Marco's Limoncello Chicken Wings

The Rocky Mountain News posted this article with a recipe for Marco's Coal Fired Pizza's chicken wings. They claim that Limoncello is the "secret" ingredient, although I don't think it's really a secret. I knew it.

Anyways, they're delicious. And I'm not usually a big chicken wing person. I may have to try this recipe for a party or something. Hell, I just need an excuse to buy some limoncello.

Marco's Coal Fired Pizza Limoncello Chicken Wings

Serves 5 to 6

3 whole lemons, quartered
1/2 cup limoncello
1/4 ounce fresh thyme
3 ounces fresh rosemary
1/4 ounce fresh oregano
2 tablespoons kosher salt
Pinch of crushed red pepper
11/2 cups extra virgin olive oil
5 pounds chicken wings

* Blend the quartered lemons, limoncello and rest of ingredients in food processor.

* Use a generous amount of sauce, enough to fully coat your chicken wings, and marinate in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours.

* Remove from marinade. Bake or grill wings at 450 degrees until browned and cooked through, 20 to 30 minutes.

Nutritional information per serving: 674 cal., 66 g fat (9 g sat), 0 mg chol., 11 g carb., 1 g pro., 6 g fiber, 2322 mg sodium

Whew!

The hearing loss shouldn't be permanent. The audiologist that did my hearing test freaked me out and made it sound like things are worse than they probably are. Plus I was a bit freaked by how much I couldn't hear on the test. But then the ENT told me that it should be better and I could just wait for it to clear up. But...he gave me some oral steroids that should make it go faster.

Now I just have to wait for that big POP. I imagine what it will be like often...with longing. I'm anticipating it so much that I envision it being better than an orgasm.

POP, dammit!

Book Give Away

Check out Debbie's World, a fun blog with book reviews, for 2 book give aways: "Flirting with Forty" by Jane Porter and "People of the Book" by Geraldine Brooks. I've read the latter and it was pretty good.

Thanks to this blogger for doing this!

Wish Me Luck

As I mentioned before, I was terribly sick at the beginning of this month. I think I had a virus, and then I got strep, and then an ear infection. The latter was the most pain I've had since child birth. Seriously...excruciating. I was sick for almost 3 weeks.

And I still can't hear out of this ear. It rings really loudly constantly and I feel dizzy when I first get up from lying or sitting down. Yesterday, I did a particularly hard exercise class and it made me feel like I was going to pass out a few times. For awhile I pretty much had no hearing in the ear. Now I have a little, but if I use it for the phone, the person on the other end sounds like they are speaking with helium. Weird, huh?

It gives me a little sense of what M goes through, since he doesn't hear out of his right ear. It is REALLY REALLY difficult in loud places. I'm sure he's more used to it, but still. It's awful. You can't hear anything properly or where any sound is coming from and it's all really confusing and stressful. I really hope we can get him a BAHA this year so he can hear out of both ears.

I've been through 2 rounds of different antibiotics and antibiotic ear drops, but I'm still not 100%.

So I have an appointment with an ENT today about this ear. I really want a magic fix. I am so tired of it. But I have this bad feeling that they're just going to tell me I "have to give it time." Wish me luck that they can fix me!

Well, That Bites

Just got word from B that his employer will be giving no raises this year. We're pretty sure my employer will be doing the same.

Oh well, I'm just glad we have jobs, I guess.

I Just Realized

...that I got the turtleneck I'm wearing when I was in college. That means it's around 20 years old! It looks totally fine. No wear or shrinkage. I'm sure it must be my old piece of clothing that I still wear. It's just a ribbed turtleneck that is green, grey, black, and tan stripes. 20 years: now THAT'S a value.

Outlet

Go here and listen to the song "Of Roses and of Wine." Back in the 90s, I recorded duet of the song with the guy who is singing. I wish I had it digitally to post. I may have an old cassette somewhere. It was just a simple 4-track recording with him playing guitar and doing the main singing, with me doing the harmonies/chorus with him.

Back then we were both in bands that played out together. I miss having a creative outlet like that. I know B does too. We often talk about doing some recordings at home, but it never seems to happen. I guess I should stop whining and get going, huh?

Something to Look Forward To

Gah! Denver Restaurant Week is sooner than I realized: Feb. 21-27. It's a week where you can eat at any of the participating restaurants for a prix fixe menu for two for $52.80 total.

I've been dying to check out Table 6, but apparently everyone else wanted to as well, and were faster on the draw than me. No reservations before 9 pm that week! So after trying to get reservations at several other places, I finally got a good reservation time at O's Steak and Seafood at the Westin. This will be my first experience with molecular gastronomy, so I'm looking forward to it! The menu for the night is here.

And here's a fun review of the restaurant.

Hello, My Name is Bitchilla...

...and I'm a wine.woot addict. I have the following on the way to me:

Roessler Single Vineyard Pinot Duo:

1 2006 Savoy Vineyard Anderson Valley Pinot Noir
1 2006 La Encantada Vineyard Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir


Okay, I seriously have to stop checking that site. This is a problem.

Train in Vain

How cute is this picture I took? It's the front of a train at the Forney Museum. We took the boys there over the break.

Osteria Marco and a Little About LA

Whew! We're back from M's surgery in LA. The weather was great. Surgery was stressful, but went well. It was not an eating kind of trip, so no dining of any note. We did check out the famous Pink's Hot Dogs, where I had a dog with mustard, cheese, grilled onions, and sour kraut, as well as onion rings and a Grape Crush. Other than that, we mainly ate at either crappy places or in our room, which had a kitchenette. We hit Trader Joes and ate fairly decent frozen family meals on most nights.

But I'm not in the mood to discuss LA, since it wasn't a particularly fun trip. So let's talk about a date night B and I had at Osteria Marco over the holidays. What a great night! B and I were SO ready for a night out sans children and we were very hungry. The atmosphere was cozy, if not a bit too warm. But that would be my only complaint. Our server was a sweetheart and the food and wine were great. I started out with a generous serving of the house made limoncello to make me even more toasty.

We skipped the usual courses and ordered a ton of formaggio, salumi, and antipasti. The house-made burrata was the big hit of the night. So creamy and cheesy.... We also had the bresaola (red wine cured beef), the duck liver mousse with cornichons and grilled ciabatta, and the steamed P.E.I. mussels with spicy sausage and garlic toast. In this picture (pardon B's poor food photography skills), you can see the duck liver at the top right, the mussels and burrata in the middle, and the bresaola on the bottom right:



But no, we weren't done there. We then ordered the home made ricotta and braised octopus with ceci beans (I haven't heard that term since I left upstate NY). We finished it all up with a piece of molten chocolate cake. No pictures were taken of these dishes, probably because we were enjoying the house wine (yummy and a good deal at $5 a pour) too much. Note my numerous chins--perhaps because of meals like this?

This Makes Me So Happy!

Pavement may reunite.


Between the nutty holidays, being as ill as I've ever been, and M's upcoming surgery, I haven't been posting (obviously). I promise to resume as soon as life gets back to some semblance of normalcy.