June was a Flurry and Now I’m Headed to Copenhagen – But First, Comfort Food!

This post is a ramble of reflections and a recipe. Let’s start with the recipe; the backstory follows.

Glover Gardens Grilled Chicken Wings

Ingredients

• 4 -5 lbs. chicken wings (drumettes and wing portions separated)
• 1½ – 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1½ tsp chile oil (optional; use more vegetable oil if you don’t use chile oil)
• 2 tbsp Zippy Southwest (recipe here) or other southwest seasoning
• Optional condiments: Tabasco, blue cheese or ranch dressing

Cooking Instructions

In a large bowl, toss the wings with the oils. Sprinkle the Zippy Southwest seasoning over the wings and toss again until they are all uniformly coated. (I take off my rings and use my hands for these steps.)

Preheat a gas or charcoal grill (charcoal preferred) to medium heat, with a hot zone and a cooler zone. Working in batches, grill the wings over the hot zone / direct heat for 2 to 3 minutes, turning, until there’s a nice char, then move to the cooler zone, cover, and continue to cook, turning once more, until they are done. It will take around 8-10 minutes per batch. Serve hot with your preferred condiments.

Note: if you are new to the charcoal barbeque party and need more detailed instructions, Kingsford provides an excellent description of exactly how to prepare a charcoal grill for chicken wings in their Grill Basics section: click here.

And Now, the Reflections… First, Where Did June Go?

Here it is the 30th day of this fair month, and I haven’t written a single post – the last one was on May 31st, bemoaning our days-long power outage.

I’m so over that now, because June has been go-go-go, with wonderful family trips and events: a ‘mega-reunion’ at my tiny high school down on the Texas coast that spanned graduates from eight decades and enabled us to spend time with my cousin and his wife in addition to classmates I haven’t seen in over 40 (!) years; an opportunity to keep our tiny grand-boys for four wonderful days while their parents had a well-deserved vacation, and a house party weekend at Glover Gardens with my nieces and their boyfriends and other family. Fun, fun, fun!

Also, our Musical Millennial is back from grad school for the summer, gallivanting all over Texas to follow the gigs, and he spent a couple of days with us, along with his girlfriend. They performed together at a local steakhouse – he was on keys and she’s a singer. It was truly awesome.

So – No Time to Blog!

June was truly awesome. These events were all great material for blog posts (and you may hear about them in the future), but I was simply too busy, because in addition to all this wonderfulness, I also have an interesting and challenging full-time job. And sometimes, I just experience the moments (practicing mindfulness) rather than capturing it all in pictures and and then later in words. June was like that for me, especially during those days with the grand-boys. We did get a few pictures, but because they are toddlers who are 1 and 3, they were always on the move – which means WE were always on the move. It was a very special and memorable time.

Copenhagen and Amsterdam, Here I Come!

And so here we are on the cusp of July, and here I am at the airport in Houston, waiting to board a flight. My itinerary is Houston ➡️ Atlanta ➡️ Amsterdam ➡️ Copenhagen. It’s a personal trip rather than my usual business travel, and I’m really excited to have a week off in Europe. Woohoo! The Grill-Meister is staying behind this time because he has to work next week, but I’m meeting my son and other family members in Copenhagen, and then just the two of us will head to Amsterdam for an extended Mom and Kid trip. (He still lets me call it that, even though he’s 26. 😎)

Catching Up on the Blog at the Airport

The airport was crazy-busy even at 5:00 a.m. with lines of grumpy, sleep-deprived travelers everywhere, shuffling and muttering, but my frequent traveler credentials saw me quickly through the melee. Once I got deep into my terminal there was an eerie quiet in the long hallway to the gates. I’m perched in a deserted area penning this quick update.

Pre-Trip Comfort Food

When the Grill-Meister and I were considering our weekend menu options on Friday morning during Happy Coffee, I had an instant craving for his grilled chicken wings (recipe above!). I wanted that backyard barbeque taste and mouth-feel that can only come from the char of the charcoal. I love a grilled meal in the summer because all I have to do is the prep and salad and the Grill-Meister does the rest of the work. I sat in the Treehouse on Friday evening like a diva with a glass of wine while he tended the grill. Heaven.

We complemented the wings with char-grilled corn and a salad, and both of us felt like it was the perfect, simple essence-of-summer meal. We eschew having our wings swimming in drippy-sticky-sloppy calorie-laden sauce, prefering just to toss them with oil, season them with Zippy Southwest, grill until there’s a satisfying char, and then serve them with Tabasco on the side so that the diner can set their own level of extra heat. I like the Garlic Tabasco for chicken wings.

On the flight to Atlanta now, I’m finishing the post. Kudos to Delta Airlines for free wifi!!!

Saturday Night’s Choice: Gumbo

The Grill-Meister requested gumbo when we were having our weekend meals brainstorm, which made me happy, because I had already been planning to some dish in large proportions for him. (I like to leave a batch of leftovers before I travel so he will have have delicious weeknight meals.) As always, the gumbo was yummy! The recipe is here:

The Glover Gardens Chicken and Sausage Gumbo Recipe – Finally!

Like the chicken wings, gumbo falls smack-dab in the middle of the comfort food category at Glover Gardens, and we serve it simply, with salad and garlic bread. And there’s that Tabasco on the side again (although our gumbo is spicy and really didn’t need it).

Traveling Internationally Over the 4th of July Holiday

Reflecting on our meal choices, I realized that I was craving Glover Gardens comfort food in advance of my travel, and maybe just slightly nostalgic for the traditional backyard barbeque that I’ll miss this year. It’s actually the second year in a row that I’ll be in Europe over the 4th; last year, we were at Andrew Carnegie’s Skibo Castle in Scotland on our country’s birthday. They had a nice arrangement to recognize our holiday.

The whole post is below, if you are intrigued to read about Skibo Castle.

January Dreaming: A Luxurious Afternoon Tea at Skibo Castle in the Scottish Highlands

Travel Experiences are Such a Blessing

Looking that post again fills me with gratitude for the ability to travel and anticipation of the historic, cultural and foodie experiences I’m headed toward, and all the new things I will learn. Copenhagen and Amsterdam, here I come!

But honey, can you grill something for me when I get home?

© 2024, Glover Gardens

Reminder: this is a non-commercial blog, and any recommendations or product mentions are strictly my opinion and not a paid advertisement.