The Meat Sweats and Other Relevant States of Being

Saturday, November 21: the Annual Wild Game Supper at the Bradford United Church of Christ in Bradford, Vermont.

$25 for something like 25 different kinds of meat prepared in a variety of ways. An average of 900 served in the church basement dining hall. A tradition more than 40 years old.

Tell me this doesn't sound like an amazing way to spend a Saturday.

When I first read of the Wild Game Supper - in the UVAC Weekly Newsletter - I knew immediately it was something I had to see for myself. I informed Dan of this, almost immediately, and no surprise he laughed at me. Why? Probably because I am not the biggest meat eater. Sad but true. I dislike steak. I tolerate cheeseburgers on rare and special occasions (side note: I ate the best cheeseburger EVER at the Carpenter & Main in Norwich, Vermont. But that's another story.) I can take or leave turkey.

So moose, bear, and elk seemed out of the question. Except I wanted to go. Dan was obviously on board, too, (and as a legitimate meat-lover) although we did exchange a series of jokes re: the infamous meat sweats for days, weeks.

For those not in the know, the meat sweats are the result of an excess consumption of meat, that uncomfortable stage where you feel you've become one with the steak in the least flattering way. No one, upon leaving a barbecue, should smell like a barbecue, after all. When meat makes you sweat it's time to take up vegetarianism. Of course, I'd never been near the meat sweats, but who knew? Maybe the Wild Game Supper would be my chance...

Apparently we were not alone and before long we had a group of 28 meat afficionados assembled and ready to make the trek to Bradford, Vermont.

Bradford is yet another quintessential sleepy New England town, complete with rolling hills, church steeples, and an old mill (now a picturesque cafe with a kitschy name: The Perfect Pear.) In addition to meat feasts it also boasts lawn mower racing in the spring and fall, which might make it the coolest New England town I know. (Sorry Hanover.)

We pulled up outside the church and were immediately ushered inside to the waiting area. And by waiting area, I mean church proper. There we were, 28 b-school students and partners, lined up in church pews, listening to live music and catching up on our bible reading. Our tickets were numbered from the 180s to the 200s, but finally we were called, then directed to the basement.

The basement was a well-lit room with a massive kitchen and a row of fifty crock pots.

We were promptly served:

- wild game chili

- wild game sausage

- buffalo pie

- moose patty

- bear

- elk

- pheasant risotto

- rabbit

- rabbit pie

- roasted boar

- smoked boar

- [insert additional meats here]

Let's just say our plates were filled with meat. We were then seated at long tables, offered cider and potatoes and coleslaw and crackers with pate, in case the meat wasn't enough to fill us up. (We all avoided the pate... not that I like it under any circumstance but at a wild game supper in particular we were a bit nervous as to what sort of pate it might be... they definitely did not say, and as someone said "there must've been a lot of liver left over.")

Ick.

I wish I could tell you I sampled all of the meats, but I did not. I chickened out. (Pun intended?) I did, however sample some of them. Some in such small quantities Dan will tell you it doesn't count, but for me, this was brave.

My conclusions? Smoked boar: delicious, somewhere between bacon and ham. Rabbit? A slightly saltier more flavorful turkey. Moose... questionable. Bear? Too scary to try. If meat can look angry and fierce that would absolutely be bear meat.

So I didn't clean my plate, though some people definitely did. Altogether it was one of the most interesting afternoon/evenings I've spent in a long time. And while I didn't try the bear this year, the game supper is, as I've said, an annual tradition. But I probably won't eat it next year, either.

We stumbled out of the church in varying degrees of food comas, climbed into our car for the 45 minute drive home. And that's when Rob said to us, "So people have been talking about the meat sweats. Have you guys ever heard of them?"

Diwali Party in the USA

Last night we celebrated Diwali at the Tuck Annual Diwali Party. The event was one part educational, one part dancing, and – as is the case with all Tuck events – two parts alcohol.

Diwali, we learned, is the Indian Festival of Lights, the celebration of the return of Lord Raama to his Ayodhya after rescing his wife from the demon king, Ravana. Or at least, that’s the version we heard. I’m told the origins of Diwali Day vary from region to region and Wikipedia lists multiple versions… and if Wikipiedia says it, it must be true.

