I need to start by saying that Thursday was the Hub's birthday. He's moving from the lower 30's to the uppers! YAY!!! You guys know how much I LOVE birthdays, especially other people's birthdays. Well in our family, on your birthday, you get to have your favorite food. No matter what it is, we'll take all possible steps to make sure that it gets in your tummy on your day. My favorite is Japanese hibachi style food. Fried rice... YUM YUM... Eat 'em up!!! On the other hand, the Hub's birthday request is quite different...
Some of you may have heard this story before but if you've ever heard me tell a story more than once, you know that generally it gets better and more amazing each time it's told, so hold onto your hats!
The Hub's favorite meal request is... Drum roll please... Fried chicken livers with mustard, mashed potatoes, corn bread, and carrot cake for dessert. I know... RIGHT... No this is for real!!!
The Mashed potatoes, corn bread, and carrot cake are not a big deal, but the fried chicken livers are a little tricky... (to put it mildly). So for the past 4 years I've embarked on a search for the livers with last year being particularly difficult. "But Lili" you say "haven't you been married for 5 years?" Why yes... As a matter of fact I have... Let me tell you about that first year.
There I was, Queen of domesticity... Actually I'd just started a new job, in a new city and just learned that the Hub's mom makes "the BEST fried chicken livers on EARTH". Well naturally, just as I'm sure ANY of you would have, I decided that anything the Hub's mom could do "the Best in the WORLD" was something I needed to at least be proficient at. So after making a call to my wonderful mother-in-law and getting step-by-step instructions on how to make these illustrious "fried chicken livers" (a dish I've never even laid eyes on let alone cooked), I headed to the grocery, shopping list in hand. After about 30 minutes I had everything I needed except the main ingredient, so with a shutter I headed back to the meat counter and asked the sweetest old man behind the counter if he could please direct me to the chicken livers.
He maneuvered his jolly self through the diner style swinging doors and walked me to a nearby refrigerator case, lifted a jar of about 40 floating chicken organs and put them in my hand. Before he let go he asked me kindly, "you know how to cook these, right?" I nodded with what I'm sure was a ‘dear in the headlights’ look on my face and said "yes sir, I think so".
Well to make a long story short, I DID NOT know how to make chicken livers and after burning all 40 of those livers, and making my kitchen smell like something died in it I realized that I needed a new plan. I called the grocery and wouldn’t you know it, they were out of chicken livers. For about five minutes I sat in my living room floor pouting, but then I had a light bulb moment.
Several months back the Hub and I had eaten at a restaurant in down town Memphis called the Flying Fish where he’d ordered… wait for it… Chicken Livers!
The next 15 minutes was a complete blur and consisted of me finding the number for and calling the Flying Fish and ordering large amounts of chicken livers. I jumped in my car and as the man was delivering the livers to the passenger seat of my car my phone rang, it was the Hub. “I’m on my way I’ll be home in a few.”
“Okay,” I said trying to hide my panic. I dropped my phone in my coat pocket and hit the gas. I like to think there was smoke coming from my tires, but as I’m sort of a grandma driver, it was more like a ’look both ways, use my blinker, and gradually merge into traffic’ situation. I arrived home with just enough time to deposit the purchased chicken livers on to our plates and hide the take out containers in a trash bag in my closet.
I waited 3 years before I told him the truth about where I’d been getting his birthday chicken livers.
So for the past 2 birthdays the Hub’s chicken livers have been procured from Lexington Market. The Monkey and I took the train and had a fantastic time! I know it’s a little bit of trouble and I don’t really care too much for them, look at this face!
Some of you may have heard this story before but if you've ever heard me tell a story more than once, you know that generally it gets better and more amazing each time it's told, so hold onto your hats!
The Hub's favorite meal request is... Drum roll please... Fried chicken livers with mustard, mashed potatoes, corn bread, and carrot cake for dessert. I know... RIGHT... No this is for real!!!
The Mashed potatoes, corn bread, and carrot cake are not a big deal, but the fried chicken livers are a little tricky... (to put it mildly). So for the past 4 years I've embarked on a search for the livers with last year being particularly difficult. "But Lili" you say "haven't you been married for 5 years?" Why yes... As a matter of fact I have... Let me tell you about that first year.
There I was, Queen of domesticity... Actually I'd just started a new job, in a new city and just learned that the Hub's mom makes "the BEST fried chicken livers on EARTH". Well naturally, just as I'm sure ANY of you would have, I decided that anything the Hub's mom could do "the Best in the WORLD" was something I needed to at least be proficient at. So after making a call to my wonderful mother-in-law and getting step-by-step instructions on how to make these illustrious "fried chicken livers" (a dish I've never even laid eyes on let alone cooked), I headed to the grocery, shopping list in hand. After about 30 minutes I had everything I needed except the main ingredient, so with a shutter I headed back to the meat counter and asked the sweetest old man behind the counter if he could please direct me to the chicken livers.
He maneuvered his jolly self through the diner style swinging doors and walked me to a nearby refrigerator case, lifted a jar of about 40 floating chicken organs and put them in my hand. Before he let go he asked me kindly, "you know how to cook these, right?" I nodded with what I'm sure was a ‘dear in the headlights’ look on my face and said "yes sir, I think so".
Well to make a long story short, I DID NOT know how to make chicken livers and after burning all 40 of those livers, and making my kitchen smell like something died in it I realized that I needed a new plan. I called the grocery and wouldn’t you know it, they were out of chicken livers. For about five minutes I sat in my living room floor pouting, but then I had a light bulb moment.
Several months back the Hub and I had eaten at a restaurant in down town Memphis called the Flying Fish where he’d ordered… wait for it… Chicken Livers!
The next 15 minutes was a complete blur and consisted of me finding the number for and calling the Flying Fish and ordering large amounts of chicken livers. I jumped in my car and as the man was delivering the livers to the passenger seat of my car my phone rang, it was the Hub. “I’m on my way I’ll be home in a few.”
“Okay,” I said trying to hide my panic. I dropped my phone in my coat pocket and hit the gas. I like to think there was smoke coming from my tires, but as I’m sort of a grandma driver, it was more like a ’look both ways, use my blinker, and gradually merge into traffic’ situation. I arrived home with just enough time to deposit the purchased chicken livers on to our plates and hide the take out containers in a trash bag in my closet.
I waited 3 years before I told him the truth about where I’d been getting his birthday chicken livers.
So for the past 2 birthdays the Hub’s chicken livers have been procured from Lexington Market. The Monkey and I took the train and had a fantastic time! I know it’s a little bit of trouble and I don’t really care too much for them, look at this face!
(The first year of the Fried Chicken Livers)
(This year's Chicken Livers)He LOVES them, and so that’s why I do it.
Happy birthday to the Hub!
Till next time,
Bon Voyage!
Either together or apart, we usually call each other at some point during the morning. I miss them terribly on days like this and hope that one day we'll live close enough to do it again with our little ones.
Anyway, in my post child birth sillyness I made the comment that it looked like she had "monkey toes" and we've been calling our sweet daughter Monkey ever since.
Monkey 1 Month
Monkey 2 Months
Monkey 5 months
Now El has her own fish to watch and she does. One of our favorite pass times is to set her up to watch and talk to her 5 fish; Tom, Tetra, McCullough, Bloom, and Rowling, (the last three are our favorite authors) while I fold laundry on the floor beside her.