a mixture of musings, offerings & images… welcome.
I guess some things are just too good to be true.
Due to my overwhelming excitement, and hunger for some not so good for you food, I loaded up the kiddies in our Suburban, leaving mom at home since she isn’t feeling too well today, and we headed off to our nearest KFC.
My goal was simple - I wanted to re-discover the yumness (yes, yumness is a word at my house) of those delightful Chicken Littles. Plus, I was hoping that my children would fall in love with them as I did when I was young.
Upon arriving at the Colonel’s, my kids excitement grew. “Where are the little chickens daddy!?” asked my 2.5 yr old son. To which I replied, “Inside, Chubbies… Inside.” (btw - Philip’s nickname is Chubbies because he was a chubby baby). And my older children chuckled because they imagined baby chickens running around the KFC - it was a funny thought. But no matter, I was on a mission and unloaded the children and we entered the doors, stood in line ready to order.
Pictured beautifully on the new ‘value’ menu, at the very top, was the Chicken Little… (only .69 cents!? Joy! - think Ren and Stimpy voice), we ordered 12 which would allow most of us to have at least 2 of them (I have 6 kids remember?) along with mashed potatoes, wedges and juice boxes.
After prayers, and plating all the food and making sure our youngest had small enough bites to eat without choking, I took my first bite in what has felt like a very long time.
“Hmmm” I said to myself… “the texture is a bit different.” It tasted sort of like what I remember but the chicken is a lot thicker. As I inspected the contents of this cute little sandwich I discovered that the ‘patty’ is really not that much different than one of their chicken fingers - only on a smaller scale. Come to think of it, it was more like a very large popcorn chicken piece slapped between a dinner roll… “Hmmm, tastes good - but different too.”
That is when the wave of excitement began to fade. I felt a moment of sadness, a moment of my childhood slowly fade into the past. I wanted to relive that moment through the taste and texture of the Chicken Little sandwich, but alas like all things modern that try to hold on to the past, it wasn’t the same. They changed my beloved Chicken Little, modernized it for a new generation…
In the grand scheme of life however, it doesn’t matter that I am slightly disappointed that the new Chicken Little sandwich isn’t exactly how I remember it from my youth. It was still quite tasty, and surprisingly filling.
More importantly though, my kids loved them and ate them like they had been starving for weeks - and I assure you, we feed our kids well (remember Philip’s nickname?).
It was still a joy to take my kids out for lunch which allowed mom to get some well needed, and deserved, rest. Plus, I just love it when people are shocked at how well our kids behave sometimes. I had a few people comment, which always makes me feel all sparkley with pride.
I still wish it was exactly like the ‘old’ Chicken Little sandwich I remember.
I guess the saying is true - you can never return to your paste, all things change with time.