Winging It

Welcome to another day in this wonderful, eventful, busy world. Checking the calendar, we find weekdays, weekends, holidays, sporting events, birthdays, vacations and various other days of importance. We have created traditions for celebrating all of the calendar notations in each month of the year. I glanced through my monthly events and collectively thought of what kind of celebrations I should be planning. There was my grandson’s birthday, my birthday, Valentine’s Day, the Super Bowl, and my two brothers’ birthdays all on one page. I had not even looked at the next month. I wondered if everyone on the planet was that busy. Determined, with all that celebrating in mind, I began to organize my party plans.

Each event would be a wonderful opportunity to spend time with family and friends. We would be eating, drinking, being merry, and formatting memories that would settle within our minds and hearts forever. This being said, one type of appetizer clearly fit into each celebration. Wings. Yes, hot wings, bar-be-que wings, teriyaki wings, sweet and spicy wings, you name it, wings were a perfect fit to each occasion.

The more I thought about it, the more the idea of cooking, eating and enjoying hot wings for an entire month was beginning to sound great. Thus began a breakdown of coordinating wings and celebrations, dates and times, and compiling a list of friends and family. Out came the recipe books and a search for coupons at restaurants that featured “wing” nights, “free” wings, add-on wings and any other wing special. I was in wing heaven, anticipating each opportunity to enjoy every tasty, meaty chicken part. Matching up types and kinds of chicken wings was something I had never accomplished. I was like a chicken wing guru, looking for tastes and kinds, recipes and seasonings. It was a perfect time to explore all the wing possibilities that could fill all my calendar events.

When you think about it, every reputable restaurant offers some type of chicken wing. So, restaurants were easy. A birthday celebration could be either a batch of home made chicken wings added to a birthday cake, or, a visit to the birthday person’s favorite eatery. Restaurants of all calibers have found the need to produce their own signature type of wing. Some restaurants rely solely on wing sales, while others have created their own wing styles and types which customers return to enjoy often. Valentine’s Day will probably yield the restauranteur couple a wing appetizer before a steak and potato entree. However, before Valentine’s Day, is the Super Bowl. Now that day, more than any other, is the granddaddy of wing days. So it will be important to have available, the best wings while watching that important day of football.

The choices are vast when it comes to chicken wings. Choice flavors range from bar-be-que to Italian, choosing the heat as well. Mild, medium and hot used to be all that was available. Today, wings are as hot as you can stand, as sweet as you want or as fancy as pie. Wings can be deep fried, smoked, grilled, or baked. Some folks boil the wings before they fry them. Others add the flavor while they cook, and still others lather sauce on them afterwards. All you do is pick your favorite.

Let’s not forget accompaniments like celery, and carrot slices. The wings are soaked in their own flavor, but a dipping sauce of ranch or bleu cheese dressing can be added on the side as well.

Wow! So many events, so many kinds of wing combinations. I don’t know about you, but I have been writing for a while and now it’s about lunch time. I think I will go out and get some wings. When I get home, I will check my calendar and plan my next wing fling. Happy partying!


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