RE: Road-Trip Food - The Good, The Bad, and The Unidentifiab
It looks like the beak at the top left of that "Chicken Stickie".
When I head out of state, I like to stop at a Flying J for fuel and a snack. At the warm food counter, they have a "Good" chicken cordon blue sandwich. I usually can't resist grabbing one for the road. On my last trip though, as I walked in to pay for fuel I was overcome by the smell of Hot Wings! I thought why not. At the counter I saw them and they were fresh hot and steamin! I asked for a bunch of them and as the counter person put them into a bag I noticed something else in the hot foods section that I could not identify. Intrigued, I asked what it was ( my best guess was deep fried mushrooms but I knew they were not!). She says, "those are chicken gizzards". I said "Hmm, better try some of them too"!(my neighbor makes the best gizzard stew) She cringed a bit and said" you ain't from round here are you"? I said "nope", wondering what she meant by that. Anyway, I got back on the highway and up to speed and realized I forgot napkins and a drink! So like an idiot, I opened the bag of gizzards. Boy they looked good (even though I could not tell what they were under the counter) , smelled good(like most fried foods), but I still had some concern because they were prepared nothing like what I am used to. As I tried to bite one in two, I realized I couldn't bite through it! So I just stuffed it whole into my mouth(I had a funny thought of an EMT finding me crashed into a ditch, dead from "suffocation by Gizzard"). I heard sounds that I cannot describe with words as I desperately tried to chew and swallow the Gizzard down. I finally got it down and had many thoughts racing through my head. So after some thought I decided that I'd try one more! I thought maybe just that one was overcooked! So I looked over the pile and picked what looked like a good one and again tried to bite it in two. With no surprise I was not able too. So I stuffed it in also and proceeded to hear the same sounds as before. After that one I decided it was hot wing time, even though I forgot a drink and napkins.(I did have a drink and paper towels in the camper in the back of my truck but I was up to speed and headed home). As I opened the bag of Hot Wings i was overwhelmed by the "hot smell" as I inhaled (had that same thought of an EMT finding me in the ditch but with a bunch of wings on my lap). I noticed that the hot sauce had begun to congeal into some thing less appealing that they looked under the food counter. As I picked one up and lifted it to my mouth I noticed(worried about dropping it) it was stuck to my fingers. I mean I could open my hand and it was stuck to me like it was glued to my fingers( sort of like super-gluing your fingers together). Well it tasted great(much better than the gizzards) but it was about as hot as I have ever had( and I like hot). I decided I better eat them all fast as possible then pull over to clean up my fingers. As I am about to finish the wings, My cell rings and I was compelled to answer it as it was my wife and I was late and still three hours from home. Well, that was the last straw. I had to pull over and clean up and get a drink (as I spoke to her my mouth was burning with every word spoken). I guess next time I will stick with the chicken cordon blue. I love the temptation of truck-stop foods. I'm not sure though, if I would have tried a Chicken Stickie if it were under the hot food counter!
I grew up in Asia...the Philippines actually (14 years there) and ate lots of things that were delish, but some of it I had no idea what I was eating 
