My Mom’s Chicken Salad

Julia:

         Hey Mom can you tell me what your recipe is for chicken salad?

         [My boyfriend and] I want to make it

Food! Yum         

       This is what I do a lot now that I’m living off campus. I ask my mom for her recipes for things. Honestly I don’t know how I would have survived in the era before the internet, let alone before texting. I can’t count the number of times I’ve looked up recipes online and texted my mom to ask her about her recipes. When my mom and dad got married and moved into their own place, my mom had some idea of how to cook and my dad could only (and would only) cook pancakes, steak, and burgers. As a wedding gift, my mom had gotten a bunch of recipe cards from her mom and aunts and other family members, so she wasn’t starting from scratch, but she definitely didn’t have the wealth of recipes the internet provides.

         As a result, the first couple of years of cooking, my mom tells me, were a lot of trial and error. Therefore, one of her goals for her children were to have each of us know how to cook, before we left the house. I already mentioned how much of a rough journey that was for me, but I did know a lot more than, I think, most college students when I left the house. At the very least, I had the confidence that if I had a recipe I could make it and it would turn out edible. IT doesn’t sound like much, but it’s given me enough confidence to be able to try a bunch of recipes

My Parents in College

         When my parents were my age, they were part of the first generation in their families to go to college. They commuted to a local university and worked part time jobs all throughout college. My dad worked two and managed to both pay off all the interest on his loans and some of the actual loans before graduating. My mom tells stories of how she would have to ask my dad to type up her papers sometimes, using a typewriter, because he was a better typist than she. Otherwise she used lots of whiteout. You know all those times you write “hte” instead of the or accidentally hit the wrong key like hitting “v” because it is right beside “c”? There was no backspace. So you’d have to use whiteout and retype that word over again. In that last sentence alone I hit backspace about 10 times. I don’t think I would have survived. Probably, that’s why some college professors still specify that they want their papers to be typed, even though that seems obvious, at least to me. Back when they originally started to teach, typing used to be a lot more involved. However, now most people just use a personal laptop to begin with so it doesn’t make as much sense.

I have a lot of reasons to be thankful I live during the same time as the internet and even more that I’m going to college with the internet. But I’m also really thankful for how easy modern technology makes it to keep in touch with people. I can snapchat my siblings, facetime my into my sister’s birthday party and text my mom so I can get her recipe for Chicken salad and then show her a picture of it when I’m done. Here’s the recipe if any of you want to try it. Although my boyfriend thinks it weird that we add fruit to chicken salad and he protested a lot about it, he ate the entire sandwich in about 3 minutes. So the consensus seems to be that it’s good.

The Recipe

Mom:

         Cut up cooked chicken breasts about 3-4 cups. Then add 1/2 c mayonnaise and 1/2 c sour cream OR yogurt. I've used vanilla yogurt or plain. Just depends on what I have in hand. Then I cut up 1 large or 2 small apples (Fuji works well and so does red delicious). I add a little salt and pepper. If you over cook the chicken and the chicken is hard, it will be chunky so make sure the chicken is cooked through but not hardened.

Julia:

         you add grapes too? [I ended up adding about 1/4 cup]

Mom:

         I used to but I have not for years.

         You can add them in too.

Julia:

         ah ok I couldn’t remember

         Thank you!

Mom:

         I usually have apples. Grapes take forethought and planning. J

Julia:

         lol J

Mom:

         I also just typically leave the skin on the apples. I like that they add color.

You can find the recipe card in the main picture, but these are the instructions.

... and here's the finished product!