There's a new Colonel in town...........
By Sparks
@sparkofinsanity (20471)
Regina, Saskatchewan
March 11, 2010 11:36pm CST
So tonight I decided to attempt a dish for dinner that I've not had much success with in the past. With the hubs away I can make all the culinary mistakes I want and no one's the wiser. lol
Tonight's menu included Southern Fried Chicken.
I had to get the buttermilk (having learned that 0% milk just doesn't cut it! lol) and more cayenne powder, but as for the rest, I was good to go.
I boiled the drumsticks in chicken stock, put them in the fridge to cool, set the oil on to lightly boil and set about preparing the herbs and spices in the flour.
A little of this, a pinch of that, a bit too much of something else, and before you can say Julia Child I had my flour mixture ready to go. Couldn't really see the flour anymore for all the herbs and spices, but hey, this was my adventure and I never use recipe's when I'm on a culinary adventure.
I fried the drumsticks in the hot oil two by two to keep the oil at an even temperature, and placed them to drain when they were done.
A dozen drumsticks later, and a spinach salad on the side and I sat down to my dinner. This time the drumsticks looked really good. At least the coating hadn't fallen off or gone all patchy on me. In fact, the whole group looked rather professional. This made me very suspicious. That old saying, 'If it looks too good to be true, it usually is' kept running through my mind.
I started out with the salad, eyeing the drumsticks with trepidation, but finally succumbed to the incredible flavor wafting through the air and attacked with gusto one of the drumsticks.
Well drum roll please, because that drumstick tasted JUST LIKE CHICKEN!
In fact. It tasted like KENTUCKY FRIED CHICKEN! I'm not kidding. I actually looked around my kitchen for the Colonel's bucket!
With a little bit of this, and a pinch of that it seems I've inadvertantly cracked the code of the Colonel's secret recipe! Too, too funny.
Here's the sad part. I can't remember what a little of this and a pinch of that was! I mean, I know what some of the spices and herbs were of course, but when I'm cooking without a set recipe and bebopping to Buddy Holly at the same, I don't really pay attention to the little bottles I'm shaking the sh*t out of. lol
When was the last time you discovered one of the great secrets of the universe and then promptly forgot?
5 people like this
18 responses
@Lakota12 (42600)
• United States
12 Mar 10
Here awhile back I was making meat loaf only to find I had no catsup grown but I grab the worchestershire sauce and the spicy mustard and other spicies whipped it up baked it and It went like crazy but did have soime left not much so I had some the next night.
Since then I have made it several times. Family liked it for a change lol
Dont know if I broke into anybodies receipe but it was good if I do say so myself!
3 people like this
@sparkofinsanity (20471)
• Regina, Saskatchewan
14 Mar 10
Thanks Lakota. I was telling the hubs about it on the phone the other night, and he said he wanted it for dinner the night he comes home for his days off. Well knock my socks off, cause normally he refuses to eat my meatloaf! ROFL
1 person likes this
@sparkofinsanity (20471)
• Regina, Saskatchewan
12 Mar 10
I'm stealing your recipe Lakota. Sounds just the thing to spice up rather dull Friday night meatloaf! LOL
1 person likes this
@ANTIQUELADY (36440)
• United States
12 Mar 10
Hi COLONEL, Sounds like u went to alot of trouble to fry chicken but glad it turned out so well. To me there's nothing better than fried chicken. U can do it again , just use your imagination. That's what a good cook does all the time. I promptly forget most everything. lol.
3 people like this
@sparkofinsanity (20471)
• Regina, Saskatchewan
12 Mar 10
I've never been able to remember recipes I make up as I go along. I've been making spaghetti sauce from scratch for years for example, and NEVER EVER does it turn out tasting the same. And I swear I use the same spices every time! LOL
2 people like this
@sparkofinsanity (20471)
• Regina, Saskatchewan
14 Mar 10
Well I can honestly say I'm better than my mother. LOL But not as good as my grandmother....
2 people like this
@ANTIQUELADY (36440)
• United States
12 Mar 10
tHAT'S O.K., GOOD COOKS CAN DO THAT & I BET U ARE ONE.
3 people like this
@sparkofinsanity (20471)
• Regina, Saskatchewan
12 Mar 10
It's called selective memory and men are masters of it! lol
1 person likes this
@sparkofinsanity (20471)
• Regina, Saskatchewan
12 Mar 10
You HAVE met my ex! I swear that man could charm his way out of a terrorist camp! I've never met anyone with so many horseshoes up his butt! And all because the twist he could put on his selective memory usually had you so confused and questionning your own sanity that you gave in just to have it over with!
