Easy Breaded Chicken Drumsticks

     Legend has it that this was the first grown-up food I ever ate as a baby. My parents took me to the doctor for a check-up and asked him what they could start feeding me and he told them to "Give her a chicken leg." And so that's what they did. I even have the picture of my itty bitty self sitting in my high chair while gleefully chomping away. To be honest, I doubt that that particular chicken leg was made with this recipe, but nevertheless, I have some very early memories of this recipe, or more accurately, memories of washing the stray breadcrumbs off of my face. These days, I usually eat them with a fork and knife, but as a kid, eating off the bone like an animal was the fun part. I'm not sure if it was my grandma who made the recipe up or someone else, but I always considered it one of the four things my dad can cook well. It's one of my favorite comfort foods, and it's the single easiest chicken recipe that I know. With only 3 ingredients and about 3 minutes of effort, anyone can make it. The original recipe is for drumsticks, but if you're not a dark meat person, you're missing out, but you can do it with any part of the chicken you want.

INGREDIENTS:
There are no exact quantities for this. Just buy a bottle of Italian dressing, a can of regular breadcrumbs, and however many chicken legs you need.

DIRECTIONS:
1. Find a large tupperware container or a couple of big ziplock bags, put the chicken inside, and cover it in italian dressing. It's best to let it marinate for at least a few hours, but if you don't have time, you can bread them right away.

2. After the chicken has marinated, preheat the oven to 375 and spray a glass baking dish.

3. Pour some breadcrumbs into another smaller tupperware container or onto a plate and roll each drumstick in them to coat it evenly. Just eyeball the amount of breadcrumbs. Star with a little bit and get more if you need to.
4. Bake at 375 for 45 minutes to 1 hour until the temperature reaches 165.

The best thing about this chicken is the way it smells while baking. They say that smell is the most powerful sense of recall, and this recipe definitely smells like my childhood, as so many of my favorites do. Enjoy, and stay tuned for somewhere between 8 and 12 more recipes this week! Yeah...I've got some catching up to do!