Home Cooked Fried Chicken

I admit it. Home cooked fried chicken is one of my favorite foods. I know, I know…in this day of sushi, sashimi, Thai cuisine, Fettuccini Alfredo, Mexican restaurants, deli foods and hamburgers-in-a-bag, who has time or even wants to eat at home? And if you do eat at home, who wants to cook fried chicken anymore?

My mom, who is the world’s best cook as far as I am concerned, doesn’t fry chicken anymore. I have heard her say on more than one occasion, “there are too many places where you can buy fried chicken….I don’t need to cook it.” Now, I love my mom, and I would defend her to the death. But I have to tell you, in my opinion, bought fried chicken just ain’t the same. In fact, I don’t think I have had “knock-your-socks-off” homemade fried chicken since Hattie's. I realize you don’t know her, but she was my Great-Grandfather's cook in the 1960’s through early 1970’s (and maybe earlier, but that was earlier than I can recollect.) I remember smelling her fried chicken cooking while I was sitting outside under one of the big pecan trees swatting at bumble bees.

I had a taste for some chicken today. Since Hattie wasn’t around to cook any, and even if she was, I wasn’t around to eat it, I went to Bojangles for their breast and wing dinner. This Bojangles is close to where I work and right beside Interstate 85. When I walked in, I sensed something was wrong. Well…not really wrong…just out of place. There were five or six college aged kids in front of me in line, and several of them had on Auburn T-Shirts and/or hats. And I don't live or work in Auburn. In fact, I am in South Carolina. Of course I, being the quiet sort (ugh hmm…) spoke up and said, “are ya‘ll from Auburn?” One of the young men turned around and said, “Yes…..look behind you…we are all from Auburn.” I turned around, and there must have been twenty of them sitting down eating. He went on to say, “we are from the graphics design department and have been up here on a project. We are heading back to Auburn today, but just stopped in to get some chicken”.

After more discussion, I found out that they were doing a project for American Greeting Card’s parent company. It had something to do with how the cards are laid out. One of the graphics design students was a guy named Jakob Andkjaer from Farum, Denmark, and is on Auburn Men’s National Championship Swim Team. He came in 2nd in the 2007 Men’s NCAA Championship 100 yard Butterfly, losing by 3/10 of a second to World Record Holder and Auburn teammate Alexei Puninski.

Informing him that my cousin and his son, as well as my son and I would be going to the Auburn-Florida football game in Gainesville, and that we might want to wear a swim team T-Shirt, several of the students asked me, “what do you think of our football team this year?” While trying to think of the right words to say, one of they guys spoke up and said, “we stink!” Another one said, “Kodi Burns for Heisman in 2010”. Their advisor/professor spoke up at this point and said “Brandon just looks like he is afraid to get hit. Kodi, on the other hand, isn’t afraid of anything right now.”

We talked some more, and then I had to get back to the real world of work. But something the professor said keeps playing in my mind. “Kodi, on the other hand, isn’t afraid of anything right now.”

Kodi isn’t afraid….Kodi isn’t chicken. I agree with that. And I know chicken.