The Year of the Rooster
Christmas Memories 4 My mother was ill for many years and there were times when she looked for ways to lighten her load of responsibilities. One Christmas she decided that cooking a turkey was just too much work. Traditionally some kind of bird is required for Christmas dinner so she chose to buy a big chicken. The day came and she put the chicken into the oven to cook while she prepared the rest of the meal. Everything looked wonderful, and smelled equally good as it sat on the dining room table waiting to be enjoyed. The chicken was served. We took a bite of the long-anticipated feast. Tough—as those proverbial nails; so tough that the bird was almost impossible to chew. Was my mother annoyed! That big "chicken" wasn't a chicken at all. It had been, in its former life, a rooster. We struggled through, soothing mom's ruffled feathers as we gamely plowed through the meal. Now I don't know what makes a rooster tough. I do know that there are even some hens that mus...