Buffalo Chicken Wings.....not in Wisconsin!

Hello! My in-laws from Western New York just left today after a five day stay! Whew! I had to enjoy a very large glass of wine to celebrate. Don't get me wrong! I love them and am glad they visited.

It was a good visit, as visits go, but I am glad to have the house back to ourselves. The quietness my husband and I enjoyed today was well deserved. It gave me some time to think about what to post for the Promotional Frenzy Blog Forum Thread tomorrow! (hold on....before I write anymore, I need to go check and make sure there isn't a theme posted for our listings......). Okay, after a cursory look, I didn't see anything posted.

Since my relatives that just left are from Buffalo, New York, I thought I would post about chicken wings!!

Having grown up in Western New York, my husband and I are fans of the World-over favorite snack or meal known as Buffalo Chicken Wings! For those of you who don't know, the chicken wings than have become famous and favorites of millions were invented in a Buffalo, New York bar called The Anchor Bar. Now, Anchor Bar wings are good, hmmmm, even great; but there are other places in Buffalo that we frequented for our wings. The most favorite place we had for wings was a place called Duffs. Great wings. No ambiance. But, who needs it when you can get your wings, hot and made to order from mild to suicidal, served with a cold beer! Believe me, there is no need for ambiance when your taste buds are satisfied!

So, we love wings.....So, do millions of other people! So what???, You ask???? Well, the problem is that we don't live in Western New York anymore! And there in lies the rub! Wings in the mid-west are just not the same as in Western New York. Something about the recipe, degree of crispness, and taste is just not right! We know. We've been searching for adequate wings for over 10 years in Wisconsin. We are still coming up less than satisfied. We've tried countless recipes I've found on the web (even one from the anchor bar) and countless restaurants. The best we've come up with for close wing satisfaction is the following;

Buy a fry-daddy......and use it for your wings! Baked wings or grilled wings just aren't quite right!

Buy wing sauce, bottled by the anchor bar in Buffalo and sold by Wegman's supermarkets, to coat the cooked wings with the sauce. Keep warm in the oven while you cook more wings or eat immediately and keep cooking!

Delicious!

The biggest problem we've had with wings is that they just aren't cooked right. A true Buffalo wing has been deep fried and tossed with hot sauce. There is just no other way to do it! Even the restaurant that name's itself after these chicken snacks, doesn't have it quite right in our opinion. We know. We have one of these restaurants here, in Wisconsin.

The one place we do go to is Duffs, for wings, about every other year, when we get back to Western New York! A lot of things might be said about Buffalo, but one thing is true: they have great food in that city! And it gives us something to look forward to when we visit....a favorite food, we just can't seem to get just right, anyplace else!

Buffalo Chicken Wings......Mmmmm! Mmmmm! Good!

Cheers and Thanks for stopping by!

Carol

Harnessing Energy! We have to do it!

Electricity.......Did you ever really think about it?

Yesterday, we found that we were without power for about 2 hours mid-morning. During that time, I rapidly discovered how much we use it and take it for granted! I must have flicked the light switches in each room I entered as I travelled around my house multiple times! The laundry room switch must have been used 15 times alone! As I began grousing to myself about why I even needed to turn on the lights (there was no need....it was light out and the laundry room has a sky light), I started wondering why the power was off and when it would come back on.

So, I turned on the T.V. ! What a loser! Now, I am an intelligent woman and know the T.V. works on electricity. Then, about 9:30am, I needed my mid-morning coffee break........Well, obviously, the coffee maker works on electricity! No coffee! Now, this whole experience was beginning to make me crabby! Keep in mind, the power has only been out an hour by this time.

I decided to go to the local coffee house to get that caffeine that I seemed to need so badly! And, I thought that maybe, I would find out if the whole town was out or it was just us! Well, the whole town was out! No coffee at the coffee house, just iced tea! Not what I wanted! Home, I went. Oh, and I forgot to tell about trying multiple times to use the garage door opener! Electric, of course! Again, a loser! Again, an electricity junkie! Who knew?!

The power actually came on a short time later. It was really only out for about 2 hours. It felt a lot longer! We really depend on electricity for everything these days! I had done some thinking about electricity earlier this summer. You see, on both of our driving trips this summer, we saw wind turbines. Fasinating, huge, tall, white structures turning gently in the wind........all while generating power! My family thinks they are fabulous! We passed them in Illinois and in Minnesota. Some on our trip back East to visit family and some on our trip West for vacation. Now, I hear there will be a wind farm here in South West Wisconsin!

Interestingly enough, while I was in a waiting room yesterday, right after the power outage, I had the good fortune to read the latest copy of National Geographic Magazine (July 2010). There was a huge article on "The Grid" and our use of energy here in the U.S.. It was an interesting article and I learned a few things. Here's one; the state of Texas is producing far more electricity in wind turbines than can be used, right now! There is not enough "grid" to support it! Wow! I'd highly recommend reading this article if this subject interests you.

Perhaps, all this interest in energy was initiated by a book I read earlier this summer. It is called City of Light by Lauren Belfer, 1999. This is a phenomenal story of turn of the century Buffalo. The genre is historical fiction and the story, although a murder mystery, does involve the harnessing of energy......that of Niagara Falls! It is a fabulous read! Having lived in the Buffalo/Niagara Falls area for some of my adult life, I found this story fascinating! Here is the link to a google review;

http://books.google.com/books?id=hGS2H_aTsLYC&dq=city+of+light&source=gbs_navlinks_s

So, I'd encourage all of us to think about electricity! How much we use it. How we can conserve it. And how we can harness it! Enjoy the pictures of the wind turbines........if you have a chance to witness these fascinating machines in action; I'm sure it will start you thinking about the power of Electricity!

Have a great week! Carol

All photographs copyrighted by Carols Jewelry Orchard.

No permission to reproduce. Thanks.