The Monday after Sunday before Tuesday

Mad Men
Do you watch Mad Men on AMC? Which character is your favorite? Over the past two seasons, my favorite has become...wait for it...Sally Draper.

I love the relationship that Sally has developed with her non-custodial father, Don, as well as the more antagonistic relationship that has been nurtured between Sally and her mother Betty. (Not that I am looking at this as a projection of my personal life. A) I am not nearly the "man of his era" that Don Draper is. B) My ex-wife is a wonderfully attentive and caring mother (and wife) who has a very good relationship with her son.) For me, the scenes that I most look forward to, and have since season 3 when she left the suburbs to travel to midtown, are Sally's interactions with Don. There is a sweetness and a realness to them that I find amazing. I would love to see more relationships like this on television.

Easter
What did you do for Easter? I spent time with my family, which was interesting in and of itself, but one of the best things about it was that I had a picture taken with my mom. It made me happy.

Thanks, Mom, for being wonderful.

Radishes
There were no radishes at the TRFM but there were some at Price Chopper. I did not get them (seasonal is important to me) but they were there, tempting me.

Radishes, coarse salt, black pepper and olive oil with a crusty bread and an ice cold over hopped beer...this is a recipe for a perfect afternoon.

Baseball
The Mets are in first. The Red Sox are winless. All is right in the world, at least after the first weekend of baseball.

What does every chicken aspire to?

The Chicken Wing

I am not a huge fan of chicken. Chicken is really easy to do okay, difficult to do well, and sometimes impossible to screw up. Of all the proteins, it takes the least amount of imagination to work with, which is one of the reasons that so many people are able to cook chicken as their signature dish. Over the last couple of weeks, I have been thinking about my favorite part of the chicken: the wing (and thigh). I asked Teacher Dave the other day if it counted as a "wing" if it was breaded? He and I both agree that breaded, while tasty, is not a wing.

For me, a wing is chicken dunked in a sauce of butter and hot sauce that is deep fried and then dunked again. See how simple that is? Why do people do wings with such paucity of skill? Is it training? Do some people want their wings that way? I had "wing like things" in New England last fall and they were disappointing if I want to be generous. Take pride in what you do. The wing is difficult to do well but all it takes is a little bit of effort and a system to do it well.

Which leads me to...

Last night, a bunch of us were at the Ruck for wings. We all ordered batches to our liking, me with hot (To which Becca exclaimed "Not for this girl") and all the various shades of wings were represented. Early in the evening, Irisira stated that the Ruck had the best wings in the 518, which is a fair statement and not one that I am willing to argue against. Later in the evening, another member of the happy wing eating band stated that the Hill Street Cafe had "the best wings in Albany" which is another fair statement and one that I am not willing to argue against.

This got my mind grapes churning into mind juice.

Who does have the best wings in the 518?

First, I went to Google and one of the top hits (non-sponsored) was to the 2010 Times Union Readers' Survey. I won't force you to click through... Wings Over Albany (which is in Guilderland) won. Remember when I complained about breading? Yeah.

FAIL.

More searching showed that one of my least favorite places, the Ale House, had their own partisans. I know this is a personal preference and that there are a number of people who enjoy the Ale House, but I am not going to go there. There is something about it that makes me feel less than welcome and you know, I am not going to spend money in a place where I do not feel welcome. Regardless of how people crow about their wings.

There are a lot of places that say that place A. (like I Love NY Pizza) or B. (insert your local tavern) have the best wings, but no one has gone at it with something like a scientific method. This is not be volunteering to put one together, however, I am willing to sit on a panel that does the tasting. Has anyone done this and I am just missing this? Is this a futile project?

I want to know what the best is. I mean, I have my own opinions but I would love to see what the consensus was (and this is not to include those who vote in the Readers' Poll. They chose Wings over Albany and the routinely choose the Olive Garden.) from people that I kinda-sorta trust.

Oh, and folks, remember, breading is always bad.