Turning Thirty: Buffalo Chicken, Meatball Shop-style

I'm turning thirty years old on July 6th so for the next five weeks, I'm embracing life and trying to do at least one new and/or enjoyable and/or spectacular thing per day. Click here for more Turning Thirty posts.


I'm never home for daytime television, but last week, I randomly caught ten minutes of the Rachael Ray Show and since then, I've been obsessing over the recipe that the dudes from New York's Meatball Shop were making with her.  I've been dying to go there, and apparently, these buffalo chicken meatballs are one of their best-sellers.  After dreaming about them for three days and then finally making a batch, I can see why.  Anthony and I gobbled them up so fast, and I can't wait until lunchtime tomorrow when I get to eat the leftovers in a sandwich.

And they were easy to make, too.  My least favorite part was heating up the Frank's Red Hot with some butter in a pan before you add it to the other ingredients.  When hot, the mixture has an intense odor and will definitely make your eyes tear.  It actually reminded me of when I clean our coffeemaker with hot vinegar and the stench invades my nose and the apartment for days. 

Sidenote: Anthony seems to think that the reason the meatballs tasted so great was because I used hot sauce that expired in September 2010.  This was not deliberate but it wound up being the secret weapon because it really fortified the flavor. We may be on to something.

Also, it's worth mentioning that I made an out-of-this-world lemon poundcake for my grandparents' 62nd(!) wedding anniversary.  In fact, it was so good that tonight, I made another one to bring to work.  I'm happy to not only use up the rest of the buttermilk (I hate wasting ingredients) but also, to find a lemon pound cake that so closely resembles the slices that are sold at Starbucks (you know which ones I mean, right?  They have thick white icing on top and are delicious).  This recipe from Fine Cooking really exceeded my expectations, considering I came across it by googling "lemon" AND "buttermilk."

I hope you all had a lovely weekend.  One of the highlights for me was when I was at a Starbucks this weekend with a couple of friends and did my absolute best to ignore the middle-aged man meowing like a cat from a table in the corner.  Yes, he was meowing like a cat.  I love people.  Happy Monday! xo