What's Cooking: Fried Chicken

A few weeks ago I was visiting my family in Southern California and my mom warned me before I flew down, "Linda's making fried chicken on Saturday, so stop eating now."  When I was a kid, probably once a year my mom's friend would make a big, traditional southern dinner -- fried chicken made in her family's original cast iron skillets, mashed potatoes, fried okra, fresh tomatoes and of course pie for dessert. 

Linda is from Alabama and was actually Miss Alabama in the Miss America pageant, so as far as I am concerned she's the authority on southern food! Until recently, I probably have not had one of her fried chicken dinners in 10+ years, but luckily I recently got my fix. I just hope it isn't 10 years until the next one! The best part of the evening was as we were leaving, my 5 year old niece asked Linda if she could have a piece of chicken for the road, and she proceeded to eat it in her car seat before we even made it home! I think Linda has a new fan....