Thursday, December 3, 2009

Pickin’ Chicken

Rachel put such a vat of frozen thigh quarters into my roaster overnight, that they still weren’t completely cooked when we got up in the morning. I cranked up the heat to git ‘er done, reminding myself that I wanted to turn it off to cool before taking Sarah to school. Well, they still weren’t falling-off-the-bone tender when it was time to head out, so I figured on setting them to simmer while I was gone.

Meanwhile, I had called Holly at the governor’s mansion kitchen to see if I could drop by for a short visit, and I had contacted the flooded Atlanta family to arrange a drop of clothing that Terry Sue’s family had donated at Briton’s wedding. I dropped Sarah off, and headed over to Wal-Mart to purchase a microwave oven to add to Terry Sue’s donation.

On the way over, I began having one of those panicky moments when you’re on the way out of town and can’t remember if you unplugged the iron. Of course people, with new irons no longer have that worry, but we used to worry about coming home to a pile of cinders instead of our cinder block homes. Did I remember to set the roaster to simmer? Back to Rachel’s in the pouring rain to check on the chicken...

By the time I got to the mansion, Holly was adding the finishing touches to the gingerbread house that will adorn the dining room during the Christmas mansion tours. How absolutely precious! Last year, Holly created a replica of the mansion in gingerbread , which was stunning. This year, she really outdid herself with a Hansel and Gretel motif. This house is decorated inside and out, complete with the witch, the oven, Gretel, and Hansel -- in a cage of pretzel sticks. Her finishing touch is a little licorice dog in a puddle of yellow snow out side the house. Too cute!

Thankfully, there was no further flooding in the area of my flooded family, so I was able to deliver the donations. The chicken was done when I returned from my appointed wet rounds. I spent the afternoon in Rachel’s dry, cozy kitchen alternating writing and pickin’ the chicken.