Its not as comfortable as it looks…
I’ve past my ’35/35′ day – the day you hit 35 weeks pregnant is when you have 35 days left until your due date. However, I’ve heard so many things from my doctors on when they think this baby is coming that I dont really believe in a due date anymore. I just keep telling people Im due in July.
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If you missed Part I of Woznation Chicken check it out here. Part III on its way next.
Now that we have our roasted chicken, you may be wondering ‘How do I eat this thing?’. Often one hears of buying a ‘8 piece chicken.’ That is generally a term used for a raw chicken broken down into 8 serving sizes. But I guarantee you that one little chicken isnt going to serve 8 people. So I will be demonstrating how to break down the chicken Woznation style which is 4 pieces, with 2 wings to boot. So here is our chicken:
It has been resting at least 20 minutes to cool down. If you try to break it down too early, it will be way too hot to man handle. We are going to start with the 2 leg/thigh servings. Begin by cutting into the skin between the body and the leg, angling as close to the back of the bird as possible. You can flip the bird oven if youd like, to make sure you are getting as much of the thigh meat as possible. Is should be pretty easy to cut through the skin and meat – but then your knife will stop when you reach bone / hip socket. Thats ok. Dont try to actually cut through the bone, just cut through the meat part for now.
So like I said, you will stop once you have cut through all the meat and skin, and now the thigh piece is hanging on by the bone/hip socket. Since you have already roasted the bird, this should be a pretty weak connection. You should be able to see the bone at this point and you can most often separate the thigh by a few twists back and forth, perhaps with a little encouragment from the point of your knife right at the socket. There is a bit of a learner’s curve on this, so dont fret if you cant jimmy-off the leg on your first try.
So now that you have one thigh off, do the same with the other (and yes, the juice of the thigh meat is a little pink indicating that I slightly undercooked the dark meat of this bird. You have to cook the breast until 170 and the dark meat until 180. So you can pick between an overcooked breast or an undercooked thigh. Since I usually throw the meat into something else Im cooking later that week – I always go the ‘undercooked’ route. If you are planning on serving the thigh meat immediately -you could pop the dark meat pieces back in the oven for 10 more minutes, or nuke ’em for 30 seconds? I havent actually tried that though – so let me know how it turns out….).
K. Now you have 2 thigh/leg pieces. Lets get to the wings. This really doesnt count as a ‘piece’ or a serving. Its more like a snack for the cook. Its usually the first thing I take off a eat right over the stock pot and then toss in the bones/skin. You can use your knife to cut through the skin by the elbow socket, but really the tendons are so weak at this point, you dont really need a knife and the wing will most likely fall part as you are twisting it off. In fact, bonus points for you if you can get the little wing off in one piece.
Wooo. Bonus points for me.
Lastly, we need to break down the breast. This is slightly easier than the legs since we arent going to be dealing with any bones. But the breast bone is curved, so it can be a little bit of work to get as most meat as possible off in one piece. Start on one side of the breast bone and cut down curving outward when you reach resistance, following the breast bone.
Once you have that top cut done, I move to the end of the bird and cut under and back up towards the top, staying as close to the rib cage as possible. This is a lot of hands work as well. I use the knife to get me going, but a lot of work is done by the hands pulling the meat away from the bones.
I included pictures from both sides, hopefully you get the idea. Like I said earlier – There is a learners curve to this. I definitely mangled a few chickens before I got the pieces to come off in nice whole pieces. But the good news is, the chicken will be delicious no matter how you get it off the bone. So just start tearing pieces off if its not cooperating with you. After roasting about 50 chickens, itll become second nature and you’ll have 4 decent sized servings (plus some wings, if you havent eaten them already). Yaaaay Chicken.
Interesting fact about chicken blood (from phil): Back in the 1950s doctor George Gey was trying to grow human cells in a petri dish outside the body for the first time. Doctors wanted to do this so they could experiment on live human cells without having to experiment on a live human, the IRB would be proud. Doctor Gey was trying to find the optimal environment in which to grow the cells. He tried several substances ranging from chicken blood to goat semen. His first successful ‘immortal’ line was grown in a mixture of human placenta blood, beef embryo extract, and plasma from chicken blood. The successful cell line was grown from a smaple of cervical cancer taken from Henrietta Lacks and are known as HeLa cells. These cells are still used today for all kinds of medical research, aided in the creation of the polio vaccine, and have led to all kinds of advancements in the field of oncology.
