The Barn Pot Luck Supper

As I wrote about in The Congregational Church Fair, New England provides plenty of opportunities for Christmas Traditions. One of my favorites is the Barn Pot Luck Supper.  Our local dairy farm has one just after Thanksgiving.

At least three layers for warmth

The clothing has to chosen carefully, and with very practical criteria.

• The first clothing criterion is warmth. The cows are the primary heating source for the barn, which while wonderful, does leave some cold spots.  Thus I combined long johns with flannel-lined khakis and my insulated Bean Boots.
• The second criterion is that every item had to be tough enough both to be chewed, and thrown directly into the washing machine and dryer, jacket included. So I opted for a Patagonia Synchilla Snap-T instead of a wool sweater, and my older Bean Insulated Barn Coat.

The gatherings are always eclectic, with farmers/homesteaders, members of local shooting groups, as well as other raw milk customers.  Guests brought their own specialties, including: kettle corn made in an iron skillet over a wood fire, Venison chili, and their own hot mulled cider.

I made two batches of my oatmeal/chocolate chip cookies. In order not to inflict my somewhat off-the-grid baking style on anyone, (and although I still used organic ingredients including our own eggs) I cut back on the whole wheat flour and bran, and I used the full amount of sugar for which the recipe called.

I usually try to cut the processed parts, but less so for guests.

Clothes have to be rugged, as they will get chewed.

And you do have to watch out for both ends of the cows.

We left with our weekly supply of six half gallons of fresh raw milk, plain yogurt, coffee milk and a handful of  organic garlic.