Crackin' for a cause
PEO Chapter BY member Cindy Beebe stands next to a cooler full of crab legs before they were dropped into boiling water to be cooked.
POLSON — When cooking one of the top-of-the-line types of crab, chef Jack Fay just sits back.
During the PEO Chapter BY sponsored Crab Crack last Friday night, Fay was in charge of cooking more than 245 pounds of Alaska Brown King Crab.
The event brought 200 people to help raise money to help women finance their education through scholarships and low-interest loans.
The idea for the crab crack came from the Ronan Fire Department, event organizer Toni Young said.
“Nobody in Polson has one,” she said. “I really, really like crab myself, so we brought it here.”
The group also served potatoes, coleslaw, lemonade and dessert with the main course.
Fay said he enjoys dipping his crab legs in catalina dressing, but others like melted butter among other things.
In his third year behind the scenes, Fay has the art of boiling the 16-inch long legs down pat. For five minutes, he lets the legs boil before checking to make sure they are done.
“If they are green, it’ll make you green,” Fay said on how he knows if the legs are good to be served or not.
Chapter BY is one of four in Lake County but, Young said, “We are all working for the same thing.”