If you found the above paragraph as exciting as I found it to write I recommend “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” by Rebecca Skloot. It is riveting, I would read it directly through if I were you.
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Im kicking off a 3 part series on the life of a chicken in woznation. And by ‘life’ I mean once its already dead. Part I consists of roasting the chicken. Part II consists of breaking down the chicken. and Part III consists of making chicken stock. Enjoy!
I roast a chicken just about every weekend. The main reason I do it is because we are soup junkies and making my own chicken stock is the most economically way to feed the addiction. You can easily make chicken stock without roasting a whole chicken, but roast chicken is delicious, so if you have the time and a chicken, I say go this route. Often, we dont even eat the meat of the chicken right when I make it (I usually make it at like 7am saturday morning and a ‘roast chicken breakfast’ is a little weird). Its usually chopped up and used in various meals throughout the week. Or it just hangs out in the fridge as phil’s ‘snacking chicken’ whenever he is hungry.
Roast chicken can be as easy or as complicated as you want it to be. It kind of depends what mood Im in. Sometimes I do a beer can chicken or I do a spatchcock chicken over vegetables. But most often I do it as easily as possible, which includes oiling, salting and peppering. Then throwing it in the oven. Here we go:
So, yeah, I wasnt lying. All you need is a chicken, oil, salt and pepper. In terms of tools though – I highly recommend a digital, leave-in meat thermometer. In fact thats the crux of my roast chicken recipe. If you dont have one, you may want to consult other instructions because I cant tell you cooking time per pounds of bird or anything like that because I always rely solely on the meat thermometer.
First, preheat your oven to 425. Then you need to make sure your chicken doesnt have any giblets stuffed into the cavity (Ive forgotten to check before and cooked them right in the package. Amateur hour…).
BTW – this recipe was one of the least appetizing processes to photograph, but Im posting it anyway because the end product is worth it. Stay with me – its a quick process!! Next rinse off the whole bird, inside and out and then pat it very, very dry.
Make sure any time you touch the raw bird, to wash your hands afterwards before you touch something else so you dont contaminate everything with possible salmonella. That would be bad. Also please note that my arm is actually WHITER than the uncooked chicken!! Dear lord I need to get me some sun. Its been a long winter….
I told you this post was unappetizing until the end. Anyway.
Next I oil up the bottom of a baking dish. Then I place the dry chicken in and oil, salt and pepper the whole thing. Inside and out. Top and Bottom.
At this point its ready to go in the oven. But here is where I utilize my very important leave-in thermometer. It has a timing option that goes off at whatever temperature you set it at. So I set my timer to go off when the temp hits 163 and then stick the probe into the thickest part of the breast.
Phil! Dont forget to slide the ‘Temp Alert’ thing on the right over to ‘ON’.
Now place it in the oven at 425 for like 20 minutes
After 20 minutes, knock down the heat to 325 for the remainder of the cooking time. Once the temp hit 163 the alarm will go off and you’ll have a delicious roast chicken:
I only set the cooking timing to 163 because the chicken actually continues to cook after you take it out of the oven. So I take it out at 163 and within about 10 minutes of sitting it hits 170.
Told ya so. There really isnt a copy/paste recipe to type out. Its more of a method than a recipe. Here is a quick recap:
Preheat oven to 425. Unwrap chicken, take out giblets and rinse inside and out. Pat chicken completely dry. Oil bottom of a baking dish/roasting pan. Place chicken in pan and oil, salt and pepper the entire chicken (maybe a teaspoon to a tablespoon of each? However much you need for a sprinkle on all sides of the chicken). Place leave-in meat thermometer into thickest part of the breast and set timer to go off at 163 degrees. Roast chicken in 425 oven for 20 minutes and then decrease temperature to 325 for the remainder of the time. Let chicken rest 20 minutes before serving.
Stay tuned for Part II and Part III of Woznation Chicken!
