Hotwings! They’re like the best finger food and appetizer, and I’m never disappointed when I order them. I’ve always wanted to try making these on my own, but I’ve never worked up the nerve until now. Shelly found a couple versions that sounded interesting, but we both agreed that we really didn’t want to deep fry them. Here’s the recipe that we tried:

Baked “Buffalo” Hot Wings Recipe

We made a half batch of the breaded version, and here’s the end result:

They came out perfectly, and went really well with the homemade blue cheese dip that Shelly made (also quite amazing). I added carrots and celery. Hotwings in general are not particularly healthy, so I don’t see any reason I would make these again. Though, if I’d make them again, it would be for a potluck or having friends and family visit, and likely be the non-breaded version. 

 

 

 

I think this is some really useful insight. Ultimately, the discussion is not about blame, but about cause and effect, addressing a problem and coming up with a solution. 

Here’s the end result of the majority of our experiment, and served with a plum wine (went really well with the rest of the meal). I helped Shelly with the filling, and wrapping for the pork buns, and I made General Tso’s Chicken. Everything turned out perfect, but I doubt we’ll do General Tso’s ever again, since it requires a bit of deep frying (not particularly healthy, and there’s not really practical way to dispose of the used oil). 

Making the chicken was actually really fun, and the end result was way better than I was expecting. In fact, I’d say that this is way better tasting than what you’d order for Chinese Food take-out, and with a little tweaking would be nearly perfect. Looking at the overall recipe, I think this would be really easy to make glutton free. Here’s a bit of the General Tso’s in the progress:

 

We also had some mixed drinks the prior night when prepping the Pork Hum Bao. Cranberry Moscow Mules!

 

 

I love this video series, and I always look forward to seeing the next one release. To me, it’s reminder of all the crazy positive and creative things that people are capable of when they put their mind to it. It’s also a really nice send off for the new year. Happy Holidays!

It’s really nice to have a traditional Thanksgiving Day meal with a giant turkey and all the fixings, but it’s really easy to burn out over all the turkey leftovers by the time Christmas rolls around (especially when cooking for 2 with an 18 pound turkey). A few years ago, Shelly and I decided to try something different for our Christmas holiday dinner menu. Chinese food! Mmm. Naturally, there’s a bit of challenge to making new recipes, and there’s also a hit-or-miss element to the process (I’m looking at you, yellow thai curry!), but we’ve been really happy with the results overall, and continue to try new ones. 

So, here’s the main menu for Christmas 2016:

Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Chinese BBQ Pork (Cha Siu)

The BBQ Pork is used in the following:

Chinese BBQ Pork Buns (Cha Siu Bao)

Banquet Fried Rice

And an all new one for us:

General Tso’s Chicken!

 

…looks a bit Atkins. There’s a bit more than that…I promise!

I hope that everyone has a warm, safe, and happy holiday weekend. I’ll see about posting pictures!