@polarberry, when I saw your chicken-in-the-crock-pot, comfort food recipe in my email, I was sure that @journeywithme2 posted it. Guess my intuition was off on that one!
The two of you should join forces and open an eatery.
@deetoo That's why I said "what time are we eating " LOL. Chicken and Dumplings are one of my signature dishes ...as are chicken crockpot dishes.I am big on comfort foods...especially during stressful times and emergency situations. People need food that not only nourishes but can be stretched and fill heart, body and soul with nutrition and love and feel like a hug from childhood memories of love and good food. As the seasons change in to Fall and life is so in turmoil here lately...these kinds of meals are a God send.
I don't like cooking! I am reasonably good at it, just because I have a large family and have done it for so many years. I enjoy neither the prep or the process; it's a chore to me.
I do love good food, though, especially comfort food, so the end result is usually worth it. I don't think I could survive without my Crock-Pot, especially during fall and winter. Even in summer it's a low-heat, low-energy way to cook.
I'm pretty picky about some food, too. Canned frosting- ? Homemade buttercream is really quick and easy and tastes a thousand times better.
As soon as I haul my lazy rear out of bed (overcast today), a chicken is going in the Crock-Pot.
When I first read this I thought you were telling us you were going to haul your "lazy rear out of bed" and catch a chicken from your yard or somewhere and put it in the crock-pot.
Had to read it again. haha. I know some here have laying chickens and gather their eggs which sounds awesome. I have yet to read someone tell us that their dinner routine starts with the bird they are chasing from their own backyard though. Not yet anyway.
I have yet to read someone tell us that their dinner routine starts with the bird they are chasing from their own backyard though. Not yet anyway.
There are ways this could happen though - the second I read this I saw my dog, Rotisserie chicken in his mouth, running away from us in the back yard with that big, dumb, goofy grin he has on his face. He eats like a goat and this honestly could happen easily.
Hell no, I'm not that cracker! ?
Just kidding, but DannyBoy's post made me lol. I've thought about getting chickens a lot....as a matter of fact, I was looking at chicks today while at the feed store. They're reduced in price because they're getting bigger, but still so cute. Anyhow, I have enough dogs to make a very large pile, and they all go beserk when we play fetch with their rubber chickens, so I can only imagine the scenario if a coop suddenly appeared on their turf.
@lovendures @DannyBoy - I don't now ... but in my younger years..yes... have wrung the necks of yard chickens and plucked and cut up and cooked. I have also hunted deer, turkey and rabbit. Single moms raising hungry kids out in the country with not enough child support or no child support and grew up with brothers? Know how to hunt, field dress , skin, clean and cook their game. I always, always gave thanks to them for feeding us. These days? I prefer to buy them from local farmers who do all of that to get their meats to the market. Free range, pastured chickens, hogs and cows, grass fed. There are some advantages to living in rural and semi rural areas. It's easier to be poor in the country where you can raise your own food and forage the forests as well. Truth be told? I didn't feel poor at all... I felt free .. and.. my children were raised with an appreciation for life and nature.
DannyBoy, what kind of dog do you have?
@polarberry We have a Chocolate Lab. I've never been without a dog in my lifetime (aside from college when apartments would allow cats but not dogs) - My wife and I had a beautiful Saint Bernard for a time who was the baby until we had babies - she never grew to love the twins. We had to have her put down at 11 due to a mystery illness, and we picked this guy up the very next day. A total impulse buy but we had said for years we wanted a male Chocolate Lab when Chloe went and the farm my wife passes on her way to work each day advertised Chocolate Lab puppies - we called and they had exactly one left. A male.
He's the kindest, gentlest soul we've ever lived with (I can't say owned) but oh is he naughty. He will eat anything. Especially Kleenex. If you leave him alone for a second he's into the garbage. (He can open it) we have to kennel him during the day and he's gotten rotund. But here he is right after we yelled at him for eating an entire Pizza Hut pizza I had brought home as a surprise. I went upstairs to tell everyone dinner was ready, I came back - it was gone, and there he was with this dumb look on his face. Oh Oliver Wendell (his name. Also responds to "Ollie" and "You dumb dog!")
@journeywithme2 Wow. Impressive life experience. Pulls me right out of time and gives perspective.
Also what you've written is just so beautifully expressed. Reminds me of the writings of Barbara Kingsolver.
@jeanne-mayell Thank you .. I take that as high praise! She is one of my favorite writers! I have many favorite authors LOL. I love to read. Sue Monk Kidd, Alice Walker, Maya Angelou,Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings,Catherine Marshall, Harper Lee... too many to name.. but all touched my life and gave me wings.
