I suppose you could say we are an animal family. We have 250-plus black cows, 10 barn cats and now one rooster, Elvis Pecksley. One of my grandsons brought him to me this weekend after a wrestling round or two and a few scratches. I have had a couple of roosters out here on the ranch, Doodle Doo and John Wayne, but they were both killed by some dogs that lived down the road. The dogs, I believe are gone, so I brought another to "roost" out here. We should have named him "Sir Crows A Lot" as he seems to crow all the time. He's big and white and beautiful. Our little girl, Emmie, thinks he is the best thing she has ever seen. She goes to my back porch, he roosts in my hedge at the back of the house, and as he crows, she crows and says she is talking to him. I believe he may be somewhat kin to the Sussex breed. He's very friendly and follows me all around.
Everytime I think of a rooster I remember my grandmother's Rhode Island Red, Big Red. He disliked everybody, especially me. She had an outhouse down under the hill from her house and there was a side door going off her kitchen, a back door off the porch and of course the front door. Big Red could be in the front yard and I would try to slip out the side door or any door, and run to the outhouse and he was on my heels flying up in the air trying to attack me. He could actually fly up on my back and peck at my head as I screamed like a banshee. It was not only me he was after, it was everybody and anybody. He disliked people in general, even my grandmother, the hand that fed him. I told her for years he would make an excellent chicken and dumpling meal or Rooster and dumpling but he was the King of the Roost with several chickens and she let him “rule the roost.”
Many years ago, before there was a "chicken ordinance," we could raise chickens in our backyards. My daddy built a chicken pen, and we bought pullets 15 to 20 at a time. She would feed them every day, and wait for them to grow and then it was chop chop time. My cousin would come on assignation day and she and my mother would stretch them out on a big stump and chop chop away with the heads. It was a yard full of chickens running around with their heads cut off. Then we would pull the feathers off, take the insides out, wash them good, and then freeze them for later chicken frying. It was really hard to eat them after the decapitations. I'm so glad I can go to Sunflower now and buy the chickens already headless, featherless, and all the insides gone.
I believe my next “pet” purchase might be buying Priscilla for Elvis.
Lemon Chicken
6 thin chicken breast, (halved chicken breasts)
salt and pepper and dredge in flour and fry in Olive oil 4 -5 minutes each side. Cover and set aside.
Saute' 3 cloves of minced garlic to pan and then add 1 cup of chicken stock and deglaze the pan. Turn to medium and add 1 cup of half and half, 4 tablespoons of lemon juice and 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese. Place chicken back into skillet and simmer for another 10-15 minutes. Serve of rice, pasta, or mashed potatoes.
