Superbowl shmuperbowl

You might already know this, but around here football is more than just something to watch on a rainy Sunday afternoon. It's almost a way of life. People have extremely strong feelings about their team of choice, letting everyone know through their car color, license plates, flags on their houses, not to mention clothes and hats and stickers. I can't count how many times I've been asked who my team is.
                                     

Oh, did I mention that this fervent love of football applies to college ball only? Perhaps it's because there are no professional football teams in the state of Alabama (nor is there a pro basketball or baseball team either), or it's just a regional thing, I'm not sure. Regardless of the why, the fact is that pro football is not that big a deal around here. So, the Superbowl was not a huge event either.

Now we aren't huge football fanatics (although I almost won my fantasy league this year), but I enjoy the tradition of eating junk food and watching the commercials. So after a day of doing non-football related things like going to church, playing at the park, visiting with friends, etc, we ate dinner and settled down to watch the Superbowl from our nice new TV on our nice new couch. Yes, thanks to being in the central time zone, kickoff wasn't until around 6pm. With our DVR starting slightly before us, we had a chance to eat some homemade buffalo wings beforehand (the recipe is below). Even Addison got to watch the beginning, although she by far preferred playing in the den to watching what was on the TV screen. (I caught one photo of her watching the TV though).

Overall, I thought we had a great Superbowl Sunday, and I am pretty proud of how the wings turned out considering I've never tried to cook wings before. Sure, there are almost as many wings places around here as there are barbeque places, but it's still nice to be able to make them yourself. And it doesn't hurt that Star Market in Five Points is supposedly the best butcher counter in town. So here is the recipe if you're feeling up for trying out wings.


Buffalo Wings
12 whole chicken wings
flour
paprika
salt
Oil for frying
6 Tbsp butter, melted
1 or 2 cloves garlic, minced
1/8 to 1/4 cup hot sauce

Heat approx 1/2 inch of oil in a skillet on medium heat. Using chicken shears or a sharp knife, trim the wing tips off your chicken wings and separate the drum sticks from the wings. Mix flour with paprika and salt to taste. Dredge the drumsticks and wings in the flour mixture and then put in skillet. Fry until golden brown, then flip (approx 5 minutes). Once outer shell is golden brown, set on roasting pan in a cookie sheet and put in oven set to 350 degrees to finish cooking.
Meanwhile, melt the butter, and whisk in minced garlic. Add hot sauce to taste. Put mixture in a large bowl, and add wings. Toss to cover. Serve. Enjoy!

High Gravity Beer

    As we wandered the supermarket yesterday, I noticed this beer on the shelf and instantly thought of Santa Barbara. I'm sure drinking it is not quite the same as riding around town (and the harbor) on a land-sea vehicle while consuming curious types of alcohol, but it still made me smile.

    And speaking of alcohol, there has been some concern (by us and others) as to whether Alabama and more specifically Huntsville, are considered Dry. Well, after some research, and exploring around town, I've learned some things...

    As a state restriction, residents in Alabama cannot have wine or alcohol shipped directly to them, so unfortunately we have to cancel our wine club membership at Buttonwood. It's very sad, but there's nothing we can do unless Free the Grapes makes huge advances in allowing direct shipment of wines across the country (good luck!).

   Out of a total of 57 counties in Alabama, 26 are considered Dry - all sales of alcohol are prohibited. Huntsville resides in Madison County which is one of the Wet Counties. Fortunately for us, this means that we can purchase beer and/or wine in the grocery stores, but hard alcohol and liquors must be purchased in an “off premises” store; these are commonly referred to as “ABC” (Alabama Beverage Control) or “package” stores.

   Madison County is somewhat unique in that we are allowed to purchase alcohol on Sundays, too. Only 6 other counties in the state allow sales of all types of alcohol on Sundays – most either prohibit sales on Sundays or restrict it to bars and restaurants only. Furthermore, Madison allows the sale of Draft Beer any day of the week (even the wet counties don't allow this by default). Makes me proud to live in Madison County – we're so progressive!

   Now, despite all this freedom we started feeling, we have learned that there are still some very arcane laws on the books. Here are a few:

1. Consumption of beer is prohibited on the premises of a Brewery. Beer can only be bottled for off premises sale. Meaning that a Brewery could give you a tour, but no tasting allowed!
   
2. Brewpubs do exist and can sell alcohol for consumption on the premises, but only if they are located in a historic building AND only if the city was known to brew beer before Prohibition. Needless to say we haven't found a single brewpub yet...
   
3. All beer served or sold must be 16 ounces or less (other than draft beer for commercial establishments). Sorry, but no 40s in Alabama.
   

   There was also a law stating that no beer with an alcohol content of more than 6% was allowed for purchase, but thanks to Free The Hops (an organization dedicated to repealing these laws), the Gourmet Beer Bill was passed in May 2009 that now allows for beer up to 13% to be sold. The people of Huntsville are still enjoying this new found freedom as we've seen several advertisements for “High Gravity” beer.

   Overall, it seems that Huntsville treats alcohol very much like we are used to on the West Coast. We'll just have to get used to going to the ABC store if we want something more than beer or wine, and say goodbye to our beloved wine clubs...