Summer vacation: It's OVER!

I'd like to start by saying sorry to everyone. I've been on summer vacation and while I meant to keep updating the blog, I just haven't got around to it. :(

But now school has officially started. Today, actually. So, now I'm back to the old grindstone, as dad says, and will be updating everyone on a weekly basis again.

In fact as a first-day-back-to-school meal, my dad is making me chicken wings tonight. I'll be reviewing a new sauce this week.

And next week? Well, Sept. 14 is my birthday. I'm having my party at Buffalo Wild Wings. It's pretty much the first one they've ever hosted. Luckily, it's a Tuesday and that's 50-cent wing night. Well, lucky for my dad's wallet, I guess.

Check back this week for a review, and some more updates. I'm going to keep them coming. And thanks for sticking with me!

VIP Party at Buffalo Wild Wings!

OK, so Buffalo Wild Wings in Marquette is open now. I've been there twice. You need to go.

Before the official opening two weeks ago, as all of you know, I was invited to go to the VIP party. It was quite the blast, actually, and I wore my own Chick 'N Wings shirt and had business cards to hand out.

As far as parties go, it wasn't what I expected. It was basically just sitting down and eating, but you didn't have to pay. The service took forever, but there were, my dad says, a couple hundred people there. It was packed.

A few really cool things happened though. The manager came over and introduced himself and I gave him one of my cards. He was very nice. And the other thing was that I won a ball off a crane machine game. Yeah, that's the life of an eight-year-old girl, exciting as it is.

I had the garlic Parmesan and the medium and my dad had the blazin' hot and the sweet barbecue. We discovered blazin' hot it too hot for dad. He wasn't happy after eating three of them. Not happy at all.

Mine were great, as always. Kim, my dad's fiancee, had shrimp. She said they were great and said she will order them again.

I am so glad there is a Buffalo Wild Wings here now. But, I have a job to do, and that's try other chicken wings, too. Guess I'll just have to keep rotating. :)

Timber Charlie, Newberry, MI

TIMBER CHARLIE
www.timbercharlies.com
110 Newberry Avenue
Newberry, MI 49868
(906) 293-3363

This is Shaylyn's dad. This post is actually late going up for two reasons: 1) The Chick was away to see some family in Detroit and went to a Tigers' game and watched them win (I don't get that luxury, often, when I go); and 2) I have been so incredibly busy that I just haven't had time. Honestly. So, with no further delay:

I have to admit that I had high hopes for Timber Charlies when we went there not too long ago. My dad called his friend from Newberry to see where the best chicken wings were. That guy, not being a wing fan, didn't know, but thought Charlies would have some.

So we went. It looked cool. The inside was pretty awesome. The chicken wings? Not so much. First, they weren't very crunchy. They were kind of soft and tasteless. And pretty small. Maybe there just wasn't enough meat for me to really be able to judge them.

I asked for the sauce on the side because I was afraid I would really not like it because of the way they described it on the menu. I tried it after two wings and found out it was just Louisiana Hot Sauce. So, I ate the rest smothered in that.

I was pretty disappointed, especially since everything else that had been ordered looked so good on the table. And the appetizers were really good!

As many of you probably know, I hate rating wings very low. I love them. But Timber Charlies in Newberry just doesn't do a very good job with them. I won't order them again from there, but my dad said the pasty was good. Maybe I'll eat that instead.

Final Rating: 4-out-of-10

VIP Party Today!

I am going to the Buffalo Wild Wings VIP party today. I am so excited. I came home from school today (only a week to go!) and found out my dad got me a Chick 'N Wings shirt and business cards. If we can figure out how to put the new logo that Graphics By Designers did up on here, we will be doing that, too!

I am going to have some Parmesan garlic and Blazin' sauce today. I hope they have some deep fried pickles, too.

I am going to take some pictures or have dad do it and will put some up on the blog tomorrow.

Have a great weekend, everybody!

(Dad's Note: Oh, and the photo is the Chick from this morning... she wasn't so thrilled before school about getting some chicken wings tonight. Yeah, I know, one day she'll repay me in spades.)

Review: Wy's Wings Medium Sauce

Wy's Wings Medium Sauce

Let's just start by saying this--if there were ever a sauce that was going to challenge Buffalo Wild Wings medium for my favorite, this one is it. Wy's Wings Sauce, which was sent to me by the owner of the company, Mark Weiler. Not only was he nice enough to send that sauce, but he sent several others I will be reviewing in the next couple weeks.

My dad and Mark talked on email several times and my dad told me that Mark said he would be surprised if his medium didn't knock Buffalo Wild Wings out of my favorite spot. It didn't, but it definitely tied for it. Wy's Wings medium sauce tastes great! It has spices that you can actually taste instead of just a watered-down hot sauce that many people try to pass off as medium.

We weren't very lucky in the size of wings we were able to buy. It must have been a bad time for wings here in Marquette. But dad cooked them up as specified by Mark for the ultimate wing and they tasted awesome. I can't wait to try them with bigger wings, which we can usually find.

If you like medium sauce that tastes good and still has a bit of heat, then you're going to love Wy's Wings. You can order them right from the company website here, or you can bother your local grocer until they order it. You won't be disappointed.

And on a side note, my dad wanted to add in that he ate Wy's Teriyaki sauce and that it was the BEST teriyaki he has ever had. I don't like teriyaki at all, so it wouldn't be fair to rate it, but my dad really likes it and he's had a lot of different kinds. So far he's made wings, pork chops and a stir fry with it. He promises that if you like teriyaki, you can't go wrong with Wy's. I guess that scores a perfect 10 from dad.

But I am off track (dad says it's digress, but oh well) and I need to rate the medium sauce. Try it. You'll love it, or you simply don't like good wings. This ties for my all-time favorite sauce, ever.

FINAL RATING: 10-out-of-10

Little ol' me? A VIP?

To all those out there who have been waiting with baited breath, we have some news for you: The Chick is officially going to get to be a VIP at the Buffalo Wild Wings opening here in Marquette, Mich.

For those who don't know me, I'm her dad and I just got back from a meeting with the general manager. He officially invited Shaylyn to the event in early June.

One small step for the Chick, but one giant leap toward the chicken wings...

Making the perfect chicken wings...

There are always questions when it comes to the perfect chicken wing. Do you bread it? Smoke it? Grill it? Fry it?

There may, likely, be no true answer to that question. But, there are some good suggestions. Take Mark Weiler, the founder of Wy's Wings. Here in his YouTube videos, you can see how he makes both bone-in and boneless wings (there are six videos, but they're short and easy to follow). It's a very nice step-by-step procedure that will certainly have you making the best wings in town.

What's best is Wy's makes their own sauces, some of which we'll be sampling and reviewing here on Chick 'N Wings. You can find their full line of products at their website.