Crispy Oven Baked Hot Wings, a #WingWeek guest post

Please help me welcome my third (and final) #wingweek guest poster, Bernadette of Rants From My Crazy Kitchen. She set out on a mission to make some husband-pleasing crispy hot wings from the oven instead of the fryer—and succeeded. I'm pretty sure these would please husbands all around the world!

Hi, everybody! I'm Bernadette from Rants From My Crazy Kitchen. I've been recipe blogging for almost 3 years, and I am a wife and a mother to a 5 year old girl. My husband had a heart attack on December 20th, at the age of 46, but is on his way to a full recovery. Since then we have made a lot of changes to his diet, which means mine and my daughters as well. I am cooking a lot healthier, no more red meat, no fried foods, etc.

A few weeks after he came home from the hospital he was thinking about food, and said "I guess no more chicken wings for me." I told him I could bake them, and he said "Yeah, but there not as crispy." The next day Heather asked for guest posters with the theme of chicken wings, and I just knew I could do it!

Slow Cooker Sticky Wings, a #WingWeek guest post

Please help me welcome my second #wingweek guest poster, Karen from Karen's Kitchen Stories. Today Karen is sharing some beautifully sticky wings that are sweet, and just a little bit spicy—plus they're made in the slow cooker (my current favorite way to make a big batch of wings...or a small one)!

Hi!! Karen from Karen’s Kitchen Stories here! I can’t tell you how excited I am to be contributing this post to All Roads Lead to the Kitchen. Heather is one of the most creative cooks and prolific bloggers out there, and you can always find something delicious here. Heather is one talented woman and she writes from her heart.

These slow cooker sticky wings are sweet, slightly spicy, and, of course sticky. Plus, they are super easy to make. They are cooked on low in a slow cooker for 4 hours, brushed with a sticky sauce, and then broiled on both sides to give them a wonderful char. You get the best of both worlds; fall-off-the-bone, melt-in-your-mouth tenderness from the slow cooker, and a crispy charred skin from the broiler.

Bloody Mary Chicken Wings

When January rolls around, so many people are focused on finding recipes to back up their resolutions; this usually means lighter fare. Words like healthy, skinny, and lightened-up take over the search bar. I totally get that. The holidays kick my butt, too. For me though, January triggers something entirely different—a craving for chicken wings!

I think wings are a natural accompaniment to January. Or maybe I should say they're a natural accompaniment to football and the art of gathering around the television eating things with your fingers. Now, I realize that this is actually the tail end of the season, but for one reason or another, it's bowl games and play-offs that trigger my desire for wings.

I'm pretty sure I look like a madwoman, preparing for the chicken apocalypse, as I stack every last package of chicken wings and chicken drumettes from the cooler into my shopping cart. Should I even mention what happens once I get all that chicken home? Let's just say that if a fridge was a pair of jeans, I'd need a pair of pliers to zip them up.

Crisped Ginger-Soy Chicken Wings + Beer Pairing, a #WingWeek guest post

Please help me welcome my first #wingweek guest poster, Camilla from Culinary Adventures with Camilla. I'm pretty thrilled that I inspired her to make chicken wings in her own kitchen for the very first time! Her Crispy Ginger-Soy Wings sound like they are bursting with flavor, plus, she's offered up a beer pairing to go along with her wings. No wonder I like this girl.

When Heather posted that she was looking for some chicken wing guest posts this month, I almost skipped reading the rest of the request. Chicken wings?!? I thought. I don't fry.  I remember watching a cooking show about chicken wings and there seemed to be a complicated dance between the fryer and the oven. And, remember: I don't fry.

But as I finished reading her post, I decided that this would be a good culinary challenge, one that I definitely wanted to complete: make tasty, crispy wings without frying. Challenge accepted.

Good chicken wings are about great flavor and great texture. I did it! This has both.

Corn and Smoked Sausage Fritters

I would like to personally thank the Sunshine State for sitting pretty with temps in the 80's at the beginning of April. Sure, I may shake my fist at my Florida friends when they share their pics of the Palm trees, foamy waves, and sunny weather map - but that's because I'm jealous.

Take out your violins.

I'm pretty sure that I have a case of seasonal affective disorder going on. Our long, harsh winter was filled with 5-foot mountains of snow-ice (which are decidedly NOT as fun as simple mountains of snow) and unforgiving negative temperatures with even worse wind chills. It seriously is the worst winter that I can recall. And the last of our snow just melted last week. That would be after the first day of Spring. Or as we're calling it in the Midwest, "Spring".

Okay, bows down.

Game Day Dipping w/ Cheesy Spinach and Bacon Dip

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Sam’s Club. All opinions are 100% mine.

My madness turned to sadness last Sunday when my boys in green and white didn't advance. I'm a die-hard Spartans fan and had them picked to go all the way! I don't do brackets, but if I did, mine would have been busted. Which is exactly the reason that I stopped filling them out. I feel like a fair-weather fan if I don't pick "my boys" to go all the way. I always have them pegged to win it all. That makes for a really bad game-face.

I was bummed for the rest of the day. I even threw up my hands and proclaimed that I wasn't watching anymore of the tournament. No more college basketball for this girl until next season. And then I got over it. There's just something about the excitement that draws me back in. And if my team is no longer there, my barrage of cheers and support go to any Big 10 teams that remain. Fortunately, there's still one in there.

