So, here we are in 2021 and things are still not going well. Some people seem to think the calendar change into a new year would some how magically wipe away all the terrible of 2020. But it hasn't.
Here in Ontario where I am, we are on our second Provincial Emergency, and things are in an extended lockdown. We were in one already since December, but now it's longer and a bit more strict. Too many people are still getting COVID and more people are dying. I know I joke about not getting to eat wings, but I do take this pandemic seriously and am seriously pissed off at those that don't. I'm feeling for the front line workers; the emergency workers, the restaurant workers, the grocery store workers, small business owners all who are all out there facing the possibility of getting COVID any day. I also feel for those that are struggling to pay the bills, with mental health, with their safety all because of the pandemic. All because people will not be safe or take the necessary precautions.
Me? I'm doing ok. My family and I are safe and doing well. My day job is shut down (not essential) but I have been busy with all sorts of stuff. For many months I've been not engaged with Lord of the Wings, but I'm hoping that with a continued lock-down into February, I can get back to a) putting up posts from 2020 b) keep on regular posting for 2021 c) keep on keeping on.
What ever happens, I'm hoping you and yours are staying safe.
This was my post on June 2nd, also known as #blackoutday - I'm late posting it here now because 1) I thought I already did 2) this message is important not just one day of the year. Today is also Juneteenth (June 19th 2020) which I will get into in a bit.
I had a bit of a struggle on what to post exactly. I mean, not the anti-racism part, or that #blacklivesmatter, or even understanding my privilege as someone who is white. What I struggle with is not making this about me, while also speaking up, without speaking for others or taking up space. Even the black square was controversial for many folks.
The first week of June was one I wasn't going to be on social media much to start with, and me being quiet but supportive was important. My heart is usually in the right place, but I don't always know the best way to be a good ally to BIPOC folks. The best way I knew how at the time was to post local businesses here in Ottawa to support. Those links are here in case they didn't work from Instagram:
While there are a lot of people out there that are becoming 'woke' to the injustices and inequality non-white folks face on an everyday basis, there are still a lot that just don't get it. I don't get what they don't get. Some people seem to think that focusing on one people's suffering seems to take away from them. Seems to take priority away from them. That someone is getting focus, or attention, or support that either they don't deserve, or that they don't get that focus so why should one group get it? The reason is racism, and privilege, and ignorance. If people actually gave more of a shit about others than themselves, they might start to understand.
JUNETEENTH
Before this year I don't think I had ever heard of Juneteenth before. And when I did hear about it I confused it with some sort of Trump event without doing any proper research. But I finally spent 10 minutes to learn about it today and it's very clear now why it's such an important event specifically for black people in the US.
My quick recap: It marks June 19th 1865 and the end of slavery in the Confederacy when Union General Granger proclaimed all slaves in Texas (the last Confederate State still enforcing slavery) were free (two years after the Civil War had ended. A lot of people confuse this with the end of slavery in America, but as I learned in my US History class in university, the Civil War only ended slavery in the Confederate States of America, no the United States as a whole.
Food has always been important at these events, and I wanted to highlight this article from Food52.com entitled "68 Recipes From Black Creators to Celebrate Juneteenth" and specifically to point out the Jamaican Jerk Wings and the Grilled Lemon Pepper Wings - both sound amazing!!!
I'd love to specifically highlight more black, BIPOC, or indigenous owned businesses or chef's that are making great food (wings in particular). If you know any that need a big shout out, let me know on Twitter @lordofthewings, e-mail lordofthewingsblog @ gmail.com or here in the comment section!
Since March we have been on lockdown due to the Covid-19 threat. This is a huge pandemic across the world that has affected us all. Some in tragedy, others in mere inconvenience. My wife and I have been practicing strict measures so that we minimize the risk of contracting the virus, and we have been fortunate that we have not really been impacted in any terrible way. But, I am starting to forget what it's like to eat at a restaurant.
