1. My first move this morning: thaw chicken wings. I had quite a few stored here and decided to thaw them all. My original plan was to cook them all late this afternoon and then have a bunch as leftovers. Well, once I got them all thawed, I decided I had way too many to cook in one session so I packed about half of them in zip lock bags to either used fairly soon or put back in the freezer.
I checked with Adrienne to find out whether Josh, Jack, and she would enjoy hot wings. (Debbie and I do.) I learned that Jack and Josh both would prefer my offer of teriyaki sesame wings. Great! I combined soy sauce, mirin, and sugar in a pot, brought it to a slow boil, let it bubble and thicken, and PRESTO! I had a teriyaki sauce. In another pot I combined butter and Frank's Original Hot Sauce and PRESTO! I had a hot wings sauce.
2. I made a flour, salt, and pepper mixture in a zip lock bag and dropped pieces of chicken in about five or six at time and floured about 40 or so party wings. I used two cast iron implements to fry about four batches of wings in butter, kept the finished ones warm in the oven, and, when I fried them all, I made three bowls of wings: hot wing, teriyaki sesame wings, and plain ones.
3. Debbie made a superb bean salad. She also cut celery sticks and put out Ranch and Blue Cheese dressing. We all loaded up whatever our choice of chicken wing style was and headed to the patio.
Before I served myself, I needed to sit in the air conditioned living room for a short while and I relaxed with a tall boy of Heidelberg beer that's been in the fridge for many months. It held up! I drank some of it indoors, took the rest outside, and it tasted great with our dinner.
I have a bunch of tall boys in the basement. I've been concerned whether they would still taste all right after sitting all fall, winter, and spring, but now I know that by having them in the basement, in the cool basement, the beer held up.
I brought another couple of cans upstairs. They were cool but not quite cold. I put them in the freezer for a while and got to introduce Josh to the slow brewed, premium lager that my dad (and Don Knott's dad) loved so much.
Having Josh her for a visit has been especially fun because he immensely enjoys craft beers, likes trying out a lot of brands and styles, and enjoys talking about beer. I really enjoy joining in, drinking small samples, reminiscing about East Coast beers, telling what little I know about West Coast beers, and trying to recapture some of the early days of craft beers, even drinking a West Coast original like Red Hook Long Hammer IPA.
If we had more time, I'm sure we'd go hunting for Red Hook ESB, maybe run down some Anchor Steam somewhere, and I'd enjoy sharing Deschutes Mirror Pond Ale or Sierra Nevada Pale Ale with Josh.
We did the best we could enjoying a variety of beers. Next time, when I know Josh and Adrienne are coming, I'll stock up on beers, classics as well as contemporaries, imperials as well as regulars, and be better prepared to enjoy further tastings on the patio.
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