Quote of the Day & A Surprising New Love

Do you really get it? You are loved!
~ Rev. Connie Tuttle

Rev. Tuttle is the minister of my church, although we just call her "Connie" and this quote is taken from one of her sermons in 2005. One congregant often says that telling us about how loved we are must be her calling, because she talks about it so much. It is something I always need to hear, but especially so at that time in my life.

Of course, she was talking about the complete love of Godde, but I am about to talk about a lesser love-the love of a good recipe! Last week, I made chicken wings for the first time ever and they turned out great. To be honest, I didn't think the recipe would work! I don't know why-I followed the directions. I think it's just residual fear from ED, because chicken wings were one of my top fear foods when I was sick. There's no real logic as to why, but I think it's because they're messy. In my mind, a perfect person would never get messy while eating and so a person that is striving for perfection should never eat something that might make her reach for more than one napkin. So deep was my fear that when I was hospitalized in 2008 and chicken wings were served, I couldn't remember the last time I had eaten them. (Although now I can remember that when I was a little girl, I used to love the chicken wing that would come with my dinner at a local Chinese restaurant. Sadly, I also remember wanting to eat them, but not doing so, once I got older and into my eating disorder.)

BUT, the chicken wings tasted great and ED got another kick in the butt! I picked out this recipe, because it features mint and so I got to use mint from my family's garden. Unfortunately, that is my only criticism for this recipe-that I could not taste the mint! Even so, I will definitely make these again.

Ingredients:
3 pounds chicken wings
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint leaves
1 tablespoon butter
1 lemon, juiced
1/4 cup honey

Directions:
1.Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2.Place chicken in two 9x13 inch baking dishes. Blend garlic and mint leaves and spread mixture under skin of chicken pieces.
3.In a small saucepan, heat butter, lemon juice and honey over medium low heat; mix well. Brush warmed mixture all over chicken skin.
4.Bake for 1 hour, or until golden brown and cooked through (juices run clear). Brush again with honey mixture, and serve.
Caution: Read all the directions first, so you know not to throw away the leftover sauce like I did...

These chicken wings are sweet and juicy and garlicky and simply wonderful-much better than the ones I had at Ridgeview a few years ago. They are easy to make too. It took me a little while to figure out how to put the garlic and mint mixture under the skin of the chicken, but not too long and it was definitely worth the effect. Well, I could taste the garlic afterwards, but not the mint, so maybe I'll add more of that next time, although to be honest, I'm not sure the wings need any mint at all. Yes, I am loved by Godde, and my chicken wings are loved by me!