The Chicken Chronicles

Last night, I was in a hurry and ran into my local bargain grocery stores in search of inspiration for dinner. Chicken breasts were on sale and I brought home around 3 ½ pounds for dinner for under $5 which is really cheap here.

As I took the chicken out of the plastic wrap and got ready to wash, I noticed it had to be some of the worst plucked chicken pieces I had ever seen. I know plucking a chicken is a big pain in the butt. I had a grandmother who not only taught me to cook but insisted I learn how to pluck a chicken or clean fish properly. But this was crazy. I actually had to soak the chicken in cold water so I could pull out the remnants of the feathers.

My mind, never content with leaving well enough alone, had to start to wonder if the store got the chicken so cheap because it was so badly plucked it could not be offered in any of the big name supermarkets. Then I got to wondering; who plucks chickens this badly? Of course, it crossed my mind to speculate if we are now buying chickens from China. And even if we are not buying chicken from China; where are our standards?

I got myself so worked up I couldn’t eat the chicken. Then I shared with worries about the chicken with my daughter, the Last Amazon, because that is what a mother does. She shares her worries. Now the Last Amazon is an incredibly picky eater and has a real phobia about germs/bacteria in general – too much science too early can do that to a teenager. So now I had this wonderful dinner all centered on the chicken which two of us won’t eat. The boys did not seem troubled at all with any of my concerns and they literally stepped up and cleaned the plates.

The Last Amazon looked a crossed the table at me and asked if I knew what this meant? Not to buy chicken on sale at the bargain grocery store again? Apparently, that was the wrong answer. So I tried again and still struck out. Eventually, she suggested I only buy chicken and meat from kosher butcher shops. And I groaned. I have been fighting this for a long time. It is not that I don’t like kosher meats. I grew up eating kosher meat, and not for any religious reasons, but give my grandmother a choice between a kosher and a non-kosher meat; she always took the kosher butcher’s meat for two reasons. She was guaranteed a certain standard in preparation and it tasted better when cooked.

I don’t live in a Jewish neighborhood; in fact, I live far from outer edges of one. I don’t drive and it is too far to ride my bike in this weather. This means I would have to take the public transit. The issue with taking public transit for any extended rides, is because, I only stand at most people’s armpit level. Already I am groaning thinking about it. And then, when I think of amount of meat I would have to buy and lug home on a regular basis just to keep the boys filled it becomes like a trial out of the Odysseys. Then there is the whole price issue…but in the end, I realize this is just another thing I am going to have to suck up. I can hear the echo of my grandmother’s voice in my mind saying she told me so. And even though it has been over 15 years since I could call her on the telephone or drop in at the house; it hurts just as if it happened yesterday.