I finally found food that makes me smile!

...and I don't mean that slight smile accompanied by a smack of the lips, no, I mean ear to ear all teeth kind of smile. I smile when waiting in line at the supermarket to pay for it, I giddily skip home.... as in literally like a grade 2 kid singing 'bah bah bah black sheep,' I smile when putting it on the fire to cook, its the only food I will set time for, 20 mins tops if the heat is just right.

Then I would do this little weird dance chanting "chicken chicken  chicken"...aiii!! I tell you I always go kuku about chicken.

I don't even like it complicated...just boiled with the right amount of soup, a little turmeric,salt and voila! My perfect smile food! When I have a really rough day and I feel low, I eat my boiled turmeric chicken...and all the sorrow is washed away! No kidding! chicken is my happy food!

 I think this is why I subconsciously treat chicken nicely. I mean...I can't stand dogs or cats or cows...or any furry domestic animal...but I don't mind chicken at all!
That's probably why I usually add an extra kilo when mum tells me "Tracy...anika mahindi, unga imeisha" so that the chicken can at least eat the extra kilo! hehe!

How and when I started loving chicken... I don't know, honestly I just discovered the weird smile last night...and I had to stop and wonder, "Why can't I stop smiling?" I just know when I eat chicken I think of home, and when  I think of home I think of mama, and the thought of her makes me smile like stupid.

Chicken is the first meal  mama always prepares... well mostly I do the cooking but as per instructions. Its  a couple of weeks before I break for the Christmas holiday and right now I know she has this ready chicken waiting  for me... and I cant help but smile when I imagine mama voice... "chinjuru thwon mar rachar no" (slaughter the white cock)...pure bliss!

I love chicken, but not as much as how it makes me feel... connected to mama! She has no idea, but her simple welcoming tradition consoles me when her voice or arms cant reach me... reminds me of her smile, her smell, her gait...chicken makes me smile because it is the one food that reminds me of mama!

Its beyond the chicken, its in the months she spends raising them, feeding them, watering them, cleaning their shelter, giving them medicine...then the waiting all year long for her daughters to come home, the preparation... mama knows how to cook her chicken!

So maybe its not even the chicken... perhaps its the thought of mama that makes me smile when I eat chicken.
Mama, when I have kids of my own... I hope they also find the food that makes them smile!

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                                     Stay positive!