Meeting the Dick!

For months now, I'd been all but dragging details out of Tyler about his father. The man my best buddy Steph and I had nicknamed The Dick. Tyler had been unusally silent about his father and had made no attempt at introducing us so of course, I feared the worst, all of which my buddy backed up and then some.

According to Steph, Richard Bennedict was not only a dick but a snob. I'd begun to think she was right and that Tyler was just too embarrassed by me and my low class upbrinings to invite me to meet his father.

Until yesterday. As I stood in the bathroom brushing, Tyler announced that out of the blue his father wanted to meet me.

I was just about ready to tell him I had something planned for that exact same day when Tyler told me he'd checked my schedule. I was clear.

So, it looks like I'm going to get to meet The Dick after all. Wish me luck.

More to follow if I survive.

~~~Carrie.

When it rains it pours and I'm not talking about moisture!

This weekend the most unexpected thing happend. I went home to see my Aunt Mabel and guess who came with me. You got it, my super sophisticated boyfriend Tyler.

Well, you could have knocked me over with a straw.

Having Tyler see my oh so humble upbringings and meeting Aunt Mabel and Aunt Trudy had my nerves on edge all weekend long.

Turns out, Tyler passed the test. Aunt Mabel loved him! Aunt Trudy not so much, but then she hates all of my boyfriends.

And low and behold another miracle happened! Aunt Mabel gave me her secret recipe for fried chicken.

Don't tell her, but I'm posting it below. I hope you love it as much as I do!

~~~Carrie

Aunt Mabel's Buttermilk Southern Fried Chicken


Ingredients
2-3 lbs frying chicken, cut up
2 cups buttermilk
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt (or to taste)
1 teaspoon black pepper, Freshly ground (or to taste)
1 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder (optional)
1/4 teaspoon onion powder (optional)
vegetable oilvegetable oil-->vegetable oil--> (for frying)

Directions
Wash chicken pieces thoroughly and pat dry.
Place chicken in a long, shallow glass baking dish.
Pour the buttermilk over the chicken, cover and refrigerate for a least 4 hours, turning once or twice. In a clean plastic or brown paper bag, combine the flour, salt, pepper, paprika, and if desired the garlic and onion powders.
Drain the chicken and place two or three pieces of chicken in the bag and shake well to coat evenly.
Repeat until all chicken has been coated with seasoned flour mixture. In a large, heavy skillet, heat about one-half of oil over medium-high heat until hot, but not smoking.
Add chicken (in batches if necessary) and brown on all sides, about three minutes per side. Place browned chicken on a warm platter until all pieces are cooked.
When all the chicken pieces are browned, crowd them into the skillet, turn heat to medium-low, cover and cook, turning occasionally, until tender, about 35-40 minutes.
Remove cover, turn heat to medium-high and cook six to eight minutes more or until skin is crispy.
Serve at once. Serves 4.