If Labor Day weekend is officially the last weekend of summer, then my summer went out with a bang. I started the weekend out by researching my German ancestors at the Cuyahoga County Oktoberfest. When I say research, I really mean sampling a lot of beer and eating a lot of schnitzel and potatoe pancakes. The next day we headed to Buffalo to research the National Buffalo Wing Festival. In this case, when I say research, I really mean sampling wings from all over the country, drinking beer in a baseball stadium infield, finding cool bars all over the city and staying out until 4 am enjoying the suprisingly exciting Buffalo nightlife. We made it home the next day thirty minutes late for a party that WE were throwing. Luckily there was only one person there waiting for the hosts to arrive.
On top of all of this...IT'S FOOTBALL SEASON! I have waited patiently (not really) for the past seven months for football season to start again. With two fantasy teams ready to go, I am looking forward for the regular season to kick off tonight. I initially wanted to change my one team name to "The Sarah Palins," but I thought that might be too extreme. I don't want my team to come off as too conservative or inexperienced.
Along with all of these great experiences and two weeks of political convention drinking games that we have invented (Someone says "Change" and everyone has to drink), there is one more big event I am looking forward to, which will officially bring in the Fall. On September 13, the biggest gala in Cleveland, Pandemonium 08, will be taking place at Cleveland Public Theatre (CPT). This fundraising extravaganza includes live entertainment all night outside and inside the theatre along with free food, beer and wine stations set up all over the CPT campus. Last night I found my dream outfit for this event at a thrift store. The only problem is the shirt is a little snug. I am now about to begin my Nine-Day Pandemonium Diet of Champions. Ironically my diet doesn't include schnitzel, potato pancakes, wings or beer. I wonder if those things have anything to do with my shirt being snug.
**For those of you paying attention, my diet includes not drinking beer for the first weekend of football. That's how much I like this shirt I bought.
Showing posts with label wings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wings. Show all posts
Thursday, September 04, 2008
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
Wings 101
It has been a long time since I have blogged about wings. This by no means indicates it has been a long time since I have eaten wings. After I found out Wing Masters folded (I know...I can't believe it either), ranking them seemed pointless. However there have been a couple things of note this summer that seemed blogworthy:
1. Wings in Ireland are fancy, expensive and small. We went to the Elephant and Castle Pub in Dublin to try their famous wings while we were in Ireland earlier this summer. The Elephant and Castle is a high end pub in the center of the city, and their wings were one of the major draws to the restaurant. Wings are scarce in this country, and this was one of the few places that served them, which was probably why this establishment is known for them. Even though they said they were spiced "New Orleans Style" these were classic Buffalo wings. Classic and expensive. We paid close to $20 for one order. Not only were they pricey they were also quite small. Apparently those outside of the US do not give their animals steroids, so these looked like normal-sized chicken wings and who wants to eat normal sized anything? Not these Americans that's for sure!
2. Wing Night isn't all that bad. I have mentioned again and again how much I hate getting wings on wing night. They are always dryer and never sauced well enough. Last Tuesday this myth was debunked when we were at Winking Lizard on wing night. Our new tenants both serve at Winking Lizard, and they have given us a lot of insight on both the beer tour and wing night. Last week, our server/tenant told us to order the wings fresh on wing night and they would have to make them that way. I finally got good wings on wing night! My life has been changed forever. Don't think it is mere coincidence our tenants work at Winking Lizard, I like to call it fate.
3. Contrary to the sign hanging outside their restaurant in Independence, Quaker Steak and Lube does not have "Best Wings USA". I actually had trouble finishing my wings there and that has never happened. I hope it was just an off night because if it wasn't, I think they would have trouble proving "Best Wings on Canal Road in Independence".
So why am I finally writing about wings? I am doing this in anticipation for the National Buffalo Wing Festival in Buffalo New York that I will be attending at the end of this month. If I don't come back with a giant foam chicken wing hat, I want you to know I will be highly disappointed.
