One Sister

Use Crisco if you have it and if not use lard. Use a cast iron skillet and fill it with the grease. Roll each piece in lots and lots of flour. Use lots and lots of salt and pepper to taste. Fry the chicken until it is a light brown.

Running Around Like a chicken with your head cut off…

When I was about six years old I remember being in the house when Mom was getting ready to make dinner.  Mom said: “Judi, let’s go get a chicken for dinner. I assumed we were going to the supermarket. Instead she took me to the orchard.

I remember our chickens had a coop, lay out and just hung out. They were as much a part of my life as the other animals on the farm. I had one special one I’d call “Cluck-Cluck.”

She took an ax from the back porch and asked me to find the plumpest chicken I could. I avoided “Cluck-Cluck” because he was my friend. Curious, I did as she asked and chased one down and brought it back for her approval.

I followed Mom over to a board where she laid the chicken down, holding it with one hand and with the other hand she raised the ax and let it fall, separating the body from its head.

Being totally stunned, I stood rooted to the ground. The chicken began running around the orchard without a head, blood pumping from its severed neck. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I recall inching over to mother and holding the bottom of her dress tightly in my hands.

Eventually the chicken fell to the ground.

I never recall Mom chopping the head off more than one chicken at a time, so I guess nine of us ate one chicken and Mom bulked up our dinners with mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, and other vegetables.