We celebrated Diwali with traditional food and dance performances from something like thirty Tuckies (and Tuck Partners.) And less traditional drinks, of course.

I have to say, I was impressed both by the vegetable samosas – which I love but probably eat incorrectly since I avoid all the associated dipping sauces – and the elaborate dance routines, costumes, and music. (Jai ho!) While there is certainly a strong international presence at Tuck, including India, dancers were by no means limited to any particular background. (See picture above.)

One of the things I love about Tuck is that in any given week Tuckies will rally to support an Intramural Hockey Championship, a Diwali celebration, and a wild game feast (today’s activity) with equal fervor. That kind of community support is rare and I think unique to the school. People love to be involved.

Possibly too much so… the room was so crowded, so overcrowded that my claustrophobia kicked in after the third or fourth dance number.

Still, at the end of the day, and as fun and delicious as Diwali was, grabbing a drink at Canoe Club with a few of our friends was my favorite part of the night...

A slightly different kind of community support, but I like to think it still counts.

Tripodism

Last night was the Fall season Intramural Tripod Hockey Championships. In case it isn’t obvious, this is a big deal. Tripod Hockey is constantly referenced at Tuck, but last night marked Dan’s and my first direct involvement with the league.

Our reasons for avoiding the hockey craze (or rather, my reasons for both of us avoiding the hockey craze) are as follows:

For Dan:
1. Dan has no hockey background and, to my knowledge, hasn’t ice-skated since high school (and even then it was only an excuse to hold hands with girls. Just saying.)
2. Dan is super competitive.
3. For anyone who has ever seen Dan play intramural softball, he enjoys sliding, diving, and basically upping the ante on anything physical. And that’s softball.
Add these reasons together and I think it’s clear that Dan would never make it through a season of hockey without breaking some major bone. Possibly more than one.

My reasons?
1. Have you seen me walk? I can barely manage a straight line when sober.
2. Have you seen me in heels? (I’m guessing no because I never wear them.)
3. I lack balance, hand-eye coordination, speed, agility, and the ability to laugh at myself when I (inevitably) humiliate myself on the ice.
So no hockey for me.
Also, on a completely prosaic note, hockey is multiple times a week at bizarre hours (midnight, 11:30pm) and some of us have jobs that start at 8:30 am. If Dan played I might never see him. If I played I might never sleep. And I'm cranky without sleep.

Which brings us back to the Fall Tripod Championships, the showdown between the Hollywood Hardbodies and the India Queens. I should probably mention that the Tripod hockey teams are named after Hanover bars. The girls league features 80s girl-power shows (Team She-Ra, Jem, the Rainbow Brites, etc.)

We knew players on both sides of course, but shortly after our arrival we were joined by Joelle, whose boyfriend Rob is on the Hardbodies, so we sided with them. I don’t have much hockey-watching experience, and it’s been ages since I’ve set foot in a rink so my first surprise was how cold it was. I mean, obviously I knew there’d be ice. But it was colder inside than outside. Fortunately I remedied this problem by purchasing my very own Tuck-logoed Snuggie.

(A quick aside and shout out to Tuck Stuff, the Tuck-themed apparel and accessories store. No surprise that a b-school has creative, innovative entrepreneurs, but still. This year alone we’ve seen the totally awesome “Business College” t-shirt – reminiscent of the famed John Belushi “College” shirts, the “Cheers” style Tuck tee (because here everyone networks until they know your name.) We’ve seen Simon Pearce glasswork with Tuck insignia. And now, Snuggies… and an entire line of hockey-themed shirts and sweats, conveniently located AT the hockey rink. Tuck Stuff, you are brilliant.)

So I’m Snuggied-up and ready to watch some hockey. The event is well-attended and well-choreographed. I’m told regular games are a bit more low key, but Tuckies know how to go all out. The teams warmed up to “Party in the USA.” (Side note: Someone at Tuck is clearly a deranged Miley Cyrus fan. Love her or hate her, “Party in the USA” does not need to played six times during one Fall Formal. Nor should it be played on repeat at a hockey game.) Fortunately, the music improved as the game progressed, because yes, they had music for every break, every icing call, every penalty.

The commentator was hilarious too. I kind of wish I knew who he was. My favorite quote: “Take off your pants and get down to business.” This was directed at the hockey players.