1. Wings in Ireland are fancy, expensive and small. We went to the Elephant and Castle Pub in Dublin to try their famous wings while we were in Ireland earlier this summer. The Elephant and Castle is a high end pub in the center of the city, and their wings were one of the major draws to the restaurant. Wings are scarce in this country, and this was one of the few places that served them, which was probably why this establishment is known for them. Even though they said they were spiced "New Orleans Style" these were classic Buffalo wings. Classic and expensive. We paid close to $20 for one order. Not only were they pricey they were also quite small. Apparently those outside of the US do not give their animals steroids, so these looked like normal-sized chicken wings and who wants to eat normal sized anything? Not these Americans that's for sure!
2. Wing Night isn't all that bad. I have mentioned again and again how much I hate getting wings on wing night. They are always dryer and never sauced well enough. Last Tuesday this myth was debunked when we were at Winking Lizard on wing night. Our new tenants both serve at Winking Lizard, and they have given us a lot of insight on both the beer tour and wing night. Last week, our server/tenant told us to order the wings fresh on wing night and they would have to make them that way. I finally got good wings on wing night! My life has been changed forever. Don't think it is mere coincidence our tenants work at Winking Lizard, I like to call it fate.
3. Contrary to the sign hanging outside their restaurant in Independence, Quaker Steak and Lube does not have "Best Wings USA". I actually had trouble finishing my wings there and that has never happened. I hope it was just an off night because if it wasn't, I think they would have trouble proving "Best Wings on Canal Road in Independence".
So why am I finally writing about wings? I am doing this in anticipation for the National Buffalo Wing Festival in Buffalo New York that I will be attending at the end of this month. If I don't come back with a giant foam chicken wing hat, I want you to know I will be highly disappointed.
Monday, March 31, 2008
The Wingmaster Strikes Again
We were invited to a chili cook-off this past weekend. One small problem: we have never made chili before. We figured if we were starting from scratch we might as well use our favorite food as inspiration. On Saturday our Buffalo Chicken Chili walked away with "Most Inventive" and tied for "Best Overall Chili" at the contest. I was going to post our recipe, but we literally created it as we went along and would have trouble coming up with exact measurements. The main ingredients were ground turkey, Frank's Hot Sauce, blue cheese dressing, celery, onions, carrots, a lot of garlic, stewed tomatoes and beer. We added the beer so the voter could get the full experience we have when we enjoy wings. Apparently the beer addition worked, or the voters were just drunk. Either way...it was fun. We are now looking forward to creating a Buffalo Chicken Sheet Cake if we ever get invited to a baked goods contest.
Friday, February 15, 2008
A Small Taste Of Vegas And A Foreign Dose Of Wings
While the "Las Vegas Blog Post" has yet to be finished, I did want to direct you to a very small sample of pictures, that I uploaded last night. If you click this link, you can catch a glimpse of our four-day trip keeping in mind there are still hundreds of pictures yet to be loaded. You should be able to click on the individual pictures to enlarge them and see the caption.
In the meantime, I read this story yesterday about a hockey player from Czechoslovakia who was hospitalized in Buffalo after a traumatic incident during a game. The player was critically injured, but as he recovered in Buffalo, his one request was to eat authentic Buffalo Wings. Stories like this just warm my heart! My favorite quote from the story was from the doctor: "He asked if he could eat Buffalo chicken wings," Noor (the doctor) said. "So we let him." This quote reminded me of the famous words uttered by Marie Antoinette, instead of letting them eat cake, she should have said: "Let them eat wings!"
In the meantime, I read this story yesterday about a hockey player from Czechoslovakia who was hospitalized in Buffalo after a traumatic incident during a game. The player was critically injured, but as he recovered in Buffalo, his one request was to eat authentic Buffalo Wings. Stories like this just warm my heart! My favorite quote from the story was from the doctor: "He asked if he could eat Buffalo chicken wings," Noor (the doctor) said. "So we let him." This quote reminded me of the famous words uttered by Marie Antoinette, instead of letting them eat cake, she should have said: "Let them eat wings!"
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