Wings.

It's Sunday. Broncos vs. Baltimore Ravens. Sunny here in Colorado. Need wings. Not just any wings. Over the top wings. Not "rip your lips off" wings. I want to taste both the wings and the sauce. I do not want to burn the taste buds off my tongue. However, you can make these as hot as you want them by using hot sauce like "Rectum Fire". (Really). I must warn you. Once you make these, you'll be disappointed in every other batch of wings you order out.

Here goes: Take 1 pound chicken wings. Cut each wing into 2 pieces. I used a meat cleaver.

Now, into a shallow bowl, measure out about 1/2 cup all purpose flour, 1/2 tsp smoky paprika, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp salt,1 tsp black pepper, and 1/2 - 1( if you like it hot) tsp cayenne pepper. We're not baking here. No need to measure anything precisely. As a matter of fact, I measured absolutely nothing. A little of this, a little of that...

Coat each wing in flour mixture. When all wings are coated, put them on a plate and back into the fridge for 1 hour. This will help the coating to stick on better.

While the wings are chillin' in the fridge, haul out the deep fryer, if you have one. Mine bit the dust a few months ago, so I'm using (what else?) my cast iron Dutch oven.

Put about 3 cups vegetable oil in the pot. You need enough oil to submerge wings without them sticking to the bottom. Heat the oil to 375 degrees (F). You must use a thermometer. See the number in the bottom left hand corner? That tells me the oils is hot enough to cook these wings to crispy perfection. If the oil is too cool, all you get is oil filled sorta slimy, icky wings. Not delicious.

Once the oil has come up to temp, drop put the wings carefully in the pot. You don't want hot oil splatter to burn you. Use long handled tongs.

Cook the wings in the oil 12 -14 minutes, or until some parts of the wings turn dark brown. Have a paper towel lined plate next to the stove.

While the wings are cooking away, we'll make the sauce to pour over.

You'll need about 2 Tbls butter, a few shakes of garlic salt, fresh ground pepper, some (about 1/2 cup) Louisiana hot sauce, and some (3 or 4 good shakes, depending on how hot you like it) tabasco sauce. Wondering why the tabasco isn't in the pic? Because I didn't know I was going to put it in until I tasted the sauce.

Melt the butter in a sauce pot.

Add in the Louisiana hot sauce.

Add the black pepper, about 1/2 tsp Cayenne pepper, and garlic salt. Stir. Shake in tabasco. Stir. Taste. (Isn't it pretty?)

Once you have tweaked the sauce to your liking (a little more cayenne, tabasco, or hot sauce? Maybe some more salt?) let it simmer on the stove until the wings are done, which should be any time now.

Remove the wings from the oil and place on paper towel lined plate to drain. Don't let them sit there for too long, as you want to serve these babies hot.

Now, put them in a warmed bowl and pour sauce over them. Stir them up a bit to get the wings coated thoroughly.

Dump them out on to a big platter and serve with cold celery sticks and either Ranch or Bleu cheese dressing. Just put a big roll of paper towels on the table to wipe off your fingers, after you've licked them dry.