That being said, the Government of Ontario is moving to Stage 2 re-opening of the province this Friday June 12th, and one of the biggest changes is how bars and restaurants will be affected.
It's outlined here in the government's plan on page 12. Basically, patio's are opening up for people to eat and drink. It boils down to business having to do the following:
each patron group must be spaced out 2 meters apart
Inside access is limited
Alcohol can be served with certain conditions
Increase cleaning of touched surfaces
wear PPE at all times
wash your hands
In theory, this is great for businesses (and customers). I know many restaurants have struggled (some have closed), staff have been out of work etc. Getting back to business can be a good thing. My fear is that despite these measures we're going to get a second wave. I say this because when I am out, seems like most people aren't even trying to protect themselves or others. For that reason, I'm not going to a patio any time soon.
But some of you will. And that's your choice and I do hope you support local. That being said, I saw this posted on multiple platforms the other day and I think it's important:
All of these rules can be summed up pretty easily: Don't be a dick.
Wing King Rule #1 always.
It's really not that hard. Think of others before yourself, take some responsibility.
1. Don't run your server. Try your best to ask for everything you need at once. Remember it's going to be a long walk from the street into the building for more water or anything else. Help us out by asking all at once
2. No mask jokes or your views on them. The server has to wear it. They have no choice and really your opinion of them while you're eating not wearing one means nothing to them. (see Wing King Rule #1)
3. The server is wearing the mask to protect you and you have nothing on to protect them. Wash your hands.
4. You Eat....You Go.... Eat your meal. Have some drinks but please do not sit at a table all night unless you continue to spend money. These restaurants are working with very limited space. They can't afford for you to order 2 side salads and water and sit there 4 hours. Yes some people do that all the time.
5. Don't come out if your sick. (see Wing King Rule #1)
6. Social distancing. Keep your kids at the table. Yes. They're cute but if they are running around they are getting too close to other people. (see Wing King Rule #1)
7. Cut everyone some slack. Everything may be a bit slow because this is basically a new job for everyone. Be kind. (see Wing King Rule #1)
8. Tip. They are going to be sweating wearing masks all to make a buck. Please treat them right and leave a decent tip. If you can't afford to tip you can't afford to go out. (see Wing King Rule #1)
9. Be pleasant. You should be happy. You're finally out. (see Wing King Rule #1)
10. Realize that the staff is doing their best. (see Wing King Rule #1)
11. Remember you have 3 meals a day every day of your life. This is only one of them. Calm down and enjoy it! (see Wing King Rule #1)
So if you are going out, stay safe, social distance, wear a mask, wash your hands like crazy, be friendly, tip your staff, and enjoy your wings.
PSA from your friendly neighbourhood Lord of the Wings
On May 28th 2005, I did one thing that changed my life forever. I started The Lord of the Wings blog. Today marks 15 years of reviews, recipe, and news about all things wings.
Can you imagine I've been blogging about chicken wings for 15 years? Who talks about chicken wings for 15 years?!?! Well, I do.
The last 5 years has been full of change in my personal life which affected the blog a lot. I was changing jobs and moving a few times. I lost some dear people in my life. I got married, moved again, and bought a house and moved again. Changed jobs a few more times too. At the start, the blog suffered, but with some effort and renewed enthusiasm, the last few years I've been doing more content and reviews than ever before.
When I started back in 2005, I had been trying to do a website for so long but just didn't have the skills. Blogger came along and was a great tool that I continue to use today. I wanted a place to record my quest for the best wing out there. I set out with a simple scoring method, a digital camera, and a hunger for wings. The reviews still maintain the same rough outline, but some things look a lot better:
Since then I've branched out into Twitter (@lordofthewings) and Instagram (@lotw_wingking) and that also has changed so much of what I do and post. At one point I was even doing Youtube videos as WKTV (Wing King TV) but was not able to keep up with making videos. But I've missed doing the videos for so long. And now, I'm pleased to announce that 2020 will be the return of WKTV!!!
