I’ve come to the realization lately that my farm share may be taking over not only my fridge, but also a large portion of my life. As one friend put it, “the pressure to consume” all of the wonderful veggies can be a bit overwhelming, and I did find, as I looked back through the latest Besotted posts that they almost exclusively dealt with vegetables – noble and lovely as they are, I started to feel that there was something a bit lacking.

I spent a couple of quiet hours on Sunday pouring through my cooking magazines and books and came up with a lot of happy inspiration for delicious (and omnivorous!) meals. And, to get the ball rolling, I decided to start-out with one of my favorite carnivorous meals – Fried Chicken.

A few years back, I had made the foolish habit of buying lunch every day at work; a group of us had become close friends, and I felt worthy, neigh, entitled, to splurge on eating out in order to spend the quality time with friends and break up the work day. I estimate that in one year I spent ~$2000 ‘splurging’ on going out for lunch, rather than brown-bagging it, which is just a little nauseating, given our current recession.

There seems to be some sort of distastefulness associated with brown-bagging-it, and I can’t quite put my finger on what it is – it’s part hassle, part belief that the food won’t taste as good, and part perceived image and social opportunity in a work setting. I understand the reluctance, as I felt it myself, but those qualms disappeared when I started making my own lunches and realized the following: I make a better sandwich, with fresher, more interesting ingredients for a third of the cost of the local cafe.

As I was making dinner the other night, PT jokingly suggested that I start Cooking Heavy magazine, the yummier, more diabolical counterpart to Cooking Light magazine.

Shocked, I stood before the vat of scalding oil, ready to drop the battered chicken in, and asked what would have given him such an idea. “Oh nothing,” he smirked, kissed me on the head, and retreated to the living room.

Now, I will admit that I have a slight predilection for cooking foods that contain cheese, butter, cream, chocolate, more butter, crème fraîche (definitely, crème fraîche), and home-frying does send me into a bit of a frenzy. There’s nothing quite like that first hiss and sizzle, as the food hits the near-bubbling oil, that tells you that you’re in for a treat.