Shake It Up, Baby

"I guess there's got to be a break in the monotony, but Jesus, when it rains how it pours." ~ OK Go, "Here it Goes Again"

From having no job - and no real prospects - to two jobs and a house to completely remodel, it feels like someone took the proverbial snow globe of my life and gave it a good, hard shake. Standing upright once more, I'm effervescing gratitude and trying to regain my bearings amid the glitter raining down.

Starting April 25, I'll be the consumer relations coordinator for Farley's and Sathers Candy Company in Round Lake, Minn. Though you likely haven't heard of the company, or the town, you're probably familiar with brands Farley's and Sathers owns including Brach's, Now and Later, Trolli and Fruit Stripe Gum. Word on the street is that employees get a great deal on candy, and I'm looking forward to being everyone's favorite person from now on.

The other job is freelancing for our local paper, the Jackson County Pilot. I did a few design projects recently, and then they asked me to write a few stories each week. Starting out at one seemed prudent, and my first byline will hopefully show up next Thursday.

And then there's the house: our split level starter home in need of so much love. We close April 26, and then we start tearing it apart. So far, we've come across hundreds of dollars worth of surprises in the process, and I'm sure that's only the least of it. Hopefully in a few months we'll all be laughing about things we found in the sheetrock or that time the hammer narrowly missed hitting Nathan on the head instead of wringing our hands over plumbing nightmares. As I say in French, "On verra."

This last week of my "vacation" is already heavily scheduled. A lot of trips to the coffee shop at odd hours of the afternoon, book reading outside (weather permitting), baking, cooking, eating, sleeping, watching Kathie Lee and Hoda (that's right, I watch it), remodeling sketches, shopping for business casual outfits for spring, breathing. The usual.

Really, I feel blessed. Finding a job in just four months is a pretty good feat. And finding a house in a perfect neighborhood for a great price was a bonus. As I adjust to all these big changes in my life, I feel a little out of breath. But don't worry: breathing is on my list for next week.

Are you chicken or something?

My passion for skin-on, bone-in chicken goes back to my childhood, when we very rarely had chicken breasts for dinner. We raised our own chickens, and my mother often fried or baked a whole one. Each person would get to pick which part s/he wanted, and you couldn't leave the table until all the meat had been cleaned from the bones on your plate. Sometimes you were lucky enough to get the wishbone, in which case someone else volunteered to crack it with you and whoever ended up with the larger part was granted a wish.

After the meal, my dad was always the Chicken Cleaner. While we were busing dishes and putting away leftovers, he sat at the island in the kitchen and carefully disassembled the remaining chicken. The breast meat he cut in great big slabs to be put in his sandwiches for lunch. Everything else he carefully separated from the bones and fat and put in a large Tupperware. Later in the week we would have pot pie, chicken salad sandwiches or chicken

and gravy over mashed potatoes. Delicious!

Since I've been married, I've become the Chicken Cleaner. My husband is much more fond of chicken breasts, and though he will eat chicken pieces, he's not about to sit around after supper picking apart the extras. I don't mind - I've come to enjoy it. The meat shines with broth and melted chicken fat, and in the way only a foodie can, I think it's luscious and beautiful. While I'm pulling meat off the bones and fat off the meat, I think about the times my father has done the same, and the many meals I shared with my family.

Even more than this, I feel like cleaning a chicken is a way to be mindful of the gift we have in our food. Trying not to waste any is just common sense when we think of all it took to get that food to our plates. And besides, Mother won't let me leave the table until all the chicken's cleaned off my plate.

4 Easy Steps to Cleaning Chicken

(recipe inspired by Emily at Zweber Farms)

Leftovers from our supper last night.

1. Put frozen chicken pieces ("pieces" means wings, drumsticks and thighs. I do anywhere from 3 to 9, and the more you do the more efficient it is.) in a crockpot set to "low."

2. Pour in a cup of wine and sprinkle with herbs (last time I did red wine with 1 tsp. parsley and 2 tsp. oregano). Cover the crockpot and leave for work, start the laundry, watch the morning news, etc.

3. In 8-10 hours, pull out the chicken pieces and enjoy for supper. (Great go-withs: spinach salad, wild rice and green beans)

4. After supper, sit down at the table with the extra chicken on a large plate or jelly roll pan. Pull off any skin, fat or bones and discard. Keep the rest and make delicious leftover meals!

BONUS

Run the juice from the crockpot through a strainer. Discard the bits in the strainer. Put the strained juice in a covered dish in the fridge. Tomorrow, discard the hardened fat and you'll have amazing chicken broth!