I was hoping to have the first episode of Season 3 up and ready for today, but that's not the case. I'm hoping to keep doing wing-related recipes, but also plan on doing wing reviews, sauce reviews, and anything else food related on the channel. I still have a lot of tweeking left to do, but it's on it's way.
Finally I wanted to say thank you to everyone who supports me and my wing endevours. My wife, my family, my friends, and everyone of you that reads the blog, likes a photo, makes a recipe, or leaves a comment. Thanks for 15 years of making my quest so much more fun.
So here's to 15 years - hope to see you in another 15 years!!! Have a wing for me, I'm going to go take down a few myself today.
I can't get over these people ... this is in Toronto but it's everywhere. The sun is out, the government has loosened the restrictions, and people think the crisis is over. It's not. And while I'm whining about chicken wings, in reality I'm especially feeling for the essential workers, the elderly, those with health conditions who are all affected because these idiots can't suck it up and flatten the curve like we need.
I want wings, I want to hang with friends and family, I want to enjoy public spaces too, but we have to do our duty as a society.
Wear a mask
Wash your hands
Social distance
Stay home
Stay away
Suck it up
FFS people, we are all in this together. Stop putting yourself before others. Be better. For everyone else already doing what we are supposed to, stay strong.
So basically this past month I went on a self imposed social media break. Stopped blog posts, tweets, Instagramming and the such. That's why there hasn't been much new lately. After a few weeks, I feel a bit more recharged and am back at it.
Just wanted you to know and remind you that it's ok to do the same once and a while.
My buddy Dude e-mailed me the other day and pointed out something unusual on my blog and in my reviews:
Wait, what?!?! I opened up my last review and looked at THE SCORE:
3+3+3+3+1=15???? That's a total of 13, not 15.
Frak.
So what happened?
Well, when I revamped The SCORE back in 2018, I upped the value of the flavour category from 3 to 5 because I felt that the flavour is probably the most important thing. I found wings that tasted great but were small were getting too low a score. So I changed it last year. Then at the start of 2019, I did a slight visual update to my actual score sheet, and for some reason the Flavour score switched back to 3.
So going forward, I have fixed that error:
All the reviews from June on will be fixed, and when I get a chance, I will go back and fix the last few months. However, I'm sorely behind in my reviews, but hopefully, hopefully, I can get those fixed soon.
So thanks again Dude for taking the time and care to see something wasn't right.
So I'm behind on my postings. Life's just been busy. We made a big push on finally unpacking most of the new house - we are all set for guests and most things have been unboxed and put away. My office/studio is still in shambles and hopefully I can get that all straightened out soon. There's been a lot of minor things on the go, so in the evenings (when I normally write for the blog or Instagram), I've just been mentally wiped so I've had no desire to write or post. So my collection of blog posts and photos has been growing and growing.
I'm going to post bomb on here some of the Insta posts I haven't put up over about a week plus, and I'm hoping to get back on my regular daily posting today. Let's see how that goes!
If you've been wondering why the lack of posts, it hasn't been because I haven't been eating wings (I have), or because Ive been on the road (although I have), but mainly because we bought a house & we moved in!
We`ve been busy with lots of unpacking (what box did I put the deep fryer in?), organizing, setting up utilities and just settling in when we`ve been home. Thanks to our parents for helping with the move, painting, cleaning etc. They were amazing help.
So what`s next once we are officially settling in? Well I have a new #lotwtestkitchen to make wings (and have been fortunate enough to have had the first wings of the house!), which means in 2019 I'd like to reboot WingKingTV on youtube, but that won't be for a while yet. I'm also furiously trying to finish all of my 2018 reviews (I have like 10 in various states of being completed) so that I can get to my Year in Review for 2018 done! This will be the first YIR that isn't just mini reviews of reviews I never got to post.