1 person likes this
@mentalward (14690)
• United States
12 Mar 10
Stews, soups, gravies and sauces. Never fails. I'll hit on something spectacular but never be able to reproduce it because I cook exactly like you! It's a pinch of that, a smidgen of that and I NEVER write anything down.
I made gravy once that everyone raved about. Sadly, I've never been able to make it like that again. I've made other gravies that everyone liked but not like that one time.
Now, get back in that kitchen and write it all down and continue like this until you come across KFC's secret herbs and spices recipe again so you can share the secret with the world! Well, okay, share with us here in myLot. WE won't spread the secret. 
Sometimes, nothing will do except that original KFC fried chicken and it would be so cool to make it at home.
Sometimes, nothing will do except that original KFC fried chicken and it would be so cool to make it at home.@sparkofinsanity (20471)
• Regina, Saskatchewan
12 Mar 10
Hey sweets...see Tessah's comment below. She says it's just a packet of Italian seasonings. lol She could be right. After all, they use EVERYTHING!
Annie, ask Alice if we get paid for stalking will ya? ROFL
@sparkofinsanity (20471)
• Regina, Saskatchewan
14 Mar 10
Just promise me you'll wear a heavy cotton apron or something this time! LOL
@sparkofinsanity (20471)
• Regina, Saskatchewan
12 Mar 10
I remember making cookies and tea for a neighbour, for a brownie badge when I was a kid. My mother was not allowed to help in any way. It was a disaster, but my neighbour signed the note in the positive and I got my badge anyway. I felt such a fraud! lol These days, I'm always so stunned when something I cook turns out well. Still can't bake proper cookies (no premixed stuff for me! lol) to save my life, but other things seem to come together better than expected.
@sparkofinsanity (20471)
• Regina, Saskatchewan
12 Mar 10
LOL Pat, you and me both. That's one of the reasons I make it up as I go along. Recipes to follow are a pain the butt and half the time I change them around anyway! Who cares if the same meal with the same ingredients doesn't always taste the same every time? As long as it's good, that's all the counts. After all variety is the spice of life right? LOL
@savypat (20216)
• United States
12 Mar 10
I never took much to cookies, to much attention and work for to little gain and a lot of clean up also. I have made some very fancy things in the past but now am into simple things, chicken soup is in the pot for tonight. Stir fry veggies and precooked chicken with rice were last night's feast. More than five things to put together and I loose tract, there is always someone who wants something in hte middle of my cooking and then I can't remember if I put the spice in or not. I'm just getting old.
2 people like this
@louisefrank (356)
•
12 Mar 10
I think the Colonel is jealously guarding his recipe from that big kitchen in the sky and sprinkled a bit of "forgetting dust" over you! Of course, if you stay in that kitchen for the next 10 years you'll never be able to create that KFC-tasting dish again. When I first discovered tequila at the age of 18 I was sure I could fly, but that secret was swiftly snatched away from me - and I had the bruises to prove it! I still sometimes dream I am flying and know how to do it but when I wake up, I've forgotten how. Life's a b-i-t-c-h sometimes.
@sparkofinsanity (20471)
• Regina, Saskatchewan
12 Mar 10
LOL, ain't that the truth! I love that song by Brad Paisley (I think it is) about how tequila makes his girlfriend's clothes fall off! LOL I never developed a taste for it myself as Gibson's 12 year old Whiskey seemed to do the trick for me from flying to losing my clothes! LOL
1 person likes this
@AnnieOakley1 (5596)
• Canada
12 Mar 10
Definitely my genre. I hears it alla time and loves it, too. YEP, I does!
"Tequila makes her clothes fall off". Now I got it stuck in my head. Thanks guys. 
1 person likes this
@MsTickle (25180)
• Australia
16 Mar 10
Even if I did write it down or it was already written down, nothing ever goes the same way twice. Even if you used the exact same amounts etc, it would still not be the same. You can get lucky and it can still taste like a winner ...or not. 
@sparkofinsanity (20471)
• Regina, Saskatchewan
16 Mar 10
Ain't that the truth! Otherwise there would be no such thing as a failed recipe and we'd all be master chefs! LOL
@moondancer (7433)
• United States
12 Mar 10
I'm glad you got your chicken just right. I myself do as you do. I make up my own ...not going with recipes. I have not discovered any secret recipes that I'm aware of at this time, but I have made some delicious meals.
