Did you know?...

I was a vegetarian for about 10 years. When Isaac came along, my stomach was too sensitive and my energy too low for me to prepare any real, healthful vegetarian dishes. So for the duration of my pregnancy, I ate meat. Mostly baked or grilled chicken, as my meat-free childhood ill prepared me for stomaching fattier meats, such as pork and beef (as well as both of those tasting like death to me).

 Last night, I learned that my weak, vegetarian-conditioned stomach also could not handle preparing a whole chicken.

Well, game hen.

I had been wanting to roast a game hen for as long as I can remember, and yesterday I resolved to do it. How hard could it be? After all, I had cooked frozen boneless chicken fillets, and even raw, slimy ones. The hen looked all nice and neat in its little package, so I assumed it would be like the fillets, only chicken shaped and with bones. Let me give you my first impression upon freeing the hen from its plastic case.

"OH MY GOD THIS IS ISAAC." The hen was a chubby, pale pink thing, and was similar to the size of my son when he is curled up. After yelling out out to Aaron that I had murdered something, I inspected the chicken more closely. Moving its wings and legs and little joints made me sad. Finding the cavity through which it had been gutted and cleaned was embarrassing. And picking it up and feeling the weight and remembering that it had once been a living, breathing creature made me swear off meat again, this time forever.

It was delicious.