Buffalo Wings...at home!

Like a beacon of hope in the darkness, today when I checked my e-mail, I had a weekly update from allrecipes, and included in the food offerings was a recipe for Buffalo Wings.  I could pretty much live off Buffalo Wings and BBQ if it was healthy to do so.  Sadly, it's not, even if you eat celery with your wings.

As an aside, one of my pet peeves on recipe websites are when people give a recipe a 5 star rating, then you read their review and they changed just about everything about the recipe.  I'm fine with minor tweaks, but check this one out from the Buffalo Wing Recipe I used (note, I left the typos and spelling errors):

"This recipe is pretty basic with most wing cooks. I on the other hand jazz them up with the Frank's hot sauce, or you can use your favorite. Add the juice of 1/2 a lemon juice and garlic. If you want to mello the flavor, add a half a stick of butter. Heat all those ingredients up togetherand pour over the wings when they come out of the peanut oil. If you really want to have what I call "rip your lips off hot" add a small amount of chilli powder and or cayanne to that mix. Now your talkin' cookin' HOTWINGS, "GMAN" style"

Seriously!  Just post your own recipe...geez!  And really, if you are going to claim that your cooking is good enough to be called GMAN style, then learn how to spell CAYENNE and CHILI correctly!

Ok, glad I got that off my chest...now back to the topic at hand.  I made this recipe for wings tonight.  I did have to tweak it because I didn't want to deep fry the wings in a gallon of peanut oil.  And really, who wants to buy a gallon of peanut oil?  So I "pan fried" them.  Here's what I did:

Ingredients:
Enough peanut oil to fill an electric skillet or cast iron skillet to 1/4" depth of oil
25 wings
1/3 cup unsalted melted butter
1/2 cup Frank's RedHot
1 Tablespoon Garlic Powder
1 Tablespoon Black Pepper
1 Teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes

Directions:

1. Preheat the oil to 375 degrees (I used my electric skillet for this).
2. Prep the wings by rinsing with cold water.  Pat the wings dry and gently add them, 1 at a time, to the oil.  Cook for 10 minutes, then flip to the other side and cook for another 10 minutes.  This should get it done, but you can check with a meat thermometer.  The wings should be at 180 degrees.
3. Add the melted butter, Frank's RedHot, Garlic Powder, Black Pepper and Red Pepper Flakes to a bowl and mix until combined. 
4. Add the cooked wings to the sauce and toss to coat.
5. Serve with celery, carrots, blue cheese, ranch, or whatever else floats your boat.

This turned out to be a really good wing (see picture above of the actual wings I prepared tonight).  It's not what I understand the flavor of a "traditional" Buffalo Wing to be, but I've never actually eaten a Buffalo Wing in Buffalo, NY, so perhaps I don't know what the true flavor is.  That said, I really liked these wings and I will make them again.  They have plenty of heat (my lips were burning when I finished, but it's a good burn), but the garlic powder adds a nice twist.  Think "traditional wing" with a garlic/pepper kick and that will get you close.  I am so excited that it is possible to make really good wings at home, without a deep fryer!

If I was making these for a large group, I'd probably make multiple batches to tweak the spiciness.  For a more mild wing, I would think leaving out some of the black pepper of all of the red pepper would do the trick.  For a hotter wing, more red pepper would git 'r done.  Try these out as Super Bowl Sunday approaches!

Overdue Movie Reviews

Again, I'm not watching many movies, but I have watched 2 worth rating recently. 

"Cars 2":  Those who know me know that my favorite Pixar style animated movie is "Cars".  My kids got "Cars 2" for Christmas so I finally got to watch it.  While it's not as good as the original, and wouldn't make my top 5 list, it's still a really good movie. 

In this sequel, Lightning McQueen is off to race against the best racers in the world in the World Grand Prix.  But, that's not the real story here.  The real story is that Mater, who finally gets to come along to a race, gets mistaken for a secret agent and drawn into a James Bond style action movie.  Along the way, Lightning has to learn the value of a friend, and that he has to accept Mater as he is.

