"Chicken Foot"

It's actually a turkey's foot, but it's easily mistaken for a chicken's foot. But don't you worry, Big Bird still has both of his feet!

I bought three turkey feet last summer from an outdoor vendor event in Kennett Square. I have handled them with my bare hands only twice. It feels so creepy gross. I won’t touch them without gloves or tongs! This one I have arranged it with painting gloves on. Actually I plopped it down and left it where it stood because I didn’t want prolonged contact with it. It’s so gross feeling. My skin crawls even at the thought of touching them. This is now my other tripe phobia.

The chicken feet reference reminded me of our childhood dinner. Our mom likes to trick us into eating things we kids considered weird. One day she made "fried chicken legs" for us. Seeing how much we were enjoying them because we were woofing them down like air, with a mischievous grin on her face, she revealed that we have been woofing down on frog legs. Of course we squirmed in horror. "Well you have nearly finished it and you're still alive!" she scolded. We always went to the market with her and we don't remember her picking up either chicken legs or frog legs. She is a sneaky home chef.

One other time she hid a pair of chicken's feet in a deep bowl of soup because she knew that if we saw that thing floating in there we would not touch it. We took turns ladling soup onto our bowls. The steady stirring dislodged the well hidden chicken's feet and we watched in horror as one of the feet slowly breaking the surface and into spot light. Our dad rolled his eyes and expertly picked up the chicken foot with this chopsticks and feasted while we squirmed in horror. Oh, it's better not to know.

So, do you voodoo? Oil on panel, 6 by 4 inches.