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From time to time, I have to remind my daughters that there was actually a time when we didn’t have the Internet and instant access to any recipe under the sun – we had to rely on recipes passed down from our mothers and grandmothers, dog-eared cookbooks, the local newspaper’s weekly “Food” section, and ladies’ magazines (which can still be relied upon to provide several recipes each month for their readers).

Microwaves were still a fairly recent invention, and they were quite pricy; there was no such thing as a “microwavable” meal back then (and the few that were available tasted awful).  McDonald’s was just about the only national “fast food” chain around; there were a few regional chains, but most restaurants were local in nature.

Back then, when a couple got married a gal learned how to cook pretty quick if she didn’t want her fella to starve.  Of course, everyone knew who the newly-married men were, because they had that gaunt look of the perpetually hungry – a lot of those “early wedding” experiments meals ended up, uneaten, in the trash can.
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At parties, the newly-married man will scarf down any food that he can get his hands on….

Ask any woman who has been married for a while, and she can point to the recipes which survived those early years.  These were the “success stories” – the dishes they finally mastered; the ones which made their man’s eyes light up when he walked in the door at the end of the day.

A month before Paul and I got married, I ran across this recipe in the (then) newest issue of “Southern Living” magazine.  It quickly became a staple in our little home – probably because it is really easy to prepare, and really hard to screw up (it took a little while longer to learn how to master making gravy – thanks, Aunt Imogene! – but eventually I got that right, too….)

These days, it’s much easier to get chicken nuggets – they are a staple on just about every restaurant’s menu, or you can pick up a box/bag of them at the grocery store and pop them into the microwave if you want to eat them at home.

But every once in a while, I still pull out this unassuming little recipe and make chicken nuggets from scratch – it brings back very happy memories of those early days when we only had eyes for each other ♥♥♥
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Golden Chicken Nuggets

3 whole chicken breasts, skinned and boned
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp salt
2 tsp sesame seeds
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/2 cup water
Oil for frying

Cut chicken into 1×1-1/2-inch pieces; set aside.
Combine next 5 ingredients.
Dip chicken into batter, and fry in hot oil (375 degrees) until golden brown.
Drain on paper towels.

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