Between Grass And Sky: Where I Live And Work

The Pot of Hospitality Still Simmers

T H E P O T O F H O S P I T A L I T Y S T I L L S I M M E R S 6 2 I was stunned to read a popular columnist’s opinion that inviting friends for a potluck meal, with each guest bringing a contribution of food, is impolite. Without potluck, we who live in the West would hardly have a social life. Our potluck gatherings have impeccable lineage and an unusually long history. The expression “take potluck” was first recorded in 1592 when peasants worked the land for rich aristocrats. The laborers lived in chilly hovels and kept their hearth fires smoldering continually. After each meal, they tossed leftovers into an iron pot hanging over the flames, constantly simmering so the mixture was safe to eat. Servants in rich folks’ great houses regularly tucked scraps of high-quality food into their pockets to eat, or to add to the pot at home. At dinnertime, everyone dipped a cup or bowl into the pot and ate whatever appeared. At a later date, visitors invited to “take potluck” understood the expression to mean, “It’s nothing fancy, just what we usually have,” or in another commonly accepted shorthand, “plain fare.” Later, the French called the ordinary family dinner pot-au-feu, the “fire pot,” and raised it to a high culinary art with spices and herbs. In Ireland, a guest invited to partake of the “pot of hospitality” was always ready; most travelers kept a cup tied to their belts, or a bowl in a belt pouch, ready to dip into any meal offered. Few people could afford extra plates and bowls for company. ••• Hasselstrom/25-66 6/13/02 10:47 AM Page 62 These days, people who live in the country don’t necessarily keep a pot bubbling on the stove all day, though some of us use meat and vegetable scraps to make our own soup stock. Raised to “waste not, want not,” I toss in washed vegetable peelings as well, creating nourishment out of what might be waste or compost in other households. Stored in the freezer, a stock can be thawed and enhanced with garden extras or leftover roast to become a hot supper in minutes—my version of “instant” soup. Country people don’t entertain the way city people do, anyway. Asking folks to drop in for a cocktail before the play when you live forty miles from the nearest theater is impractical. We might meet city friends in town for a drink or dinner before a movie or other entertainment, but expense and late hours often cause us to decline such invitations. If we go, we might be tempted to consume too much alcohol, so that the drive home becomes hazardous. When planning parties in the country, we need to consider not only driving time, but weather. I learned not to invite guests from town to the ranch between November and June. If heavy snow falls on the day before they plan to come, I’ll have to call them to explain that my road is impassable, even with a four-wheel-drive vehicle. Too often, the persistent or cocky ones won’t listen. Usually, they’ll get thoroughly stuck on the ranch road, requiring me to get out my truck, towrope, and shovels to help them dig out. After dinner, I’ll have to repeat the process with a full stomach and a strong desire to sit still and visit. Sensible or native-born guests might call an hour or a day ahead to cancel. I appreciate their wisdom and experience, but I am still stuck with a large meal to store in the freezer and consume for weeks ahead. These are not inspiring memories as one ponders dinner invitations. Parties planned for summer months usually suffer fewer interruptions, if you can schedule them at all between branding, moving cattle to summer pasture, and haying, though a lightning storm can change the timing of the event as half the men and women in the community fight prairie fires. Still, a hard rain that eliminates the fire danger also soaks into the entrance road. If visitors get in, their vehicles leave deep ruts. Months later, as we smack our heads bouncing over the hardened tracks, we reminisce, “Remember that rain, when the Larsons slid off here and got stuck? Now that was a good party!” For all these reasons, we like to entertain...