King Cluck

I had a meeting last Tuesday here at our house with the other ladies who will be teaching the Egypt unit at our co-op. Our task was to plan the big 5th-week activity that is the culmination of the unit. We're having a 4 room rotation, sort of like we had for the medieval feast last year that I was on charge of. (How come I keep getting stuck with these big history units?!) Anyhow, I am going to be doing a "mummy" room. The Story of the World Activity Guide for the Ancients has a "chicken mummifying" activity, and I thought it would be nice to have one completed chicken mummy, complete with strips of linen, as well as another chicken mummy that was mummified, but not yet rubbed with oil, stuffed with fabric or sawdust, and wrapped in linen. I'll talk about the process of mummifying, and then the kids will prepare bananas for "mummifying" by taking out the insides, stuffing them, and sewing them shut. (That part is someone else's idea, so I don't have all the specifics on that.)

So when we went to the commissary last week, we loaded up on salt, baking soda, baking powder, a few spices, and some whole chickens. Two nights ago I started the process on Chicken #1, who I like to call "King Cluck". I washed the chicken with hot water, and then with rubbing alcohol, after removing all the innards and gross stuff. I mixed up a big bowl of 2 boxes of salt, half a box of baking powder, and 8 ounces of baking soda (I got a humongous box of this, which is why I had to measure it out), as well as some cloves and cinnamon to make it smell nicer. I poured this mixture into the bird's cavity, and then into the bottom of a gallon plastic bag. In went the chicken and the rest of the salt mixture.

Last night I had to change the salt mixture. The cinnamon and cloves keep it from smelling too bad on the counter, but it is still not roses when you take King Cluck out of his bag! Bob wanted no part in dealing with it! Now hopefully I won't have to change the salt again until tomorrow, and then 2-4 days after that. The whole process should take about 6 weeks, at which point it will be time to rub with oil and wrap with fabric. I will certainly keep you posted, since I know you must be on the edges of your seats with excitment!