Being a southern lady, I'm proud that my dear Canadian friend can now make southern fried chicken, lol...
2 people like this
@moondancer (7433)
• United States
12 Mar 10
lol, they are both so polite I think they would say they are both great..lol
2 people like this
@sparkofinsanity (20471)
• Regina, Saskatchewan
12 Mar 10
We'll make some together when I come down to visit you. And then let the men decide whose is better! LOL
@zed_k4 (17589)
• Singapore
14 Mar 10
With drum roll? LOL.. that's cute, sweets.
For me, I always imagine KFC whenever I think about fried chicken too..
And I also like the taste of buffalo wings.. the name of this dish in this restaurant..not bad taste...it has got something to do with the sauce, I suppose.
@sparkofinsanity (20471)
• Regina, Saskatchewan
14 Mar 10
LOL........I'm so clever I didn't even realize the pun until your comment! ROFL
And I live in the land of the Buffalo, yet I've never seen one with wings, so yeah, it must be the sauce!
1 person likes this
@AnnieOakley1 (5596)
• Canada
12 Mar 10
This is just like you to do this. I think you've done this with paint, too. Mixing up colours at the store, and not being able to duplicate them sometimes. Good thing they now mark the 'recipe' on the side, though, eh?
Yeah, but cooking with you is always an adventure, my dear. Never boring anyway, focus on that! 
How did Spunky like her serving? Paw lickin' good?@sparkofinsanity (20471)
• Regina, Saskatchewan
12 Mar 10
Oh I learned my lesson with paint! LOL I write down the color mix in a little book I carry around in my purse. Because paint usually gets dripped all over the markings on the can anyway! LOL
And I don't feed Spunky scraps or people food. She's strictly a dog food girl. She gets right sick if she eats anything man/woman made. Remember my discussion about the dufus neighbour lady that fed her pork bones? LOL
@sparkofinsanity (20471)
• Regina, Saskatchewan
14 Mar 10
Actually, I've learned to cook just enough for two when the hubs is home and if I do have leftover........drum roll please.........I NOW EAT THEM! LOL I just wait until I'm in the mood for that particular thing again.
1 person likes this
@AnnieOakley1 (5596)
• Canada
13 Mar 10
OH, yeah, right, ok. 
I just know you don't like leftovers so was wondering what you were doing with them.?
I just know you don't like leftovers so was wondering what you were doing with them.?1 person likes this
@tessah (6617)
• United States
12 Mar 10
ive got sean connery`s line from medicine man running through my head..
"ive found the cure for the bloody plague of the twentieth century and ive lost it!!" add in yer own scottish accent as needed..
congrats for not screwing up yer kitchen experiment! and ive learned something new as well here.. ive tried frying chicken before and cant ever get it to cook right.. the chicken is always still uncooked in the center.. and if i manage to get it cooked, the outside is always burnt. ;slaps forehead; boil the chicken FIRST!!
whether this helps or not.. i dunno.. but the "secret 11 herbs and spices" of kfc chicklen? are just a simple packet of good seasons italian dressing.. dry and unmixed of course 
yes.. ive done same thing.. manahed to make something extraordinary, and then cannot for the life of me remember wtf id done to do it cause i didnt write it down LOL but to do that.. id hafta write down every single blunder as well.. and thats alot of trees to kill LOL
yes.. ive done same thing.. manahed to make something extraordinary, and then cannot for the life of me remember wtf id done to do it cause i didnt write it down LOL but to do that.. id hafta write down every single blunder as well.. and thats alot of trees to kill LOL2 people like this
@sparkofinsanity (20471)
• Regina, Saskatchewan
12 Mar 10
I was speaking to my techie son last night and told him about the chicken. He laughed at me of course, and then told me that didn't I now think it was time to get a cell phone? Like, WHAT? has that got to do with anything? And then he explained that as I was putting the ingrediants in, I could use my other hand to text them to my computer! Well hell bells if that isn't a good idea! LOL Sure would save a lot of trees, and if I could master fast texting as well as my son, it would be a breeze! LOL
@celticeagle (167015)
• Boise, Idaho
12 Mar 10
Well, congratulations! Glad it turned out well. Now you can dazzle your hubster when he comes home. I remember when i fixed fried chicken for the first time. My boyfriend fixed this great dinner and I bet I could do as well. I did. Even the gravy didn't have lumps. I was so pleased with myself. I bet I could never do it again!