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We decided to go into the city this past weekend, since we have limited weekends with such freedom. We werent really sure what we were going to do, but we figured we’d either try to see a show or go to a museum and then hit up chelsea market. So we started in Times Square where they have the last-minute ticket booth and you can get 50% off tickets for shows taking place that afternoon. There werent many musicals being offered that we wanted to see, but the play ‘Motherf**ker with the Hat’ still had tickets for that afternoon, so we decided to stand in line and see if we’d get lucky.
Well we were standing in line for maybe 20 minutes or so, when we got approached by someone who worked there. And he says ‘Someone said they thought a pregnant lady was standing in line, but they werent sure. Now that I see you, you are CLEARLY pregnant. You can go to the front of the line! Come with me!’ Phil and I were astounded. Apparently this was no act of chivalry – they consider pregnancy a ‘medical condition’ that allows people to go to the front of the line! Had we known this, we might have been going into the city every weekend for these deals! We were pumped and got some sweet seats for the play that afternoon!
It was really fun. The main actor and actress were amazing in it (and up for Tonys!). Chris Rock was in it, too. Which was just fun to see. It was only a 5 person show, in a relatively small theater – so it was a very up-close and personal kind of experience. And we got to say we saw a show on Broadway!
Then we ate cupcakes:
Bakeries are the new Breweries. At least since I became pregnant. Yuuuuuuuuummmmmmmmmm. It was a great afternoon.
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So on Monday, my boss told me to block out a few hours at lunch for ‘a little something.’ It turns out everyone came together to throw me a baby shower!! I was so surprised!! Everyone brought food and decorated. They all chipped in for a gift card for me and I opened a few presents as well. I was soooo not expecting everything, but it was so great! Here was the spread:
Me, my boss, and administrative assistant:
Gifts and Cake:
My special chair (amongst the copier and WB Mason boxes):
Here are some candids:
It was such a fun afternoon. The ladies at work have been so wonderful and supportive. Most have kids of their own and they are always so encouraging. I only have 5 or 6 weeks left of work here – Its so crazy to think I am leaving so soon – I havent even been here a year! I was very lucky for this position during our short stint in the Jerz. Especially for all the great people I met while I was there!
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So I did my best to recreate a picture that was taken in early November, about a week after we found out I was pregnant.
So, yeah. 4 weeks vs. 32 weeks. I’ve really let myself go.
I feel like I am plateau-ing in terms of ‘news’. In the early part of pregnancy I didnt have much to share because I wasnt showing or feeling much of anything. Then I started getting my bump and I started feeling him move and everything was new and exciting. But now, its like – ‘Yeah, he moves ALL the time. I wish he would stop so I can go to sleep.’ and ‘Yeah, Im ginormous. I have to do a grand plie every time I need to pick something up.’ But I cant complain because everything is going great! We got the car seat today and the instruction manual is more complicated than my car’s instruction manual. Luckily, there are appointments at the hospital where they can approve the installation of said car seat before we need to take the little guy home in it. We have also started washing the baby clothes and buying supplies in preparation of his arrival. We are just getting the essentials for the few weeks we are here in the Jerz and will worry about the rest when we get to Baltimore. Its going to be a crazy last few weeks! Less than 2 months to go!
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Lets evaluate some facts:
1) For the last 4 years, my career has been in medical reasearch
2) I have authorship on over 20 publications
3) I understand that even the strongest medical research has its limitations and that data can be misconstrued and/or misinterpreted
4) Under the IRB, pregnant women and fetus are a special class of subjects and are protected. Thus, making it very difficult to conduct thorough research and make conclusions based off of clinical trials.
5) My doctors have seen thousands of pregnant women and delivered thousands of babies. They have gone through medical school and have more experience than I will ever have.
So. You would think from points 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 that I would be a good judge of what constitutes as ‘knowledge’ – that I know to be skeptical of some information and I should put my trust in valued sources, especially in the context of informed decision-making for my unborn child.
Does any of this stop me from googling crazy things and running to the doctors to check out some medical issue that was posted anonymously on the internet?! NOPE. DOESN’T EVEN SLOW ME DOWN!
Seriously. Being pregnant has turned me into a crazy person. Im convinced that it is beyond impossible to be a rational human being when you are pregnant. I can not help myself from being a nervous wreck over the smallest thing. Its exhausting. But luckily I have a rational husband and truly amazing doctors who listen to me spout crazy things and still respond thoughtfully. *sigh* Thank you, Phil. Thank you, doctors.
