The Chicken Salad Story

Today our friend Gollum is hosting a Train wreck and Bloopers Foodie Friday. I've had a few train wrecks and bloopers in the kitchen over the years. Mine are usually of the garden variety--burned bread seems to be my personal signature. Fortunately, none of my mistakes have thus far achieved legendary status. That is not the case with the "Chicken Salad Story". In the small Delta town where I grew up ladies used to spend a lot of time playing bridge. These were typically all-morning affairs followed by an elegant lunch. It seems the Tuesday Morning Bridge Club was composed of nine members--two tables of bridge and a hostess who cooked and served lunch at her appointed turn. On this particular Tuesday the hostess had readied her plates with a tomato cup to be filled with chicken salad. She announced to "the girls" that lunch would soon be served and returned to the kitchen to finish up. Much to her horror she found her cat eating out of the chicken salad bowl. What to do? Well of course, she did what any good Southern hostess does and made the best out of a bad situation. She shooed the cat out, removed the obviously disturbed portion and stuffed those tomatoes! Lunch was served! While the ladies were being seated she went to the kitchen to check on the rolls. Peering out her window, she saw an even more horrifying sight. Her cat was stretched out and dead as a doornail. Just as she shrieked "Girls, don't eat that chicken" (and I'm told the forks were mid-air), the phone rang. It was her dear neighbor calling to apologize for running over the cat. With that the hostess thanked the caller, smiled sweetly, and gave the confused ladies the go-ahead to eat. Although it took a few weeks and probably a few cocktails for the full story to come out, the story is now legendary in my old hometown. The now-famous chicken salad recipe follows and can be served with or without the assistance of a cat.

Famous Chicken Salad

4 cups cooked, chopped chicken breasts

2 cups chopped celery

1-2 tablespoons minced onion

3/4 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup heavy cream

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon salt

White pepper to taste.

Combine all ingredients. Chill and remove cat from kitchen. Now click on the Foodie Friday button for more train wrecks, bloopers, and recipes!