Anyways, exciting stuff around here, but thanks for your patience. There's lots to do but we are super excited to settle into a proper home.
As I mentioned, things are mondo busy. Big life announcements coming up that are sucking all my time. I have a bunch of posts on the back burner but it doesn't look like I will be getting to any of them in the next week. Stay tuned for announcements soon!
So to tide things over for the moment, this was a photo I found on my phone when I revamped some leftovers from some decent fried chicken, to Buffalo sauced fried chicken. Level up!
I took a social media break last week just before my provincial election (it was bad news enough) but when I came back, I had heard Anthony Bourdain had died.
At first I just kind of shrugged and thought yup, another celebrity suicide. Like the election, I didn't want to hear anything about it or to think about it at all. Generally I'm not affected by celebrity news or deaths, but I think like most foodies I know, Anthony Bourdain meant a lot to us, and I couldn't shake the news.
Bourdain was doing what many of us dream of; travelling the world, eating and talking about it. What set him apart from others, aside from the exotic locales, was his honesty (at least, what seemed like honesty, TV is always about manipulation). He didn't sugar coat his experiences. He went and ate everywhere. Fine hotels and fancy restaurants or back alleys and night markets. Bourdain went where the locales went. My earliest memory of experiencing Anthony was watching him on his show No Reservations on a small motor boat in what I remember being what I think was Vietnam and as they traveled on a river, saw a family eating on their home/boat and joined the family for their meal unexpectedly. The family showed him what an typical meal was like, and he ate what most Westerners would be squeamish to eat, especially when we saw them wash the dishes between meals in the dirty river water. But he didn't balk. He always showed great respect to the people, his hosts, the countries and the food.
What I loved about watching Bourdain, whether it was No Reservations or The Layover or No Limits, was that he was there to learn. He's a trained chef, but he wanted to learn what life (and thus food) was like every location he went to. He listened to the people, then told us the story with his voice and his perspective. He didn't seem to shy from giving his opinion, he didn't avoid complaining about something, but it never came across as whining or trivial. He wasn't a shining optimist, but he seemed to embrace adventure, food and life. And I think that what makes his suicide so hard. I thought he was a fighter, and I don't doubt he did fight, it's just that much sadder that whatever got to him, got him.
Suicide is never easy. In my former career, I dealt on a semi-regular basis with folks who thought about suicide, who attempted suicide, and that were overcoming attempted suicide. I've had friends think or attempt suicide. I've gone through several levels of suicide prevention training. I've had some very hard conversations, and seen people going through very difficult things. I don't know what Anthony Bourdain was going through, but I know whatever it was, it couldn't have been easy. Some people dismiss suicide as the easy way out, but there is nothing easy about it. If you are having trouble, if you are thinking about suicide, please reach out for help. If you are in Canada go to https://suicideprevention.ca/need-help/ for a crisis centre or call 911.
I feel sad at the loss of Anthony Bourdain. I can't shake the thought that we won't get to see more of him, of his travels, of his experiences. He did a great service for those of us who love travel and food, and he will be missed. So before I sign off here, I present this clip of Bourdain eating spicy wings with Anderson Cooper - I love it because a) they are eating wings b) how he seems to thirst for the spicy wings and the endorphin rush c) Anderson Cooper's reaction to the heat.
I was getting on track, and then BOOM, life happens.
The end of 2017 came much faster than expected. I was working hard on getting as many late 2017 official reviews done. Those reviews are the most important thing for me on the blog - it's what made the blog. It's what I use to remember what wings were like.
Then I got sick. Lost my voice, was fairly ill and going on the computer was one of the last things I wanted to do. No problem, use my cell phone right? Well that went on the fritz too, and I scrambled to back up and replace my first cell. Then it was travel back to the GTA and then off to Cuba for a week (with no internet access) which to be honest, was a great social media break.
