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Do you think it actually works? And if so, why do you think it works?
I have my own theory, but thought I'd check with you all first!
The only engagement chicken I know of is a fantastic recipe by Ina Garten. Can someone explain what engagement chicken is? :)
It is a critical tool for ladies in waiting!
http://www.glamour.com/weddings/blogs/save-the-date/2009/07/how-far-would-you-go-to-get-en.html
I never made engagement chicken, although at one point I seriously considered it. He had asked my parents about 8 months before he asked me, and I knew it. I was desperate.
I made engagement chicken last november and was engaged the next february.
So....technically, it worked for me :D
I think the article makes women look crazy. If you're incapable of saying "we've been together seven years- how about we get married this year.." you have no buisness being engaged. Now.. If he starts ho humming perhaps its time to move on (not play chicken).
I prefer Ina's version. :)
As an aside, my husband took awhile to ask for the second time- but when I approached him with "Hey.. we've been together three years, live together, have combined finances.. what do you think." it happened (The first time he proposed after we had been dating four months and I said he was crazy and thought it was a joke- I still feel bad)
@maureen9004: Its just something fun to cook and share with your man. For me it was fun watching him gobble it up and in my mind I was like "yes, yes, eat up. muahahaha" Of course, I didnt really think "ohhh hes under my spell now" lol
@HoneyBear - Hahaha +1 for "yes, yes, eat up. muahahaha"!!!
I think engagement chicken can create a sense of control over something where it's often possible to feel out of control... i.e.
Nevermind.. I am so confused. Before reading the article I googled it and found something else about playing chicken with the engagement (i.e. threatening to leave the relationship)
If you're actually preparing an engagement chicken I think it will work! I mean, if I were a man a women cooked for me- I'd want to put a ring on it.
I don't buy it one bit.
I think that the majority of women who make engagement chicken are in relationships where engagement is the rational next step. Long term, serious relationships. They make the chicken and then, some degree of time afterwards, he proposes. It could be a month or a year. That doesn't mean that that the chicken "worked," it just means that they are both on the same page for the future of their relationship.
I tried it, 3 weeks later he proposed, of course by then I had actually forgotten all about the chicken :)
I'm honestly not convinced it was the chicken that did it since I cook for him a lot and I had cooked Thanksgiving (including a turkey) for 4 years in a row at that point.
Mr. Bee, why do you think it works? I think I would tend to agree with Miss Sloth.
I'm going to go with I don't think it's the cause for engagments, but it certainly helps? I really like the recipie and it's fairly easy, and it's super yummy! I make it whenever I'm in the mood to do something extra nice for him. I'm not a chef by any means and my FI was very impressed when I made it the first time.
For some people that feel they've lost control over the waiting process, cooking an engagement chicken can restore that sense of control temporarily.
I think that can have a big impact on a relationship... it seems silly, but I can relate to that. When I've been utterly miserable at work, I've found that if I can control some small part of my day-to-day work... I can recover my sanity (sometimes!).
Mr. Bee I like your theory.
I do think that for me it was more of a silly thing. I don't think I ever thought it would work (hence the forgetting about it so quickly).
I did feel like I needed some control over the waiting process, but at that point I had started seriously thinking about not waiting anymore and asking him instead. That actually still matches the theory of taking control and having an impact on the relationship.
Hahaha. I don't think so. I made it over a year and a half ago, still not engaged. But then again, I make him dinner every single night, so I think the novelty of a 'wifely meal' has worn off!
I have never cooked for my fiance! never even made the poor guy a sandwich in 3 years so I'm voting no, the chicken is irrelevant, lol
I think engagement chicken sounds delicious, but I'm skeptical of its powers haha. I think if you are already living together, it doesn't make much of an impact. But I guess if you've never cooked for him, it may make him sit up and notice! I told my bf about it and he thought it was silly. In fact, he said if I made it for him, and he knew that it was an engagement chicken, that he'd be freaked out and not want to eat it. haha but whatever, I guess it can't hurt to make it.
I am curious about this engagement chicken you ladys speak of? It sounds delicious, although I wonder if I make it and he eats it, it will have reversing affects and he will take back the engagement? 
Does an engagement Turducken count? Granted I made it three years before he proposed, but he still brags about that thing to all of his friends. "Dude, did I tell you about the Turducken Scottie made one year...". He gave some leftovers to a friend at work, and I think his buddy was ready to propose right then and there 
. He kept saying to Mr. Scottie "You better marry that woman!"
I love that you started an e-chicken theory thread, Mr. Bee. Love it.
And I do like your theory! I would agree that if it gives women even a smidge less of a helpless feeling in relation to waiting, it could make a positive impact on a couple, by lessening the tension and progressing the relationship. Also, I honestly do think that housewife-y things like baking a delicious whole chicken from scratch could easily make a man envision marriage with his lady more than he might have otherwise. If it's already obviously on the horizon (as Sloth pointed out), then things like that probably could give him that mental push, a glimpse into the future that yeah, getting married isn't so scary -- it leads to homecooked meals! Maybe it's time to get this show on the road! ;)
I am actually making engagement chicken right now! my menu is a bit fall themed since well it is fall...
we are having of course the chicken, red potatoes and onions, green beans, hot rolls, salad, and for the fall part I am making wassail which is a spicy delight full hot drink and my moms drop dead amazing pumpkin crunch cake!
