First, may I tell you that I have been a huge fan of potluck all my life. My first memories are of grownups that loved me going through the line for me at a Methodist Church potluck out on the prairies of SW KS.
With such excitement, I waited for my plate to be delivered by pretending my fork was an army tank plowing through pepper shakers, sugar packets and little tubs of lemon juice that were already at my disposal. And then, like the proud king of the tumbleweeds that I saw myself, I allowed my servants to present me with my dinner.
It was one of the glorious moments of childhood. I took my time. I first surveyed the array of different forms of taters before me. Admiring the colors and gravies, and oh, gosh, there it was in all of its glory: THE FROZEN HASHBROWN CASSEROLE! My lips quivered; I felt a small tear form clear down in the corner of my eye.
I quickly looked past the salad portion of the oversized Styrofoam plate. How many ways can you make Jello? Well apparently Mrs. Hickey had been reading the recipe section of the Reader’s Digest again. Who the Hell puts peas in the mix to be trapped in an orange jello?
Once I dig in, always going for the dessert first, so I can remember if my big brother asks me what they had, I always remember best what I ate first. Banana pudding with Vanilla Wafers. Gooseberry pie, a sliver of cake with sand hill plum topping, and Mrs. McMillan, God Bless Her, made her world famous fudge brownies.
Satisfied, I would lean back in my chair, letting all that goodness travel through me, trying to remember each bite and who made it.
Now that I am very much older, and even though it can be a real hassle to come up with an easy dish that serves 22, I still love potlucks and understand my responsibilities to bring something decent to share. Sometimes, being a bachelor, I have to spend time searching cookbooks and the internet for worthy dishes to contribute. And I’ve brought my share of untouched, or slightly nibbled flops.
Healthy scalloped potatoes with yogurt and no cheese, for example. Even the backwoods heathens at the last Old Time Music gathering and potluck wouldn’t touch that one. I will admit, curdled yogurt on Idaho’s Best doesn’t look that promising next to frozen hash brown casserole with cream cheese.
Blue Ridge Mountain potlucks, however, are the best.
The variety of fresh stuff, using recipes that have been passed down since before Daniel Boone traipsed these ridges, and the loving, sweet care with which each dish is prepared makes you want to cry and rejoice at the same time!
Tomato (or ‘mater) Pie
Glorious Crockpots overflowing with pintos in mysterious sauces
Cole slaw Carolina Style
Cornbread baked
In cast iron skillets
As muffins
In cake tins
In pie pans
With cheese added
With sour cream instead of milk
With peppers in it
With crumpled bacon in it
Topped with brown gravy
or
With small circles of fresh ham or a fried egg or a fresh tomato, or sausage stuffed in it,
sometimes combinations of the above, and sometimes “all the way.”
Oh, the MEATS!
Country ham
City ham
Ham biscuits
Ham and Pintos
Bacon
Fried Chicken of all colors, varieties and coatings
Chicken Dumplin’s
Smoked Chicken
Vinegar soaked grilled small chickens
Chicken Chili
Deviled Eggs
Hamburger Casserole
Hamburger Soup
Beef and noodles
Chipped Beef
Smoked Beef Brisket
Burnt Ends
Up here in the high altitude, we know how to potluck.
But the most extravagant, elegant, and most coveted, is the folding card table at the very end of the food line, next to the sweet tea, is, behold it, the desert table!
There, nestled next to multiple cans of trapped whipped cream (and sometimes a small tin of home-whipped free range) they illuminate the room.
Everything you can imagine involving
Blueberries
Peaches
Cherries
Apples
and
Crisco
It really often appears to be an orgy of sorts. The erotic mingling of shortening or lard, and voluptuous produce, writhing in sugar and/or honey and butter and covered in local milled flour!
Fruit
Pies
Bakes
Crumbles
Cobblers
Strudels
And
My favorite!
The fried pie
(This one is the reason I’ve been known to go to certain local denominational worship services based on their reputation for their desert table!
Then comes the talk
And/or music
often accompanied by coffee
or something much stronger
if it’s a non-religious gathering.
If it’s a jam or musician’s gathering that part of the pot luck ritual involves
At least one
Or several
Mason jars, or as my friend, Mac calls them respectively, “Mr. Mason”
In the end, pot lucks have always, to me, represented
Community
Friendship
and being looked after
by
your elders
your friends
your neighbors
and
in turn
looking after them.
I think we all, and our country, could use a lot more potluck dinners right now.
You comin’ on over?
A Voice from the Holler: Dispatches from The Blue Ridge 