Like I said, really good movie.  I give it 4 stars.

"Season of the Witch":  The best thing I can say about this Nicholas Cage flick is that it's not terrible.  In fact, if you go into this one with really low expectations, you might actually enjoy it.  I had almost no expectations, and found that it was a bearable 94 minutes of movie watching.

Nothing really stands out in this movie, good or bad.  Basically, if you're really bored, you might enjoy this movie.  Otherwise, stay away.

Merry Christmas 2012!

We just finished our Christmas Eve Chili and playing some Christmas Carols on our respective musical instruments.  Chili has become a Christmas Eve trend at our house, and with David playing trombone now, we should make a tradition of music on Christmas Eve.

We also went to Mass tonight.  I was astonished at the number of people at Mass...if that many people showed up every week, we'd have to build a gigantic church.  While the Christmas Mass is always a great experience, it always makes me a little sad at the number of people who only show up at a church on Christmas and Easter.  But, at least they were there tonight, and I pray that some of them who wouldn't normally attend, think about coming back next week.

Finally, I would like to wish all my family, friends and loyal readers a very Merry Christmas.  I hope that you are with loved ones this holiday season.  And, remember the real reason we celebrate.  It has nothing to do with a tubby guy in a red suit and everything to do with a little baby, born over 2000 years ago in a manger in Bethlehem.

Merry Christmas and God Bless!

Reaction: Patriots vs. Broncos

Since it seems that any moron with a blog can get his opinion out there about how Tim Tebow fared today against the New England Patriots, I thought, "hey, I'm a moron with a blog, I can get my opinion out there."  So here it goes.

Many "Tebow-haters" will claim that today's 41-23 loss at the hands of Tom Brady and the New England Patriots is proof that Tim Tebow will never be a big time NFL quarterback.  Those who love Tim Tebow will point to the fact that he is looking more comfortable as a passer, and that he is really the best player on the Broncos offense.

At this point, I agree with those who love Tim Tebow.  He is the best offensive player on a fairly weak offensive team.  Willis McGahee, the team's best running back is always injured.  The team's top 2 receivers would probably be the #2 or #3 receivers on other teams, and the Broncos do not have a tight end who can catch the ball with any regularity.  So, considering all that, going 11-22 for 194 yards and rushing 12 times for 93 yards and 2 TDs is a pretty good game for Tim Tebow.

But it's not all roses.  Tebow had a costly fumble in the 2nd quarter that led to a Patriots touchdown, and he took a couple of really bad sacks in the 2nd half.  Considering, however, that Tebow now has 12 NFL starts, and is 8-4 in those 12 starts, I think he's got a bright future in this league.

Look, Tebow is the face of the franchise.  Thus, he gets too much credit when the Broncos win and too much blame when the Broncos lose.  I still don't know if he is the long term answer at Quarterback, but I think that he's done enough this season that the team can address other need areas in the offseason.  If we're still not convinced that Tebow is the answer at QB after next season, they can draft a Quarterback. 

At 8-6, the Broncos are still in 1st place in the AFC West.  If they win their last 2 games, they will win the AFC West and host a playoff game.  As such, they won't have a very high draft pick.  Today's game against the Patriots showed me that the team is still very thin across the board, especially in the defensive secondary. 

In my opinion, the teams needs are (in order of priority):

1 - Secondary - they gotta get younger and healthier in the secondary.
2 - Running Back - Coach John Fox wants a run heavy attack.  They need to build depth at running back, because right now they are too dependent on Willis McGahee's health.
3 - Receiving - The team needs a pass catching tight end and more depth at Wide Receiver.  Demaryius Thomas may be the #1 receiver, but he's been injury prone, so depth will help.
4 - Defensive Line - The Broncos are really strong on the outside of the D-line and at Linebacker, but they need more interior pressure.  They really gotta find a big fat guy to plug the middle.
5 - Backup QB - I'm sold on Tim Tebow as the starting quarterback, but you gotta find someone who can fill in for him if he gets injured, and he needs to have a similar style to Tebow.
6 - Offensive Line - the unit is young and has been really healthy all season, but more depth is always good.