SO FREAKIN EXCITED ABOUT TONIGHT!!!
I'll let you know how it goes!
I made the engagement chicken after we got married! Haha. I needed something easy to roast one night and I thought of it. I told DH that it was engagement chicken whilst we were eating it and asked if he'd have proposed to me if I had made it earlier and he said yes. Who knows!
I made it a few months ago & no ring yet, so...no..
I did read a theory that bc it is sort of a fancy seeming meal it makes your SO see you in a different "light" because you are cooking this 1950s style roast chicken and it makes him see you as totally wifey in a way that maybe he never has before. I think that could be true if you don't usually cook anything more than mac & cheese from the blue box, haha..
My husband made me roast chicken within the first week of us dating. Maybe that's how he hooked me, after all
Hahaha, not for me...yet. But he did rave about it and still has since then.
mr bee - i don't really believe in voodoo, juju or any of that. i will stick by the fact that my situation was, um, ehem, purely coincindence. our timeline goes a little something like this:
- late august/early sept 2009: first discussion about marriage/engagement/longest term future
- september - dec 2009: tried not to lose my sh** when the whole rest of the world got engaged/married and tried not to harass the mr. too much about it.
- dec 31, 2009: i made my own version of the engagement chicken as a sort of "sealing the deal"/"help move the process along" gesture (nothing too crazy - just added a healthy dose of fresh rosemary, onion and butter)
- jan 10, 2010: proposal and ring resting on its rightful finger
i say coincidence because the intent to purchase the ring had to have been there before new years eve. but maybe the chicken gave the mr. that little extra boost of confidence that he was doing the right thing? i'll never know.
i do think your theory is totally spot on though. if you feel like you can have some influence over something you otherwise have no control over, it definitely makes you feel better!
Ha. If any of you have read any of my (advice) posts you know SO and I have been through a lot the past year. I agree with Mr. Bee in a sense - I made it at a point that SO and I talked about future/engagement, and I made it as something to look forward to and it made me a tad more sane (temporarily). However, 6 months later (ringless and the conversations had stopped), I packed my stuff and moved out. Now we're talking about getting engaged by the end of the year and married next fall. I don't think it had anything to do with the chicken. I do laugh at myself now for having made it though! It's just a reminder that real love requires patience, and communication - if the conversation happens over/because of a nice dinner, well all the better ;)
I had never heard of e-chicken before this thread, but I had happen to actually make a very similiar roast chicken recipe for my FI when we were first dating, it was the first time I ever made dinner for him. I don't think if I made e-chicken recipe it would have workedwhen I was waiting for a ring though, I cook most nights for him and I make pretty fancy things most of the time. I make most things from scratch most nights, he was impressed at first and now is so used to it that he could never go back to his single days of chef boy-r-d. I can see how for girls who don't usually cook for their bfs that making a nice meal can make him see her in a new "wifey" light.
I agree that it may work simply because if you make it, maybe you'll stop harassing your SO for a while and just let the chicken magic work. So maybe from his point of view you just got all relaxed about getting engaged and gave him the chance to breathe and plan it.
Good thread! I love the conversation here :)
I wrote about making my chicken here (complete w/ a photo I'm oh-so-proud of! lol)
It was 4 months ago and a proposal has yet to happen, but I think the "magic" number is within 6 months, so we'll see....
Although, to give him credit both of us cook often so this meal wasn't anything too out of the norm, other than I told him "I hope I never have to make this chicken again!" followed by a confused look on his face.......
It works and I highly recommend acting like a total nut case and having every disagreement turn into an arguement thet eventually leads to "Why aren't we engaged by now, I can't wait any longer, I'm losing my mind!!!!" It worked for me. Started the crazy broad basket case thing around October 2009 and was engaged on January 5, 2010.
We haven't had any major arguments since...and we'll live happily ever after.
Ohhh, just read article. I thought it was play engagement chicken, not make engagement chicken. Whoops.
LOL umm no. If my guy proposed to a girl who made him chicken he'd be even more of a man whore.
Hahahahahahahahahaha I can't stop thinking about how crazy this all sounds. Very entertaining. At some point in a relationship, I am sure a woman will roast a whole chicken in the oven for dinner. BUT it doesn't mean that its the MAGIC key to get him to propose, especially if people are talking, weeks, months in advance. I make a roasted chicken, VERY similar to this recipe on a regular monthly basis along with spaghetti with Italian sausage, meatloaf... the list goes on. But I see no correlation in the two. I just see it as a desperate, yet comedic move. i hope the women never tell them men "We're having engagement chicken for dinner tonight honey!" LOL!!!
OMG! This is hilarious! Maybe my own personal chicken recipe worked for me....He moved in and I began cooking. And I cook A LOT of chicken. Three months later, we got engaged...Hmmmmmm.....
LOLOL!!!
@jackndiane:Thanks, not my proudest 3 months, but it got the job done just as well as the engagement chicken recipe.
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