Fingers Or Feet?

My five year old daughter, Salome witnessed me unpacking the grocery bag from the butcher and screeched when she saw chicken feet vacuum sealed in a clear package. "What are those??!!" she asked moving further away. "Chicken feet," I said casually. She moved back closer, with a heroic determination and looked again. She poked and looked closer. You mean chicken fingers ?

"No, feet," I confirmed impatiently.

"Fingers!"

And so the argument continued even after they had started slow simmering in a bath of herbs and vegetables to produce a collagen rich bone broth. (See Healthy-ish).

After they were slow simmering, The um fingers...feet...finger feet were left tender. I remember how I only ate them in some form of stew when I was growing up. This time I wanted to be a bit stubborn like my little girl and eat them differently.

Later when I reflected on our friendly little disagreement, I was struck by how determined Salome was to stick to what she believed. Sure, her argument was not life changing and she was arguing against a fact. But watching her being staunch in her belief and supporting it by her description of the feet that looked like fingers, gave me a sense of pride when I witnessed her unwavering determination to be right. Nothing could sway her. That day I was reminded to be more aware of how I could do a better job of nurturing and cultivating the strong personality traits that I see my girls portraying. I needed to encourage my girls to feel confident in expressing their feelings and sticking to their beliefs respectfully. I wanted to fuel their strut.

So it was just as well that I had these chicken feet cooked soft and tender and then deep fried for a golden brown crispy finish. It was the first time I had cooked them differently and the first time I had taken notice to my little girl's free will. I had to admit I was fine with calling them chicken fingers until she could understand the anatomy of a chicken!

Please follow this link to see how I Deep Fried Chicken Feet.