RetroBlogging - Wing Ding 2011

Back in April, F-Bomb and her hubby decided to throw a party to honor an American favorite - the small and succulent chicken wing. Several tantalizing entries were prepared and not all just your typical HOT wings. There were chili wings, smoked apricot, sesame and FIRE to name a few.

Judges at the ready.....GO!

 There were also some snacks to help soothe the heat, compliment the flavors and satisfy the non-meat eaters at the event. The chili or bean soup or whatever it was, was amazing by the way.

While the votes were being counted the Dingers in attendance filled their gullets further with a chicken snack...

This loony rice krispie concoction was a hit and welcome follow up to the savory services of the day. What's that? Oh wait, the votes have been counted.

 And we have a winner-winner-chicken dinner! The "Chile Wangs" took home the prize. Gigantic bottles filled with ranch dressing and a vat of hot sauce. Woot!

Now, technically, this is not a TCK event. It was all Faith and Tim's, but it got me to thinking. Why doesn't the Catty Kitchen host an event? I mean, we would obviously be really good at it and how cute would it be? I know, right. New Year's kind of seems like a natural option for us, but I would love to be in attendance at any event we host. Mud-wrestling and slip-n-slide anyone?

Where is Cookie Bake?

Can someone please post the photos from cookie bake?!  What the hell is going on around here?

Let's Trade

Time to pull out those old decorations you don't want anymore. Or maybe you just need to revamp them. That is what we did Thursday night amidst some great food (we stuffed ourselves).
Dearest Faith is getting an early head start on her Christmas gift making. All we know is that vodka and lemons are involved.

Fabulous Chicken Tortilla Soup (above)

Toppings (below)

The soup was amazing. We took a little tour through the garden to mark progress. I did some painting on a Halloween decoration that needed some help and we all went home with our arms full. On top of all that Melissa made lemon pistachio cookies that were heavenly. As a gift, we have included the recipe for Chicken Tortilla Soup to liven up your chilly autumn days.

Chicken Tortilla Soup:

1 onion, chopped (I use ½ large red onion)
3 cloves garlic, minced (or more if you like)
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons chili powder (more like a palm full)
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon cayenne
2 teaspoons cumin (more like a palm full)
1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes (I use two reg. cans of petite diced w/green chilies)
1 (10.5 ounce) can condensed chicken broth (feel free to add stock to taste)
1 1/4 cups water (no water needed)
1 cup whole corn kernels, cooked (or one can)
1 cup white hominy (or 2 if you like) 1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chile peppers (not needed if you use tomatoes w/ green chilies)
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained (or 2 – I usually don’t rinse)
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 boneless chicken breast halves, cooked (or 4 – dice before cooking)
Optional Toppings (but totally a must)
crushed tortilla chips
sliced avocado
shredded Monterey Jack cheese
chopped green onions
sour cream
cilantro

Directions:
1. In a medium stock pot, heat oil over medium heat. Sauté onion and garlic in oil until soft. Stir in chili powder, oregano – then add tomatoes, corn, hominy, green chilies, beans, cumin, cayenne and cilantro. Add the chicken and simmer. Salt and pepper to taste.

*Note from Faith: I never really measure any of this but this is a good start. Play around with it until you love it. You really can’t go wrong.

You can always go.....Downtown

Not really......more like South City. Melissa hosted the kitchen at her house this week with special guest Katie Miller of Scarlett Garnet Jewelry.
My photos have been turning out really crappy recently so please bear with me. Faith and Melissa both made delicious treats from recipes found here. And the wine wasn't too bad either.

Oliver Noodle Jackson

Later on Melissa gave us a tour of her home and then teamed up with Katie for a glass bead making tutorial. We settled down on her new living room furniture before calling it a night. We left kind of early because we had to see Katie on TV the next morning revamping jewelry. Way to go KT!