on like that forever. When season nine came, Mike left the show as an actor. I was bumped up to number one on our call sheet, and the title was changed to
Little House: A New Beginning
. For all intents and purposes, the show felt as if it were mine. I felt responsible for its success or failure, and at the same time it seemed like a perfectly natural progression. Not much had really changed. New cast mates came in, but our set life remained the same.
But Iâll never, ever forget one day that Victor French called me to ask if I would do a talk show with him to protest the cancellation. I said, âSure, what cancellation?â I hadnât gotten the official word from NBC, so I had no idea. It turned out that no one did. Not even Mike and Kent. We were all basically handed our pink slips, told to pack up our dressing rooms, and say good-bye. Fortunately, someone had the good sense to slow things down and film the three âfarewellâ movies. Each of those movies was emotional and cathartic in its own way. The final one, called âLittle House: The Last Farewell,â was, for me, more than a movie. That film marks the beginning of another major turning point in my life: the end of my childhood. It was time for me to leave the nest and try my wings.
These photos are all from the very last day of filming. If you look close enough, you can see the tears ⦠if you look even closer you can see the joy and the gratitude.
We ate a lot of fried chicken on
Little House
. Seems like it was a part of nearly every picnic or dinner scene we did. The creative team wanted everything on our show to be authentic. It was up to the men in the prop department to keep everything looking right, and so they served us buckets full of Kentucky Fried Chicken!
Huh?
Cross my heart, itâs true: The fried chicken we ate on
Little House on the Prairie
was from KFC.
My fried chicken, however, is the real deal. Whenever I ask friends or family what they want me to make for dinner, nine times out of ten itâs my fried chicken. No offense to Colonel Sanders, but General Gilbertâs recipe is better. And itâs not a secret. Eleven herbs and spices, my lily-white Irish butt!
Serves 4 to 6, with enough for cold leftovers!
----
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons (270 g) all-purpose flour
5 tablespoons (45 g) Old Bay Seasoning
2 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
2 (4- to 5-pound/1.8- to 2.3-g) fryer chickens, cut into pieces, rinsed, and patted dry
Vegetable oil, for frying
2 cups (480 ml) warm milk
⢠Mix 2 cups (250 g) of the flour, the Old Bay, salt, and pepper in a large zip-top bag. Drop in the chicken pieces (you will probably have to do this in batches) and shake to coat.
⢠Pour the oil into a deep 12-inch (30.5-cm) cast-iron skillet to a depth of 1 inch (2.5 cm). Heat it over high heat until a drop of water bubbles. Shake any excess seasoning mix off the chicken and put it skin-side down in the pan, cooking in batches, if necessary, to avoid overcrowding. Cook on one side for 15 minutes, then turn the chicken pieces over and fry uncovered for another 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Drain the chicken on paper towels. Keep it warm in a low oven while you finish frying all of the chicken.
⢠Pour off the oil from the skillet, leaving approximately 3 tablespoons in the skillet, and turn the heat to medium. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons flour to the skillet while whisking, mixing in the crunchy bits and cooking for 5 minutes. Pour in the milk and bring it to a low boil, whisking constantly and cooking for another 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve with the fried chicken.
This dish is really simple, but the flavors are so vividâespecially if you can use a good-quality Spanish sherry vinegar. If you wish, halve the recipe for a great main dish for a romantic dinner for two. Not long after I made this meal for my husband, Tim, he proposed. After all
Little House: A New Beginning
. For all intents and purposes, the show felt as if it were mine. I felt responsible for its success or failure, and at the same time it seemed like a perfectly natural progression. Not much had really changed. New cast mates came in, but our set life remained the same.
But Iâll never, ever forget one day that Victor French called me to ask if I would do a talk show with him to protest the cancellation. I said, âSure, what cancellation?â I hadnât gotten the official word from NBC, so I had no idea. It turned out that no one did. Not even Mike and Kent. We were all basically handed our pink slips, told to pack up our dressing rooms, and say good-bye. Fortunately, someone had the good sense to slow things down and film the three âfarewellâ movies. Each of those movies was emotional and cathartic in its own way. The final one, called âLittle House: The Last Farewell,â was, for me, more than a movie. That film marks the beginning of another major turning point in my life: the end of my childhood. It was time for me to leave the nest and try my wings.
These photos are all from the very last day of filming. If you look close enough, you can see the tears ⦠if you look even closer you can see the joy and the gratitude.
We ate a lot of fried chicken on
Little House
. Seems like it was a part of nearly every picnic or dinner scene we did. The creative team wanted everything on our show to be authentic. It was up to the men in the prop department to keep everything looking right, and so they served us buckets full of Kentucky Fried Chicken!
Huh?
Cross my heart, itâs true: The fried chicken we ate on
Little House on the Prairie
was from KFC.
My fried chicken, however, is the real deal. Whenever I ask friends or family what they want me to make for dinner, nine times out of ten itâs my fried chicken. No offense to Colonel Sanders, but General Gilbertâs recipe is better. And itâs not a secret. Eleven herbs and spices, my lily-white Irish butt!
Serves 4 to 6, with enough for cold leftovers!
----
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons (270 g) all-purpose flour
5 tablespoons (45 g) Old Bay Seasoning
2 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
2 (4- to 5-pound/1.8- to 2.3-g) fryer chickens, cut into pieces, rinsed, and patted dry
Vegetable oil, for frying
2 cups (480 ml) warm milk
⢠Mix 2 cups (250 g) of the flour, the Old Bay, salt, and pepper in a large zip-top bag. Drop in the chicken pieces (you will probably have to do this in batches) and shake to coat.
⢠Pour the oil into a deep 12-inch (30.5-cm) cast-iron skillet to a depth of 1 inch (2.5 cm). Heat it over high heat until a drop of water bubbles. Shake any excess seasoning mix off the chicken and put it skin-side down in the pan, cooking in batches, if necessary, to avoid overcrowding. Cook on one side for 15 minutes, then turn the chicken pieces over and fry uncovered for another 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Drain the chicken on paper towels. Keep it warm in a low oven while you finish frying all of the chicken.
⢠Pour off the oil from the skillet, leaving approximately 3 tablespoons in the skillet, and turn the heat to medium. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons flour to the skillet while whisking, mixing in the crunchy bits and cooking for 5 minutes. Pour in the milk and bring it to a low boil, whisking constantly and cooking for another 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve with the fried chicken.
This dish is really simple, but the flavors are so vividâespecially if you can use a good-quality Spanish sherry vinegar. If you wish, halve the recipe for a great main dish for a romantic dinner for two. Not long after I made this meal for my husband, Tim, he proposed. After all
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