Sticky Chicken Wings Recipe

Tim made these this weekend and they are the best!

3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar

1/4 cup oyster sauce

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (from 2 lemons)

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 inch piece fresh ginger smashed and peeled

2 pound chicken wings cut in half at joint

(wing tips removed)

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. In a 9 by 13 inch baking dish, whisk together brown sugar, oyster sauce, lemon juice, and soy sauce until sugar dissolves. 2 minutes. Add ginger and chicken wings; toss to coat. Arrange wings in a single layer.

2. Bake wings 1 hour. Increase heat to 450 degrees and bake until sauce is reduced and wings are glazed, 30 to 35 minutes more, turning wings occasionally.

Chicken wings and Oreos ... couldn't be better!

God, I love Bovina. I don't want to be anyplace else but out in our yard in this kind of weather. There are those rare days in early spring that are so amazing! This weekend was one of them. 60 degree weather, sunshine, the snow almost melted and the pond overflowing. We had Burns(our siamese cat) up for the weekend because we didn't want him to be by himself without Grace. It was a total pleasure having an animal in the house. He enjoyed having a house to run around in and a new litter box. He enjoyed it many times.

Tim made the most amazing chicken wings saturday night. Oyster sauce and brown sugar - baked in the oven - yum! Pasta fritatta and roasted cauliflower and sweet potatoes. Vanilla Oreos cold from the freezer. Great weekend!

Grace

Tim and I met and fell in love. One of the hurdles that we had to overcome as we merged our lives was that he had cats. I am allergic to cats. Grace and Burns (yes, I know - Tim named them) are these two dark, beautiful, overweight, adorable, sweet, Siamese. They are brother and sister. I love all animals so it's hard having allergies because I would love nothing better then to have them purr and lick me all over. We have spent the last 5 years trying to manage the cats and allergies. We de-catted the bedroom so I had a safe haven to breathe. However, I still tried to get close to them. I would hold them in my arms, pet them and run for the bathroom to wash the hair off of me. Tim would change clothes and shower before he came to bed with me. Even though I may have had issues, one of my secret pleasures was getting up in the morning while Tim was still in bed and putting a pot of coffee on, feed the cats and sit there petting the cats. It was all part of our new life together.

We had to put Grace in the hospital yesterday and today we had to put her to sleep. She was diagnosed with cancer and advanced pancreatitis. It broke my heart to watch Tim hold her in his arms when the vet injected her. You never imagine when you get a kitten or puppy that they will not be with you forever. This morning because Burns cried all morning, I pulled him into bed with us and the three of us lay there together in our bed. We will miss Grace very much.

Snowcatrastophe

Snow like this traumatizes me. I lived in Montana when I was 8 years old and my dad was stationed at Great Falls, AFB. My mom would come out of the house and find me passed out face down in the snow after two minutes with asthma problems. So, for out first winter up here, it makes me very nervous. I love Bovina and I love the catskills. I love four seasons and I don't mind having some snow but this is insane. Even with snowshoes, we are chest deep in snow. Tim and I have a long way to retirement but this is part of our long range plan. A cottage in the mountains and an apartment in the city - perfect right? Tim, however loves disaster movies and thinks that this is all part of the climate change and believes that this will all end badly. He pre-bought tickets to the movie '2012." I am slightly more hopeful that this is a freak storm and that we will never see this kind of snow ever again... right?

Snowmageddon in the Garden

Crazy amount of snow. Our snow plough guy couldn't even plow our driveway because the snowplows did our street and there was a wall of snow that his plow couldn't handle. The photo shows the garden shed at the end of the garden. The birdhouse in the middle of the garden is under at least 4-5 feet of snow. There is a pond somewhere in there as well as tables, chairs, and raised stone beds. It's a long way yet to spring... Jesus.

"How Did You Lose Your Hyphen, Possums?"

Awesome night the other night...It was Tim's birthday, so I took him out for dinner to one of his favorite Thai restaurants. Thai restaurants are taking over the neighborhood near our apt in the city. We have Yum Yum One, Yum Yum Two, Yum Yum Three and Pam's Real Thai and Pam's Real Thai Encore. Seriously, these people need to be a little more creative with their franchise. We went to Yum Yum Two for a change and had a couple lychee martinis. Tim ordered his favorite entree there - Drunken Beef ( I thought that was my nickname?). I had something... I really don't remember after the second lycheetini. It was spicy.

Then, I took Tim to see Michael Feinstein and Dame Edna in "All About Me" which opened this week. We had first row orchestra seats and it was totally worth it. I have had a crush on Michael Feinstein since the 80's and I absolutely love Dame Edna. Michael's voice amazes me and DE can make me soil my Depends. Great combination. I actually got to shake her hand from my seat and both Tim and I were handed gladiolas for the gladiola sing-a-long. Hilarious. Tim loved it.

(500) Days of Winter

We were getting onto 87 thruway and as we were going through the tollbooth, Tim and I had the following conversation.

Tim: "Do you think the tollbooth guy knows we are gay?"

Jeff: (I glance at him and notice the subtle Gaultier lip gloss and then look down at my orange Prada sweater and Etro striped shirt), "Of course not, we are in a pick up truck."

We decided this weekend that we weren't going anywhere and that we were going to watch a lot of movies and read and live off of what was already in the pantry. Of course, we knew that we had half of the butterscotch triple layer cake in the freezer still. That would get us through lunchtime on Saturday at the very least.

We watched five movies this weekend - "Last Tango In Paris" (What was Marlon Brando thinking?), "Outing Riley," "Shelter," "Harlan County" (Documentary), "(500) Days Of Summer" - (the cutest movie ever).

I cooked dinner and would have made made my Italian mother proud - Baked oregano chicken with potatoes and onions.

Recipe:

3 Chicken breasts

2 White large onions

6 Russet potatoes

Garlic Cloves (to taste)

Oregano

Salt and Pepper

Olive Oil

1. Slice potatoes into thin slices and line the baking pan.

2. Slice onions and scatter among potatoes.

3. Place chicken breasts on top of potatoes and onions.

4. Dice garlic and sprinkle on top.

5. Sprinkle oregano, salt and pepper throughout.

6. Drizzle olive oil and toss.

Bake for an hour covered with foil. Uncover foil and bake for additional 15 minutes.

We had that for dinner Saturday with a slice of the leftover butterscotch cake. That cake is deadly. Deadly, deadly, deadly.

Snowbound with full stomachs and lots of entertainment - Perfect weekend!