Stopping by the road on a summer evening

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It took us almost six years to stop. Every time we drove an hour to the Detroit airport or to Trader Joe's in Ann Arbor - the first 30 minutes on country roads - we passed by the Genuine Broaster Chicken place that also sells ice cream. "What's Broaster Chicken?" I asked myself somewhere in my parietal lobe as we curved out of town. If I'd known it's a fancy method for frying chicken, I would have slammed on the brakes long before this.

Our waitress, who talked with us a while, explained how Broaster Chicken is cooked. This is a specific brand, and vendors buy their chicken, mixes and machines directly from the company. First the chicken is marinated in Broaster's special mix, then deep fried in their special pressure cooker ". . . in the chicken's own natural juices, limiting the absorption of cooking oil and driving the marinade deep down to the bone while searing the chicken with a golden, crispy-crunch coating."

Ahhhhh. Did I say I love fried chicken? I think this is the best I've eaten.

To top off the salivary heaven, we sure enjoyed chatting with the owner Doug Mills, as well as with the waitress (the lady smiling in the photo with model cars, above). Doug is not describing the size of a fish he caught but his gorgeous flower plantings and how our chilly summer has inhibited growth. He also explained how he's been fixing the place up like a genuine diner.

My mom, who moved from metro NY to the South when she married Dad, would mimic Southerners who appreciate good-but-not-always-healthy food, "sometimes I just need somethin' FRAHed." It may not be the healthiest, but once in a while, aahhhh. Stage Stop's Broaster Chicken is a short ten minute drive from the farm. Don't worry, I'll try to limit myself to no more than once a month. I wonder if this really was a stage stop back in the day, since it is on one of the oldest roads in Michigan.

Both times we've eaten at the Stage Stop, Mr. Mills the proprietor has been busy weeding outside, which explains his dirty dungarees in the photo below.

I think when Doug painted his restaurant these colors he had ice cream in mind. The ice cream I chose to balance out the savory chicken? Moose tracks.

Begonia ice:



Stage Stop Broaster Chicken
Stockbridge, MI