Before the game began the teams lined up for the National Anthems. Canada went first, but I preferred the Boyz-2-Men-esque rendition of the Star Spangled Banner, sung by a talented (?) Tuckie. Actually it was pretty impressive.

The stands were packed, too. Alcohol is not allowed in the arena, so the Tuckies brought in beers and hid them in their gloves. And I wonder why at work these adult b-school students are constantly referred to as “the kids.” But actually it was kind of clever and so cold in the rink that I kind of wish we’d brought a flask too.

Now if I ever had second thoughts about “letting” Dan play hockey, 30 seconds of this game was more than enough to remind me why he shouldn’t. Tripod Hockey is so named because it is (allegedly) for beginners, people who need two legs plus the hockey stick to stand on skates. That sounds well and good, but it turned out to be totally false. I realize these were the championship teams, and I’m told they sideline the bad players come playoff season, but they were good. They could skate. Some of them could really skate.

It turns out Rob can really skate. He was a star, with two shorthand goals for the Hardbodies.

Random Tuckie: “Joelle, did Rob play hockey in college?”
Joelle: “No. He’s just from Minnesota.”

Unfortunately the Hardbodies were down by one with 3 minutes left in regulation (Period 3) and by this point my hands were so numb all I could think was please do not let this game go into overtime. Fortunately, the crowd shared my opinion and brilliantly demanded that the Hardbodies “pull their goalie.” It should be clear that for all the Bostonites and the Minnesota-born hockey players like Rob, the average Tuckie has even less hockey knowledge than I have, which is really saying something. But “pulling the goalie” SOUNDS like a brilliant, bold move to make. I believe they did it in the “Mighty Ducks.” So it must be a smart move. (Although I recently learned that “Flying V” is not an accepted hockey move. Does no one else find this devastating?)

The Hardbodies weren’t fooled, but they indulged us anyway, pulled their goalie and… the India Queens scored again. The Hardbodies should have remembered that Rob only scores goals when they’re shorthanded.

The game ended 5-3, the India Queens are Fall Tripod Champions, and Dan and I can check off one more “New Hampshire” experience.

Are we surprised that Dan wants to play this winter?

And if you're drinking well you know that you're my friend and I say "I think I'll have myself a beer"

So since I decided not to fill this thing with nonsense regarding statement of cash flows, organizational design, excel modelling, and bond calculations, I'll talk about what is filling up most of the rest of my time: Booze.

I say that with some hint of sarcasm, but not as much as I would have supposed entereing business school. Simply put: These people like to party. I thought I was prepared, but man, this harkens back to the days of undergrad. I'm not sure if it's a because there are abunch of fairly outgoing people trying to take advantage of their last few years of free time or if it's more due to the isolation of Hanover combined with the intensity of the program, but I'm not quite sure I can hang.

A few weeks ago we had a pretty great event, the John Barleycorn Oktoberfest. The John Barleycorn Society is the beer society at Tuck and, while not as established as the wine or scotch club, has a pretty good following. There's a good amount of beer appreciation up here and a surprisingly good selection of beers (although I didn't get this year's Stone Vertical Epic series beer so if you see it, grab me one, I'll trade something good from up here). The Oktoberfest ideally had German beers, but there aren't a ton of them up here so it was a mix of German and American German-style beers. Magic Hat, Sam Adams, and Harpoon all have pretty tasty offerings so it was a good time.

This past Friday was the International party which was fantastic. There were tables representing students from about 20 different countries, each with food and drinks unique to their locales. Some stuff was expected (cheap beer from Canada, rum and cokes from cuba, sangria from Spain), but there were some surprises including something-something sour from Peru, some gross drink from Italy made with prosecco and other stuff, and this great orange drink also from Spain. You can tell they were good as I have no memeory of their names (to be fair, I can't remember people's names either).

Finally, I come to my beer purchases, one of which I'm sampling now. There are a number of craft breweries in the general area: Harpoon, Long Trail, Smuttynose. All are tasty and all have some pretty good limited run brews. The Long Trail brewmaster series has a fantastic Porter which I've had a few of and a double IPA which is currently in the fridge. Harpoon has their Leviathan series and their Leviathan IPA is on tap at a bar around the corner. Additionally, they have a Wet Hop Ale I've got, but yet to try. Finally, Smuttynose has some of their "Big Beer" series, their Big A IPA which I'm excited about and the Farmhouse Ale which I'm drinking right now. It's not quite my style of beer, a Saison, but it drinks fantastically. I'm not going to try and describe it, but it's quite refreshing and is the kind of beer you'd want to drink after being outside for a while (but make sure you eat first because it's a bit strong at 7.5ish%).

