My Mom - and Chicken Marinade

The last couple of weekends, we've gotten to see my parents for a sister/babysitter pick-up and a 4th of July/Piper's birthday celebration. During our visits, we got to observe something I had forgotten about my mom (even though we talk almost every day).

My mother, the oldest daughter of a Dutch father (his whole family came over from the Netherlands), has this incredible ability to mispronounce words. She attempts to pronounce things phonetically in an upstate-New-York-turned-Dutch-turned-Virginia-turned-exhausted-Mom accent and comes out with some of the funniest combinations I've ever heard.

Last weekend, she raved about the "wasibasi" sauce that goes with fried green beans. While I was looking for a birthday cake for Piper, I ran across a recipe that called for "Crico." On Friday, as my dad was preparing the marinade for the best grilled chicken in the whole world, he started picking on my mom about the "paltry" seasoning included.

We've gotten really good at translation - and there is nothing so fun as watching my mom die laughing when we start picking on her about it!

Anyway, here is our family favorite chicken marinade:

Cornell Chicken Marinade

2 c cider vinegar (or red or white vinegar. Combinations are nice.)
1 c olive oil
1 egg, beaten (Does this bring the "boiling in its mother's milk" into play?)
2-4 tsp salt
2 tsp pepper
1 TBS poultry seasoning

For best flavor, marinate chicken in refrigerator overnight.