I came home to my father-in-law's place, where we prepared and hosted several memorial events for my mother-in-law who passed away 2 years ago. Had a visit with my Grandma, and took some kids to Chuck-E-Cheese & Star Wars. I thought there would be some downtime, but I had none.
Then I thought, I'll have time once we get back to Ottawa. Well, another round of being sick and being busy kept me from even setting up my computer for days.
So 2018 has been off to a crazy start but I'm excited for 2018 to be the Phoenix year of my blog. I have a lot planned, not sure when it's getting out, but here's what to look forward to soon:
finishing 2017 wing reviews
posting my 2016 Year in Review that never got published!
posting my 2017 Year in Review (this replaces the old 'Blogiversary' that I used to do, but wasn't an actual anniversary).
My first wings of 2018
My first homemade wings of 2018
Getting back to my scheduled programming (@lotw_wingking)
I know for some that is nothing, but that's a pretty big milestone for me. Another milestone for me is that today is my birthday - so to celebrate both, I had some chicken wings (of course).
Now that I'm older and more contemplative, I've been looking back over the last few years. This blog has suffered. It's been pretty neglected. For the most part, it's become a meme site. I haven't done an official wing review in forever. So I want to make a big change and force myself to get back at it. So I've decided to make a 31 day challenge for myself.
I have been taking photos and embracing wing culture for a very long time (I have a huge backlog of reviews, photos, recipes etc) but it's time to get back to where it all began and hopefully this will be the motivation I need. Instagram has been my jam mostly lately (@lotw_wingking) but the blog, the blog is where it all started and it needs some love. Over the month of October I am committing to getting one post a day. I want those reviews coming back. I'm going to still be doing #mememonday and #throwbackthursday. It might just be a photo of my dinner, but baby, Lord of the Wings is coming back.
Wings @ O'Grady's Outpost in Ottawa in 2015. I took photos but never posted a review.
Life has been going at light speed and doesn't seem to be stopping. I love writing this blog but 2015 saw my worst year to date in keeping up with it. Not a single restaurant review (I documented places, but never posted). I hate saying things are busy because everyone is busy, but I stopped writing because I focused my energy elsewhere. Life changed.
What happened in 2015?
It was a year of ups and downs. I've been engaged to a woman I love, and have been planning a wedding. I had some health set backs that while managed, drained a lot out of me. I got some excitement back in the blog by teaming up with Sobeys to do some crazy recipes. I got a new job and move out of my 'palace in the sky.' I no longer live at my workplace, which I thought would lead to oodles of time to work on the blog, but it didn't. I traveled a LOT across the province, but rarely with any real recreation or rest. I got a cell phone (my first! I know I know) which has changed how I social media my wings. My grandma died just before Christmas. 2016 started with my future mother-in-law also dying.
It wasn't a great start to a new year. But like 2015, it will be filled with highs and lows. I have so much to be thankful for and to look forward to: my wedding is in a couple of months; I love where I work; my apartment is great; so are my friends. And I know that this year I will not get back to writing this blog like I used to - its just not possible. But I am committed to keep exploring chicken wing culture, writing when I can, and not feeling guilty when I don't. As I write this I am excited because I'm about to test out a new deep fryer, and then Instagram my meal, which posts to Twitter, and then post it on here.
I often fear that my blog will become one like my wing graveyard. Sometimes I think I should just give it up. But so often people ask me how is the blog, or why haven't I posted in a while, and it makes me feel like I've made a positive impact. When I realized we were celebrating 10 Years of Lord of the Wings, I knew that this was something that has to go on.
This is a passion project for me, and writing about food is very important to who I am. So don't give up on Lord of the Wings blog, because I haven't. I look forward to exploring strange new wings, to seek out new wings and new wing civilizations. To boldly go where no wing eater has gone before . . .
So 2016, bring it on! I'm ready for you.
Wing Long and Prosper
Wing King,
Lord of the Wings.
