The big October snowstorm knocked out the power, but not the fun for the Andover A Better Chance (ABC) students. With their Main Street home in the dark, ABC President Mary Pritchard and her husband Matt Dallett, took in all the students along with a group of boarders from Brooks School in North Andover. In addition two of the ABC students had their mothers visiting for the weekend. Needless to say it was a very full house!
Feeding nearly two dozen people required lots of cooking. Fortunately the two ABC moms who had traveled from NYC to Andover had planned to cook a wonderful Jamaican feast. They had cooked up large batches of curried goat and an oxtail dish to bring with them. To these family recipes they added red beans and rice and assorted vegetables to feed the whole household. In the morning, they whipped up whiting fish in the frying pan as well as pancake and French toast for 17! The whiting fish was a welcome surprise for a Brooks School student from China who felt like she was back home. Felicia won the prize for best French toast using vanilla and cinnamon and Fatouma was tops at making the perfect pancake.
In the evening everyone gathered around for a giant game of Taboo—a great way for everyone to connect even the moms. Fortunately the power returned in 48 hours and everyone returned home, truly satisfied that all had made deeper connections with one another.