Here is another peek at our little guy from this morning:
Ultrasounds pictures of the profile are getting pretty boring, huh? But everything is looking great. The tech even pointed out all the hair he already has!! (Cant really see it in the picture above.) Phil and I both had a lot of hair when we were born, so its not a huge surprise, but I love hearing these little things! Very small puzzle pieces of the mystery person I have inside of me. So far we know: penis and hair. Cant wait to find out everything else about him.
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Sorry, not that b-town.
We were down in Baltimore last weekend for our first apartment hunting trip. We wanted to check out the area we were thinking about living in and check out how bad the commute was from downtown to Phil’s work. We were looking to rent within a few blocks of Patterson Park (based off a little research and conversations with people who were already down there). And once we got there, we absolutely loved the area and the commute was definitely doable! Score.
We saw about 10 properties. And although we didnt expect to find something our very first trip, we ended up putting in an application on the first house that we saw! Apparently there were a few other applications in on the property, but obviously we were the most awesome. We finalized the paper work this past Thursday! It feels so good to have some housing set up for Baltimore! I will send out a birth announcement/moving announcement in July (I dont want to post the address on the internet, but email me if you really want to know it). Here are a few pictures until then:
These are pictures the owners sent me from after the original renovation. There have been a few renters since then, but it is still very nice. It is a ‘row house’ so its very long and skinny and has 3 floors. It also comes with parking in the back, which is key in this area. I dont have any pictures of the basement level, but it is finished and will be a very cozy guest room for any visitors! I am thrilled to live on a street where we can take barney right outside instead of going down 3 flights of stairs for every bathroom break! And also to carry in groceries right in our back door. Ahhh – the little things.
The park is only .2 miles away and the harbor is only a mile. There are lots of restaurants and shops within walking distance. And we cant wait to take advantage of all the downtown activities. Not to mention root on my Orioles!! Here is our street view:
Visitors (and baby-sitters) Welcome!
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This is kind of a silly recipe to post. But since the original goal of all the recipes was to allow Phil to replicate what we normally eat, I thought I would include this. This is more like ‘step-by-step assembly’, instead of a ‘recipe’. I didnt even want to call it ‘granola’ since its just oats and none of the extra good stuff. So now that I have everyone excited…Toasted Oats:
All I use are oats, canola oil, maple syrup, honey, and a dash of vanilla. Preheat your oven to 250 degrees. Then, I use a 1/3 measuring cup and fill it up with equal parts oil, honey, and maple syrup. And top it off with about 1 tsp of vanilla.
I line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and throw about 2 cups of old fashioned oats on it:
Then you just pour your honey-maple-oily goodness all over the oats and stir it all together:
Dont worry if not every oat has some stuff on it yet. The mix will heat up, melt, and spread out in the oven. And you will mix it periodically in the oven. The final result will be crispy, delicious and sweet. And by sweet, I mean totally awesome (and sugary). So go ahead and pop it in the oven at 250 degrees and set your timer for 7 minutes.
After 7 minutes, take it out and give it a good stir, trying to get as many of the oats covered in goo as you can. Then put it back in for another 7 minutes. Then take it out and stir. And then put it in for a remaining 7 minutes. (So you have 21 minutes total, stirring twice).
Then just let it cool and store it in a airtight container! I love yogurt, blueberries and oats in the morning. Its my absolute go-to breakfast. This batch gets me through a whole week!
Here is an easy copy/paste version of the recipe:
Ingredients:
~2 tablespoons of canola oil
~2 tablespoons maple syrup
~2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon of vanilla
2 cups old fashioned oats
Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Mix first 3 ingredients (in a 1/3 measuring cup, or bowl). Top-off with 1 tsp of vanilla. Line baking sheet with parchment paper and place oats on baking sheet. Pour mix over oats and stir to coat oats best you can. Place in oven and bake for 7 minutes. Then take out and give it all a good stir. Place in oven for another 7 minutes. Then take out and give it another good stir. Place in oven for a last 7 minutes. Take out and let cool (oats will crisp as they cool). Enjoy with yogurt and berries.
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Woznation 
