For Sunday Gatherings
1 live young chicken (white or brown)
2 fast hands - to catch
2 long arms - to wring neck
1 strong heart
Ample amount of guts and 1 sharp axe
1 kettle of hot water / bucket for feathers
Salt to taste - black pepper optional
1 cup plain flour
Plenty of pure hog lard, just rendered
Several sticks of small stove wood
1 or 2 good old-fashioned cooks (mothers)
1 slow-running clock!
After chicken has been caught, wrung, whacked, scalded, picked and cut, wash in fresh-drawn well water. Salt to taste (pepper optional), roll in flour, put in fry pan with plenty of pure lard. Cook covered on the hottest part of the stove until well brown and tender. If fire gets too low, may need to add another stick of wood.
I’ve had a few chuckles taking you back to my good old days of childhood and teenage years, until I was 18 in fact, 1952. This is also true of Leland, as we grew up in the same era a few miles apart. This is a typical setting for both of our families on any given occasion when we would all get together at someone’s house. This was our way, as you would say, of “hanging out.” Of course the chicken deal was due to lack of refrigeration. That’s why it had to be feathered and cooked on the spot.
Comments