We have gotten into the habit of eating out many nights, and who can blame us? The food is great and inexpensive, we have an incredible variety of cuisines to choose from and, frankly, I don't really like to cook all that much. Christmas cookies, yes, but the every day not so much. But I also don't want to never cook. It's satisfying to cook a really good meal at home. Lazy Sunday afternoons are a good time to plan, shop, prepare and then have your home fill with the smells of delicious food cooking.

So today I made the commitment to roast a chicken. Not such a big deal, you say? I am not interested in preparing a chicken that still has many of its parts that I've spent a lifetime trying to imagine were never attached. The chickens at the market here still have their heads and feet. I know that they're supposed to have those parts when they're alive but I'm just not used to seeing them when the bird is ready to come home to my oven. So, no fresh chicken from the street vendors. Instead we picked up a nice, clean plastic bag of chicken from Costco.

It even claims that this was a happy chicken, running free on some chicken farm in Taiwan. All was fine and good until I opened the bag and discovered, to my dismay, that our dinner had not lost its head, or its feet either. I really, really wanted to be strong and embrace my carnivorous self but I just couldn't do it. Fortunately, Lee overcame his own qualms about beheading this poor dead bird and took care of that part. I did cut the feet off all by myself, however.

I didn't eat meat for a number of years but have been happy being a meat-eater for quite awhile. I may have to rethink that position. But not tonight. The bird is in the oven as I type this.

It smells good and I'm getting hungry. When it comes time to slice into it I may lose my appetite for an animal that just a short time ago still had its head. I'll let you know after dinner.

Addendum: I did not lose my appetite. The chicken tasted good, although not great. I think I've been cured of the desire to roast my own chicken. The next time I get an inkling that I'd like some roasted chicken I think I'll just get Costco's already-cooked version. I know those do not come with either the heads or the feet. Although you can get them in the chicken parts section of the store. No thank you.