I could go on and on about the greatness of gizzards!

Hello world and welcome to Monday, March 8, 2010. I would suppose that many of you may get the idea that your humble scribe has his act together most of the time. I think a more accurate portrayal would be to say I'm somewhat surprised when I do have anything together. Take gizzards for instance. I know they are bad for me. They are loaded up with cholesterol, the really bad kind. When deep fried, which of course is how I really love them, they tend to elevate my blood glucose target. Yet, there comes a time in every man's life when the only thing that will satisfy that gnawing hunger is a fresh dozen gizzards, smathered all up with the dredge and the drench of the batter and coating, and then fried to a golden brown. The other day I was driving along minding my own business and I saw the sign for a Church's Fried Chicken joint. The truck swerved itself into the parking lot and before I knew what was happening the fellow was telling me it only takes 4 minutes for them to crank out a dozen of those delicious innard parts. It had been a while and I paid close attention to the lady getting them ready for the boiling grease. Meanwhile, a country song was blaring in the background. Country songs tell it like it is but I can't remember hearing this one as the lady mournfully moaned: "Did I shave my legs for this?"

Now you would have had to have been there to see them trying to stuff all those fluffy gizzards into a box. There are some images that are just too beautiful to put into words. They were smoking hot and that's the way I like them. Maybe I think deep down inside if you eat them really hot the batter and grease will do less damage to the arteries, but in the end they are a treat worth taking a small gamble on. There you have it. One of yours truly's true vices. Gizzards! I've never been keen on chicken livers but every person has to have a handful of gizzards, at least a few times in their life. Right? I try not to indulge myself in the partaking of this culinary delight more than perhaps once a month. I have never checked to see if they have a Gizzard's Anonymous where folks can try to work through issues relating to trying to manage their fatal attraction to this food grinding organ. Come to think about it, I've never seen a cooking show dedicated to gizzards. No gizzard cookoffs. No gizzard cookbooks. Probably there are no chefs who specialize in the preparation of this grisly delight.

So, there you have it. Now you know. We all have to deal with temptations and its likely you won't meet too many folks who have to map their journey so as not to cross a fried chicken restaurant. The other day as I drove on my way I couldn't help but think how good life is when you can be out there dodging 18 wheelers and distracted texting drivers while at the same time popping those golden nuggets of goodness into your mouth. Thanks mom for always saving the gizzard for me when I was a kid. There were times when she had to report that for some reason the gizzard had not made it to the packaging. We've all had to deal with these kinds of sad times. But, how wonderful it is to know that when that unmistakable urge grabs hold of me, I can, within just a few minutes do something about it, and a dozen for only $2.99. That price tells me that many people, and most of you know who I am talking about, have failed to experience the wonderful nitty gritty world of gizzards. Tomorrow I will try to have something a little more sane to share but for us gizzard lovers, it had to be said. Have a great day and may God bless each one! Amen. .......More later.