Front Page show latest post from 3 Categories only(out of several)

Hi, cant find a nice simple way of doing this, I may have just missed it or something but I been looking at a lot of the Static Front Page tips and posts etc,

Does anyone have a good idea/link for me to show me how I can show Only the latest post from only 3 post categories on my front page?

I have a habit of doing things the real hard way, and so far the only bright idea I had was something along the lines of –

Setup individual feeds for each catagory, then
Use a Feed-Reader/displayer plugin/hack/Modded CaRP to display 1 item from the 3 particular feeds(catagories) I wish to show,

there must be an easier way right?

Thanks a lot for anyhelp peeps