Meals

Meals at Pemi are homemade by our own professional chefs and bakers and receive high marks from campers, staff, and visitors. Meals are served family-style, with a waiter — typically a 14 or 15-year old camper — assigned to each table and whose job it is to bring food from the kitchen to the table and to clean afterwards. Campers and counselors sit together as a cabin group for the first week of each session and for the final week of camp (therefore, full-season campers sit with their cabins for weeks one, four, and seven). For each of the other weeks, campers are assigned to different tables, and thus have the opportunity to make friends with boys of different ages and from different cabins. A counselor oversees each table, and serves every camper his food, facilitates conversation, and encourages good table manners. Our chefs are knowledgeable regarding food allergies and are happy to talk with parents to discuss their son's special needs. Vitamins and dietary supplements are not necessary except in rare cases, as Pemi meals are varied and nourishing. Vegetarian meals are available and should be requested in advance of the season.

A typical hearty breakfast consists of a choice of cold or hot cereals followed by pancakes, waffles, French toast, or eggs, and usually accompanied by bacon or sausage. Fresh fruit, fruit juice, yogurt, and milk are also available.

Lunch is considered the main meal of the day. Chicken and rice, pork chops and roasted potatoes, and beef stir-fry are representative menu items, accompanied by a salad and vegetable and followed by dessert, perhaps homemade cake, pie, or ice cream. Pitchers of cold water, juice, and milk are on the table. Yogurt is available on request.

Every afternoon a fruit bowl — filled with a bounty of fruit such as apples, plums, peaches, and oranges — is placed on the porch of the messhall for those campers who want a healthy snack between meals.

A typical supper might consist of spaghetti and meatballs, macaroni and cheese, or all-time camper favorite, pizza. Again, salad, bread, veggies, and a dessert are served, along with water and milk. Peanut butter & jelly are available on request.

Sunday nights feature all-camp outdoor cookouts, on the lawn in front of the mess hall with a spectacular view down our valley to 3400-foor Mt. Carr. A mid-season Birthday Banquet and a final awards banquet are lavish events, with roast turkey and all the trimmings at every table.

Boys are encouraged, but never forced, to try new foods. In a setting in which others at the table are also trying something new, many boys who arrive at Pemi as picky eaters leave with broadened tastes and a continued willingness to explore culinary opportunities, much to their parents' delight.