The one remotely good thing about not having my favorite team on the court anymore is that I can now focus on the food. Game-day food...the other equally important part of any sporting event! With only four games remaining, what will you be bringing to the (coffee-) table?

Spicy Chili Dip inspired by The Deepest Secret {book tour}

The Deepest Secret
author: Carla Buckley
publisher: Bantam
source: tlc book tours
hard cover: 448 pages

"foodie" read: Not a foodie read, but there is mention of food as a part of daily life. From Chicken Casserole to Ravioli, from ice cream to whole wheat doughnuts (which I almost made), from Gin & Tonic's to Pasta Puttanesca, there are plenty of references if you're paying attention. See why I chose to make Spicy Chili Dip below...

random excerpt: David looks at his wife, the woman he's loved. He thinks of their son. All the ways in which they've worked to protect this house from the sun had only allowed the darkness to creep inside. 

Chinese Barbecue Wings

So usually when Super Bowl rolls around, I'm busy planning a menu that includes trays piled high with nachos; bowls filled to the brim with dips; platters of cheese, fruit, veggies, and crackers; tender carnitas with homemade pico and guac; wings and burgers; and some good beverages to go along with it. But this year has been different. I haven't really been able to think of anything else besides wings.

It's gonna be an all wings kinda celebration today!  Baked wings, fried wings, grilled wings...marinated wings, breaded wings, sticky wings. WINGS! I'm not sure what started the craving, but it may have been these Sticky-Sweet Caribbean Wings. They were just so ridiculously good that I was sad when they were gone. Ever since, I've been pinning wings like a madwoman, pulling out old saved recipes, and writing down ideas for new flavors of my own.

But you know what? I don't think my family is going to mind. We can smash numerous pounds of wings in one sitting between the five of us.

Jalapeño-Cheddar Pretzel Bites

Due to the craziness of the holiday season, Leslie and I missed a couple of months of she made, ella hace. We're back in the swing of things this month...and not because things have necessarily slowed down or gotten less crazy. Simply because we've just missed our time cooking together. I need time with my foodie bff!

Since it's the week leading up to the Super Bowl, our theme for the month was an easy pick: Football Snacks! Now, I hear tell that there are people out there who could care less about football. I am not one of those people. I absolutely love it! I scream at the television. I call in plays from the sofa. I've even been known to knock over a t.v. tray in the heat of the moment - something my kids will never let me live down. Kind of like the time I forcefully told a team to "suck it" when we beat them...long live the underdog! I cannot be held responsible for my actions when my team takes the field.

But just as important to the football experience is the food. Be it something you buy from the vendors during halftime at the stadium, or a glorious spread laid out in front of you at home (okay, that's almost better since you don't have to wait until halftime), food and drink go hand-in-hand with football.

Chili Garlic Meatloaf Sandwich

Hey guys! I shared this Chili Garlic Meatloaf Sandwich over at the Sunday Supper Movement Online Community Magazine site today - check it out, it's perfect game day food!

Black Pepper and Garlic Chicken Wings

Doesn't it just drive you crazy when you see an amazing photo in a cookbook? It drives me crazy. I have to have a large, rip-able bookmark with me when I'm looking through a cookbook. I see a picture or read an amazing recipe and riiiip, off comes a strip of said paper to insert as a placeholder. And I'm mad for cookbooks. The librarians must know by now not to put new cookbooks up for display, with no other books as fillers...because I usually just walk down the row and snatch 'em all up (then they have to go and choose something else to stand up)...you get the picture. I can pretty much find at least (at least!) one thing in any given cookbook that I want to make or try.

One of the newer ones I found, Big Small Plates by Cindy Pawlcyn had me drooling plenty, but there was this recipe...this photo...called Black Pepper and Garlic Chicken Wings (YUM)! Suddenly, I was craving wings in a bad way.

Black Pepper and Garlic Chicken Wings (with Ginger)
yield: 2 pounds

2 pounds chicken wings

+for the marinade:+
1/2 cup soy sauce
3 dried shiitake mushrooms

2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
1 tablespoon honey

Combine soy sauce and shiitake mushrooms in a small pot and bring to a boil for 30 seconds. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature. Whisk all of the other ingredients into the pot once cooled to room temperature.If using whole wings, cut off tip, then cut wing at joint to separate into drummies & "flat" sections. Place chicken in a large (gallon) resealable bag. Pour marinade over and seal well. Make sure chicken is well-covered with sauce.
Marinate for 12-24 hours in refrigerator, turning frequently.
Preheat oven to 450 F. Line a pan with foil, then arrange wings on a rack set over a shallow pan. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes or until skin is browned and crispy and meat has begun to pull away from bone at end.

-adapted from Big Small Plates by Cindy Pawlcyn

This is the point where I will say it again...doesn't it just drive you crazy when you see an amazing photo in a cookbook? Crazy in a great, must-have...hungry crazy way. But, also crazy when you make the same recipe and end up with a different result? A different "photo", if you will? Yeah, they still look pretty good. But, the picture in the book- oh man! They were molasses-colored and sticky and finger-lickin' good! Mine didn't exactly turn out that way :( Oh well, they were okay.

I really like the flavor combination in the marinade, but I'm definitely adding something sticky and messy next time. I want the napkins to stick to my finger tips! I want messy fingerprints all over my beer bottle! I want to pick sticky bits of goo from between my teeth! So, good in theory...but I think it could have been better...and will be next time.