Every fall, when it comes time to go out into the woods with a good dog and some close friends to pursue the “wily partridge,” I think of the wonderful al fresco lunches provided by Bill and Alice Brown of Mt. Pleasant, when I was fortunate enough to be their guests on the hunt. The lunch was usually set up in a sunny spot where the dogs could rest up from a morning’s work in the woods. The men would set up a collapsible aluminum table and start up the Coleman stove to boil the wild rice and heat the coffee pot. Sometimes the main dish was Alice’s delicious partridge pasties. Other times we were treated to fried grouse breasts with applesauce. Afterwards, we usually had a small glass of sherry while we told tales and let the dogs continue their needed nap.
– Fred Swinehart