Homemade chili. Everyone seems to have their own take and most love to tell you what makes their recipe the best. However some, have some secrets in that special recipe that they’re just not about to share.

“I will tell you one seasoning ingredient,” Jones said while making a batch.

“Garlic. That’s the only thing I’m going to tell you,” Patricia Jones, a cook at Meme’s Diner in Felts Mills said.

Well, except for that one ingredient that everyone uses.

“A little bit of Love,” Jones said.

Jones is adding a lot of that to her batches lately. Jones is working to perfect her recipe in time for next month’s North Country Chili Cook Off. When it’s all done, just right, Jones says people will come from as far away as Buffalo.

“We actually have snowmobilers. We have a snowmobile trail out back. We actually have snowmobilers who come in just for the chili,” Jones said.

For the North County Chili Cook Off, they will come from all over. This year’s event, which benefits the Volunteer Transportation Center, is set for not one day, but because of COVID-19, the entire month of February. Think of it as a pub crawl.

Instead of all the restaurants bringing the chili to one spot, people can take the month to travel throughout the region and sample chili at the various participating restaurants, including Meme’s Diner - owned by Brandy Snyder.

“The Volunteer Transportation Center is near and dear to our heart for many reasons. Actually, we serve a lot of military in here,” Snyder said.

Soldiers who eventually become veterans and could very well depend on the services the Volunteer Transportation Center offers. So at Meme’s it’s all about a great cause and great chili.

Last year, Meme’s raised the most money of all restaurants that participated in the cook-off.