So there you go.  Tim Tebow is not the main problem on this team, and I hope cooler heads will prevail after this loss and see that this is a young team that still has a lot of growing to do.  Did Tebow have a great game today, no?  But, he did show improvement as a passer today and was the best offensive weapon for the Broncos.  As a Broncos fan, I'm encouraged, despite the loss.

Questions We Don't have Answers To

There are many vexing questions out there.  Here are just a few:

-How many licks does it take to get to the tootsie roll center of a tootsie pop?

-If a tree falls in the woods and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?

-Why couldn't Bill Clinton ever tell the truth?

-What did we talk about before Tim Tebow?

-Who put the bop in the bop shoo bop shoo bop, who put the ram in the ram-a-lam-a-ding-dop?

That's all I got...as you can tell, I'm struggling for blog topics right now. 

Top 5 Movies Starring Leading Actors Who are Otherwise Awful

Anybody who has read this blog knows that I have a few actors that drive me crazy.  Chief among them is Nicholas Cage, who can make some of the best movies, but then makes a bunch of duds.  And, generally, Cage is really bad except for a few specific roles.  Other actors in this category include Brendan Frazier, Keanu Reeves and Mark Wahlberg.  Nuke would put Ed Harris in this category too I think.

Since I do not have any Mark Wahlberg movies in this list, I suggest you go watch the SNL Skit:  Mark Wahlberg Talks to Animals.  I've seen it several times and it's always funny.

Brendan Frazier doesn't make the list below, and is frankly the worst actor of the bunch listed above.  His only passable movies are The Mummy movies, and that's only because there is some really good CG monster action.

Anyway, here are the top 5 movies starring some of these otherwise awful actors:

5 - National Treasure 2:  The first Nicholas Cage movie in this list.  He doesn't carry the movie, but he doesn't ruin it either.  Really, this movie is just a lot of fun and Cage doesn't wreck the funness.

4 - Constantine:  This movie is so underrated.  It's actually really good, and this movie has the best type of roll for Keanu Reeves...one where he is not required to talk to much and participates in a lot of cool action scenes. 

3 - Sorcerer's Apprentice:  Another Nicholas Cage movie.  As with #5 on our list, Cage is not required to carry this movie, Jay Baruchel does that as the title character.  But, Cage has his moments in this recent movie that was my favorite movie of last year.

2 - The Rock:  This movie is why Nicholas Cage confounds me so much, and why he has been one of main subjects of another top 5 list already.  In The Rock, I think Cage really carries the movie, and it's a really good movie.  Of course, having Sean Connery never hurts, but I still think Cage carried it.

1 - The Matrix:  The best possible role for Keanu Reeves.  Spend the entire movie looking bewildered, not saying much, and participating in a lot of fight scenes.  The first of the Matrix Trilogy is the best, in my opinion, and Keanu Reeves doesn't destroy this movie, in fact, he actually works well in the role of Neo.

Golden!!!

I now have Gold Status on American Airlines (Yes, that's the airline that just filed for bankruptcy protection!  Don't ruin this for me!).  In fact, I just got my "Gold Card" in the mail.  This little card entitles me to many perks, including bonus miles, so I will get richer in terms of miles...yes, the rich get richer.  I wonder how liberals feel about airline mileage programs.

It's weird, but getting the gold card in the mail actually made me feel good!  I didn't do anything to earn these miles.  All of them were earned while flying for work.  In fact, while I was earning these miles, I got to sit and watch movies, eat good food, and sleep.  Essentially, I was a lazy bum and I got rewarded for it.  Now I'm wondering what conservatives think about airline mileage programs.

All I know for sure is that I'm Gold for the next 14 months.  I'll probably have a few more trips to Brazil in my future.  I'm thinking Platinum comes after Gold, and I'm sure that will be even better.