Cooking: One of my most surprisingly favorite parts of New Hampshire this fall has been our improbable potluck dinners. This is how it started. One day, two of the only girls I knew by name invited me to dinner. In a restaurant. I like dining in restaurants. I liked these two girls. So I said yes. We had a lovely time. We said we should do this again. Two weeks later, we did, with one new addition. Two weeks later, we were invited to dinner by the new girl... at her house.
So it turns that Anna (along with her fiance) is basically a foodie and an incredible cook. (We dined on pasta in a pumpkin cream sauce.... so delicious.) But with Anna cooking for five (our group had grown, again) it seemed only appropriate to offer to bring something. And thus the potluck was born.
We have potluck every other week on a Thursday night. Our invitee list is up to ten - all girls and all partners (i.e. the wives/fiances/girlfriends of students,) though usually we have six-to-eight takers, any given week. The host provides the main course and the guests bring the rest. This past Thursday was my turn to host... I prepared cornflake crumbed chicken and potatoes (because I am not a foodie nor a good cook) and, improbably, it was a success.
I love two things about the potluck: 1. The food. I may not be a fabulous cook, but some of the other girls are and I love sampling the variety we see every potluck. 2. The company. We're an eclectic blend, to say the least, which means conversation ranges from "how we met our husband/finace/boyfriend" to... well anything. I think this week we covered mole-removal, doctor phobia, hypochondria (no idea why the medical bent) to stalkers. Either way, it's always a trip. And, although this past week was in my own home, I love seeing where people live, what they've brought to New Hampshire with them.
One girl lives in Old Satchem with linoleum flooring and a circa-1988 Geography Map hanging above her dining table. (I learned last night that her boyfriend picked it up in 2004 from an old elementary school because he needed a window-blind.) One girl lives in the 3-bedroom house around the corner, complete with a fireplace. (So jealous!) One girl lives in a half-house; long and narrow (and her 6'4" fiance has to duck through every doorway.) But it's the cutest house!
So, surprisingly... pot luck is the best. Plus it gives Dan an excuse to go bowling and hit the bar with the boys. ...As if he needs an excuse!
On to the condiments. So, as you may know, Dan is not the first member of my family to attend Dartmouth. Both my father and my brother went to Dartmouth College for undergrad. As a child, we vacationed for part of many summers in New Hampshire. Which clearly involved the requisite Dartmouth visit. I remember many things about these visits, but one of them was my dad's favorite college restaurant. It was called Peter Christian's and it was an old New England pub, located a half-flight down beneath a dowdy clothing boutique. Peter Christian's was famous for it's black-and-tans and... it's mustard sauce. Spicy brown mustard sauce. Ew.
BUT, despite my non-beer-drinking, non-condiment-consuming self, I still loved that restaurant. The food (sans mustard) was good and I've always had a weakness for pub-style (i.e. Brotherhood of Thieves.)
Anyway, several years ago Peter Christian's closed. Today it's a Boloco (a Boston-based, lesser Chipotle.) Not at all the same.
However, it turns out there is another Peter Christian's twenty miles away in New London, New Hampshire. And on Friday we went to see for ourselves. It wasn't quite the same, no half-flight down, no dowdy clothing boutique. But it's all wood interior and corner circular booths were cozy and we had a lovely meal.
And Dan loved the spicy mustard.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment