"All You Can Eat" Chicken Dinner sponsored by the Muncy Valley Area Volunteer Fire Company
I knew I was finally at a safe distance when my cell phone switched to "No Service" mode about 60 miles west on Interstate 80. I was heading out to Sullivan County Pennsylvania, where there are more deer roaming the mountainsides than people. The "All You Can Eat" dinners happen regularly every Saturday and Sunday which give people the opportunity to come together and do good by eating well to support the local volunteer fire company.
It is family style dining as you are ushered into the fire house and handed a plate with a half of chicken freshly grilled from the back yard open pit. The diners are seated next to each in long tables and "Pass the 'tatoes" could be heard over the low murmer creating a community feeling of eating with the farmer next door, or from the other side of the mountain as the case may be. The chicken was paired along with from coleslaw, baked beans and home made potato salad. The iced tea was plentiful as was the homemade white bread that sat piled high in the center of the table. The end of the meal was topped off by delicious variety of homemade cupcakes, some thickly frosted with devils food icing, others with German chocolate, and the irresistible strawberry cake topped with strawberry cream and laced with small bits of red specks.
Down home country eating. Simple. Modest. From paper plates and plastic cups, delicious, fresh and exactly what you crave after a long weekend of quiet hikes in the woods, long swims in the lake, while peacefully recharging before returning back to the service range.
Words and images by Jenine Lurie