I'll try and write more and perhaps about non-alcoholic things too.

Because Border Patrol is Real

This is just a brief post to say that yesterday, en route to Boston from Hanover, we were pulled over by the U.S. border patrol.

Who knew that could really happen?

Although I was impressed by the border patrol's ability to tell we were "definitely Americans" just by looking at us. I guess?

When Going Green Goes Wrong

At least now I know where my cold came from and why half the people who were at this party have the same one...


(photo courtesy of 10 Maple and borrowed from this week's Tuck Sustains Newsletter.)

Blogging for the Sake of Blogging

So despite the criticism that my rapid rabid skunk post garnered, I am back for more and I will try to copyedit a bit better in the future (no guarantees.)

Posts have been few and far between recently and not only because I am now (post-skunk-debacle) a bit gunshy.

A series of mundane, non-New Hampshire-specific events have transpired, among them:

1. The Tuck Fall Formal (James Bond-themed - a good time was had by all)

2. I was facebooked by a friend from the seventh grade who moved back to Brazil when we were 13 but apparently still remembers me fondly. (I feel so.... memorable.) (Also, she was pretty awesome too.)

3. I have a cold.

Ok so maybe that last one is somewhat New Hampshire-y, though in a year when people are panicked about H1N1, a mere cold seems slightly blase. Even if I did miss two days of work (I've been living on cocacola and triscuits, alternating between sleeping and napping.)

Tonight, however, marked my return to the land of the living: dinner at Stella's. Stella's is, in itself, worth a mention (even if I am blogging somewhat for the sake of blogging...) Here in the Upper Valley restaurants are few and far between, but that doesn't mean we haven't found some truly excellent ones. On the contrary, I've been pleasantly surprised. So, while our friend Ryan-the-self-proclaimed-Thai-connoisseur considers the Thai place sub par, I thought it was quite good. Ditto on the Chinese place, the Japanese Hibachi place, and even the Mexican Gusanos (the one in Lebanon, not the one in Hanover.) Of course the Boloco (our local burrito spot) is no Chipotle, but we can't have everything.

Stella's Kitchen (stellaslyme.com) is located just up Rt 10 in Lyme, New Hampshire. The restaurant itself is in a house-like structure. In front is a small shop, one that would remind Arlingtonites of the Italian Store, only with an extensive beer selection in addition to everything else. (Needless to say tonight we walked out with two large bottles of some-new-brand that Dan had to have.) Behind the bright storefront is the softly lit, warm-hued restaurant, bar area (completely with comfy couches) and dining room.

We were brought to Stella's by two friends, (2nd year) Tuck students who are also UVA alums (a magical combination.) The last time we four had dinner they took us to the "Tip Top Cafe" (also excellent.) We now consider them our restaurant gurus/collect personal Zagat Guide to the Upper Valley.

Over dinner (I had potato & leek soup followed by vegetable ravioli in a beurre blanc sauce) and drinks (I had a soda as I'm still recovering from the non-flu,) we discussed some of the places/things we have to look forward to as we continue to explore the Upper Valley. So, tonight's blog may not be interesting, but keep the following in mind:

1. Tuck goes to Montreal (en masse, apparently, for a hockey tournament)

2. Kerry & Dan attend a wild game dinner (featuring several mystery meats)

3. Skiing (Dan will have to write this one as I'm pretty sure skiing would prove fatal for me.)

4. Driving in snow (I'm thinking this will happen any day now.)

5. Our first hockey game (watching... I'm pretty sure hockey would prove fatal for me, too, and I already know one girl who broke her wrist five minutes into her first game.)

So.... good things to come. I promise.

We also discussed the possibility of opening a Little John's in Hanover and I have to say, I think there's definite market potential. You may notice that in all the restaurants I listed above, there was not a single sandwich shop. I'm just saying... trust some future MBAs (and one MA in Lit.) Invest early.