2 people like this
@sparkofinsanity (20471)
• Regina, Saskatchewan
14 Mar 10
If I can, you can! Trust me. lol
1 person likes this
@celticeagle (167015)
• Boise, Idaho
15 Mar 10
It has been a long time but I will have to try it sometime.
@LadyMarissa (12148)
• United States
12 Mar 10
I find I do my BEST cooking when I don't remember what I did last & just do what I feel like eating today. I recently bought an Xpress Redi Set Go Grill & I've experienced some WONDERFUL Omlettes by just adding what sounds good as I'm cooking. Any time I go back & try to recreate one I particularly enjoyed, I screw it up. Making it up as I go comes out MUCH better!!! 
Dayum, now I've gotta cook some fried chicken!!!
Dayum, now I've gotta cook some fried chicken!!! @sparkofinsanity (20471)
• Regina, Saskatchewan
14 Mar 10
Oh I gotta get me one of those grills. It will match my kitchen appliances! LOL
I have some leftover chicken. Shall I mail it to you? LOL
@machizmo (279)
• United States
12 Mar 10
My grandfather loved kentucky fried chicken. He also would not even call it KFC but Colonel Sanders. He really loved getting the original recipe. I think they are pretty good at keeping tabs on the recipes. If you did find the recipe congradulations on doing it.
2 people like this
@sparkofinsanity (20471)
• Regina, Saskatchewan
12 Mar 10
I found it..............just can't remember it! LOL I can cook chicken every which way but Sunday, but sometimes I just get a craving for KFC you know? And now because of my wonky memory I probably won't ever be able to duplicate that flavour again!
1 person likes this
@mcelhenney (481)
• United States
14 Mar 10
Hi Sparx,
Good job with the chicken..Boiling before frying is something that I have never done..Although I do not cook much anymore I used to fry chicken a lot..My son moved back in with me so I will be cooking more..Like you I don't measure anything either and when I make something that is really good I never remember what I use to make or how much..My brain is good about forgetting now days..(LOL)
Blessings to you and good luck figuring the recipe out again..
1 person likes this
@sparkofinsanity (20471)
• Regina, Saskatchewan
14 Mar 10
My mother used to (actually still does for some things) follow a recipe to the letter.
Eating at home was a rather bland affair! LOL I find it quite affirming that so many of us here cook by the seat of our pants as my Dad would say. lol So you're in good company witht he forgetting thing sweets! LOL
@tamarafireheart (15384)
•
13 Mar 10
Hi sparky,
That sound delicious!!! at least you know what you are eating. Once when I went to Frace, we went to this sresturant and a lovely meal, as I eat my meal, I thought, I can do this, so when we were home one day I decided to cook the same mal that I had in France, well hubby sad it waas better than the one we had in France, now I have forgotton how I cooked, yes spuld have written it down, lol! love and hugs.
Tamara
xxxx
1 person likes this
@sparkofinsanity (20471)
• Regina, Saskatchewan
14 Mar 10
If I wrote down every 'recipe' of the stuff I make up, there'd be no room in the kitchen for a cook! LOL
I have a very good palate too, and can often recreate the taste of something I had elsewhere. You must have a good palate too sweets. Maybe we should become food critics! LOL
@kprofgames (3091)
• United States
14 Mar 10
Have to say you're my kind of Cheif because I do the same darn thing, must to my daughters disgust. I make these hamburger buns that are light fluffy and don't get all hard on you a few days later and you think I can write it down?? My girl is always saying when you going to make bread with me and I can't for the life of me do it in her kitchen because she doesn't have all the ingredients and I don't have a clue what I do. I dump and pour.
One particular thing I can't repeat though is these peanut butter cookies I did one Christmas. It was about midnight and was finishing up some Christmas goodie trays that give as gifts and thought okay peanut butter cookies would be a nice addition. I whipped them out and they were light and fluffy - not those hard rocks you have sitting in your stomach after eating one. Have no idea what I did or what was in them. Haven't been able to repeat it to this day either.
Guess I need to be sleep deprived and on a mission for memory recall or something. 
Guess I need to be sleep deprived and on a mission for memory recall or something. 1 person likes this
@sparkofinsanity (20471)
• Regina, Saskatchewan
14 Mar 10
I actually do my best cooking when I'm under pressure. Usually means I'm on a time constraint and that translates to the cooking time being right for a change. lol
