As I played my phone messages back on Friday, March, 5 I heard a request from Amy Palmer, treasurer of the Islesford Neighborhood House Association: “Would you be willing to bake some bread for the Town Meeting lunch on Monday?”
Apparently I had missed seeing the poster at the Islesford Post Office, where island residents were asked to sign up to bring salads, breads or desserts to accompany the homemade soups. No problem. I’ve memorized my tomato bread recipe and bread is something I enjoy baking. I feel nervous without flour, yeast, and jars of sun dried tomatoes on my shelf, so I make sure to always have them on hand.
Islesford and Great Cranberry take turns hosting the annual Town Meeting, which means we also alternate who provides the lunch. There is a bit of friendly competition between the two island communities as to who provides the best meals.
My neighbors might not appreciate me saying this, but I think Great Cranberry usually wins. They certainly set the bar high when they served Cornish game hens and wild rice a few years ago. The lunch was delicious. People still talk about that meal.
On Islesford, it used to be the church club who organized the meal. Marion Spurling and Phyllis Colson kept a list of how many rolls, casseroles, desserts, etc. would be needed, and then sent out request slips to people in town to ask them to bring specific items to the meeting. One didn’t say “no,” but sometimes it seemed unfair that bachelors were asked to bring things like butter, milk or coffee, while young mothers were expected to bring a casserole and a dessert, or salad, or rolls.
As time rolled along, other people took over the planning for the annual meal and it evolved into a potluck. Organization of food was provided by sign up sheets at the store. One year there was a break from the potluck tradition when the selectmen asked Erin and Aaron Gray to cater the lunch. They were running the Islesford market, and they baked up some super lasagna.
This year’s lunch was also memorable, with the amazing beef stew, vegetable soup, and corn chowder made by Islesford resident and caterer, Jasmine Samuel. The tasty soups were the perfect accompaniment for the potluck items, and gave the rest of us a break from worrying about bringing a main course dish.
After checking several sources online, I learned that the origin of the word “potluck” dates back to the 16th century, used in the context of an impromptu invitation to dine. At taverns especially, leftovers from previous meals were kept warm in a pot over the fire, available to feed people on short notice. If you happened to be one of these unexpected diners, you would take your luck on what was in the pot.
I also learned, from the Web site The Word Detective, that it was in mid-19th century America that the word “potluck” took on the new meaning of a communal meal where guests bring a dish to be shared. The Oxford English Dictionary adds to this description, “…sometimes without arranging beforehand which dish to bring.”
The most balanced potluck meals are those that have some planning to them, like this year’s Town Meeting lunch. But the spur-of-the-moment community potlucks can be pretty interesting and give an indication of what people keep in their cupboards. In February there must be an overflow of carbohydrates on hand.
At a recent fund raising dinner to send aid to Haiti after the earthquake, everyone one brought either pasta or bread. One time, at a Ladies Night potluck dinner, everyone but the hostess, provided a dessert.
Living on an island means that you can’t always run out to the store when you run out of food. Ask people what they always have on hand and it is things like flour, sugar, yeast, pasta, and canned tomatoes.
In addition, Cynthia Lief feels lost without having at least one can of sardines on her shelf. Sally Rowan always has chocolate so she can make a batch of her killer brownies at the drop of a hat. For Joy Sprague, it is the water-packed artichoke hearts that are a really good buy at Reny’s. She has found them to be an excellent substitute for clams in her linguini with clam sauce recipe. Because they raise pigs every year, Nan and Roy Hadlock always have pork in their freezer.
Some people never go without cheese in the refrigerator and for others it’s a must to keep ice cream on hand. Eggs are pretty easy to come by, since many people keep their own chickens.
Some people are known for what they will bring to a potluck, and it is usually something so good you don’t want to miss it. Lil Alley’s baked beans were like that. Joy Sprague continues her mother Betty’s tradition of making the best cream puffs, and she usually brings them to a community meal.
After the Town Meeting lunch, I was helping out in the kitchen, drying some of the dishes when Barbara Meyers came in and spotted the tray with Joy’s cream puffs high up on top of the popcorn machine. “Oh, there they are!” All of the other desserts had been put out, but these had been missed. Barbara set aside one for herself and one for her partner Bill, and then everyone else in the kitchen put one aside, too. By the time Barbara took the plate of cream puffs out to be with the other desserts, there were six left.
Long ago, I tried this on Great Cranberry when I spied a beautiful plate of whoopie pies. I turned to Jennifer Westphal and said, “I’m just going to put this on a plate on the shelf so I know I will have one when I’m ready for dessert.” Her eyes got as round as the whoopee pie I was hiding as she replied, “You can do that?” Sure. The art to having the best luck at a potluck is always keeping something good on the shelf.
Barbara Fernald is a writer and jeweler who lives on Islesford.