All you can eat

When we are away on holidays  we tend to stay in places where we can do our own cooking as well as eating out from time to time. This gives rise to some interesting catering arrangements and some dodgy food.
Craving good veges it has been know for us to buy a kilo bag of carrots and then have to eat them all within a week as they can't be taken back on the plane or across the border. Or a kilo of frozen peas because that is the most economical way to buy them. The last few days of  a holiday can involve interesting combinations of what we have left eg a can of beans plus leftover sausage and lots of those peas. Or noodles plus broccoli and tuna. Today's sandwiches of Vegemite and peas on multigrain bread were actually rather nice.
I can't resist looking at all the eating places and their published menus to see just what is the  most interesting and best value, so of course the 'All you can eat dinner' at the Bowling Club caught my attention.
What is so attractive about all you can eat, filling yourself up to the max? I was intrigued that this place has a time limit so it's all you can eat in and hour and a half.
I remember the old Sizzler days when it was really convenient to meet there for a meal with our kids who were studying in Adelaide. Where else would let you hang out for hours at a time with heaps of food as well. I don't really care to remember the soft serve eating competitions and there are some interesting tales of teenage boys and the all the you can eat Pizza Hut Tuesdays. Was it really only $5 or am I just old?
Yesterday we were travelling and the hour for lunch had long passed and still no sign of the longed for fish and chips (no making our own sandwiches this time.) Almost serendipitously we happened upon a takeaway at Smith's Lake. Wonderful fish and chips were obtained but even  more fun was  chatting to the cook about his preference for Vegemite and cheese on toast and how I like Vegemite and avocado and so on. That food tasted good because I was hungry and somehow there had been a  connection, if only briefly, with the provider.
There seems to be a huge emphasis on food these days with food shows on TV, food magazines and weird and wonderful recipes. Not to mention the photos on Facebook of what people are eating or cooking. When so many people in the world are starving. And that's why we find ti helpful at times to have a day off. Yes, a day off from food. Good for one's health so they say and my doc is happy with the results. Makes us appreciate the abundance of food we enjoy every other day and breaks the tyranny food has over us. Because when you hear someone say,'I'm starving' it's very rarely true in our situation.
All you can eat? Maybe...
PS Well we did eat at the 'All You Can Eat' venue  because it seemed good value if you wanted to have 3 courses: two choices of soup, 4 roast meats and veg, cold meats and salads, seafood, party pies, pizza and nuggets, many Chinese dishes and many desserts. However, I wouldn't usually order 3 courses and if there is a menu listing mains I would hardly expect to have some of them all. I probably ate more than I needed. (OK, I definitely ate more than I needed.) It was quite nice but on the whole I think I probably enjoyed the well cooked steak (medium rare) and veg we had a few days earlier.