My children have a nickname for me LOL. They call me The Druid after a character in their D & D game: it's more Scottish fey and Appalachian mountain folk wisdom of my ancestors. I did and do learn skills for a less "civilized" way of life. My great aunt was a "granny woman" with knowledge of herbs and tinctures for sickness, she could draw fire out of burns and stop bleeding, make warts disappear and more . The Foxfire books , if anyone has read them ..or wants too...tells a lot of the way of life in these Georgia mountains back in the day.
@journeywithme2 :-) Kingsolver has never written a book that didn't become a best seller. Your words reminded me especially of the sentiments in Flight Behavior about a young farm mother in Tennessee Appalachia, which is my favorite of her books. But also in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle when she talks about slaughtering her turkeys.
@jeanne-mayell I haven't gotten to read those two... I look forward to them!!! I read the ones about the girl "Turtle" and her life and times.
And much preferable. Meat raised for the mass market-the conditions the animals suffer-horrid.
Same, I try really hard to only buy meat where the animal has been humanely raised and killed.
I remember my dad saying his aunt would go out in the yard, grab a chicken and snap its neck without a second's hesitation. I was fascinated by that as a child. I was a city girl lol.
LMAO, typical Lab. He is gorgeous!!
We've always had too many dogs. Doesn't feel right without them. ?
I remember my dad saying his aunt would go out in the yard, grab a chicken and snap its neck without a second's hesitation. I was fascinated by that as a child. I was a city girl lol.
My dad grew up on a poultry farm. He did all the chicken-chores, including taking any (naturally) dead ones down to the back of the property to dump them, which made the buzzards very happy.
Chicken was his least favorite meal as an adult. No question why.
@dannyboy, Oliver Wendell (love the name) is such a sweet, cutie pie! And you can tell he's a character. How quickly did he scarf down that pizza? Our dog, Gracie, loved pizza crust. Also sunflower seeds and ginger snaps. Never went after Kleenex, unless she was bored and we were gone from the house too long. I have a friend whose dog ate an entire roasted chicken.
You made me think of a lab story I saw on the Today Show. These two guys were hosting a birthday party at their home. There was a big cake in the middle of the table, and after everyone finished eating and were distracted with the gifts, their lab went for the cake. After the guests left for the evening, the poor dog was lethargic and, over the next few hours, developed a fever. The guys knew that their dog had eaten some cake, but couldn't figure out why he was so sick. They took him to the emergency vet who did an x-ray, and guess what it showed? A big cake knife in the middle of the dog's belly. Amazingly the knife went straight down his throat and didn't cause any damage. The two guys were on The Today Show with their wagging pooch, standing proudly, smiling broadly, with a big bandage surrounding his belly. They brought the x-ray with them and shared it with the viewers -- it was amazing.
@dannyboy I was writing a reply to you about your gorgeous naughty boy Ollie. In 30 years as a vet tech I have been the surgical assistant and pre and post op care nurse for fur babies that ate things they should not have!!! The preponderance of those were either Golden Retrievers or Chocolate Labs!!! Truth!!! The whole process from the onset of sickness to the barium x-rays to the surgery to the post op care to full recovery to sometimes repeat offenders!!! I have a good 50 photos on my phone of some of those surgeries!! (can share upon request but not until asked because it may be to graphic for some folks) It always amazed me some of the things they would eat!!!! A whole bag of raw rice, a TV remote, Birdseed, socks, underwear, chewy up toys, diapers, a knife, a needle and thread (that one was a chihuahua from Mom's sewing room) old corn cobs from the compost pile..one chocolate lab girl? ate the linoleum her parents were pulling up to install a new floor in their old house..and..she...ate....the...old....linoleum... was sick off and on for a few months... owner declined X-rays etc..patient passed some pieces in stool at home.. thought home free...finally after about the 4th visit 8 months later? did the barium X-rays and found ..yes!!! some STILL in there. We removed it and she went on to a full recovery!!! It's crazy some of the things they will eat. Give your sweet squishy face boi a hug from me!!! Oliver Wendell.. your auntie here... begs you please.... do ... not.. do .. it LOL
@dannyboy I was writing a reply to you about your gorgeous naughty boy Ollie. In 30 years as a vet tech I have been the surgical assistant and pre and post op care nurse for fur babies that ate things they should not have!!! The preponderance of those were either Golden Retrievers or Chocolate Labs!!!
Goldens and Labs are the goofiest sweetest dogs.
In your experience, do you think there is a difference between the personalities of Yellow, Black, and Chocolate labs? It seems to me that Yellow Labs are a little more *mature*; less goofy. What do you think?