed at bed-and-breakfasts,” she says. “That way we got to actually meet the Irish people. They spoke English, and that helped, too.”

In 2006, Dick was diagnosed with a brain tumor for which he underwent surgery in July. In October, he passed away. Since Dick’s death, Erma has continued to live her life fully and with joy. A good portion of that joy comes from having 7 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren from Harold and having 10 step-grandchildren from Dick.

Looking Ahead in Life 
If someone were to approach Erma today and ask her advice about opening a restaurant, Erma’s advice is pretty simple. “Find a good location with adequate parking,” she says. Erma adds that she doesn’t believe that there is much room for another restaurant in Ruston. “We would welcome a place with linens on the tables and sit-down dining. I’d like to see that in Ruston,” she says. “I love to dress up to go out to eat, but most places I go today folks are wearing blue jeans and cowboy boots!”

When Erma was asked recently if there were anything about her life that she would change if she could. After thinking for a moment, she replied, “Not a thing. I have had a good life, and I am thankful and blessed.” Erma was reared in the Baptist church and Christianity is an important part of her life. If she could have lunch with anyone – living or dead – she would select the late Reverend Billy Graham. “I’d ask him to talk about his ministry and how he listened to God,” she says. “I would want to know how easy – or hard – his ministry was.”

Not every experience has been positive, but every single one has been educational at some level. During the recent pandemic, Erma contracted COVID – twice. The second bout was worse and has left her with a cough and some lingering aftereffects. She has always had good health, and other than the COVID encounter, she remains healthy. After COVID she is even more thankful for that good health.

Although she no longer cooks – not even for herself, Erma does admit to occasionally thinking about those special pralines of hers. Even so, there are no regrets. She is content with the life that she is living now and grateful for the experiences that she has shared with so many. Many of those shared experiences have involved food – food that Erma always made with love. Laurie Colwin (American writer / 1944 – 1992) wrote, “The table is a meeting place, a gathering ground, the source of sustenance and nourishment, festivity, safety, and satisfaction. A person cooking is a person giving: Even the simplest food is a gift.” Erma Hudson has given so much to so many just by being herself.