All Food, All The Time

We are truly blessed here at The Acre. We have a roof over our heads and shelves full of food. With our first winter storm bearing down on us this week, all the hard work we put in to stocking the shelves is about to pay off. Let them eat cobbler!

Actually one of the things the big man has recently found is pie crust. It really isn't that hard to make, and the spirit of the old folks who had no idea what a store bought pie crust was lives on through our mixer. This weekend we made a crust and instead of a regular pie, we made mini pies, with cherry pie filling we canned last spring, and applesauce we made a month or so ago, for Speedy. Deadshot prefers hers empty, so we made a few fried crusts for her.

Another treat we have, every weekend, is chicken wings. A while back we posted a question on the wall to see if anyone would want to see how we make what we make. Both regular followers must have responded yes, so we try to give the masses what they demand. Big Man is going to share how he makes his chicken wing sauce. It's not a recipe because we dont use a recipe, but we can show you whats in it, and general amounts if we can.

We start off with two tablespoons of butter, melt it in a pot, then we add about a half bottle of Crystal hot sauce and about a quarter bottle of Tabasco Buffalo sauce. Then its a dash of this and a dab of that. Paprika, parsley, garlic powder, Slap Ya Mama, poultry seasoning. The we add some liquid stuff, just a splash of A-1, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, liquid smoke. We also used a hand full of fresh herbs from Cupcake's herb garden that we moved in doors this fall. It's really adding a nice homy scent to the living room, and fresh herbs year round rocks out loud.

Fresh Rosemary, basil and oregano, bruised then toss it in the pot. We finish off with two secret ingredients (at least they were, probably still will be) which is bourbon and honey. Actually we ran out of bourbon last Sunday and we had to substitute Scotch this weekend. Our usual flavor is Red Stag from Jimmy Beam. The second secret is honey. Our sauce has a sweet taste when you first bite the wing, then the heat hits for the finish. We are ruined on anyone elses wings/sauce we fear.

As for the wings themselves, we use Perdue, and cut them in half prior to cooking. We let them warm to room temp, then drop them in a deep frier at 375* for 27 minutes. This makes them crispy without drying the wing out. Dump the wings in the bowl with a lid, pour the sauce over the wings, do the Elvis 'Hippie Hippie Shake', uncover and enjoy.

Our last treat of the weekend was home made caramel. Big man does not like caramel, but he nearly ate the whole jar of this batch. Caramel chunks stick in your teeth and take forever to chew, but this way of making the caramel gives it the consistency of a thick pudding, and you just cant beat it on a fresh sliced apple.

So that was our weekend. This week is geared toward Thanksgiving, and we have a long list of things to be thankful for this year. We hope everyone is ready for the first storm of the year, and look forward to fried turkey updates in a few days.
K&K