Hi, Mike here – I’m the husband.

I’m incredibly lucky to have Kristina to inspire an endless array of gourmet meals, but occasionally I have to fend for myself.  The results are usually not fancy, but always tasty, quick, and cheap.

This past Wednesday was girls’ night, so I was on my own for dinner.  I had a tip that there were leftover turkey wings in the fridge.  I also found a bottle of buffalo sauce, and a container of leftover blue cheese dip in there.  How could I not make buffalo turkey wings?

One of the best parts about Man Food is that preparing it can have as few or as many steps as you want.

• Level 1:  Eat the cold leftover turkey wings.
• Level 2:  Microwave the turkey wings, pour on buffalo sauce, and eat.
• Level 3:  Rub the wings with sauce, bake in oven until skin is crispy, pour on more sauce, and eat with blue cheese.

Sure, you could eat them cold – they’re already cooked and delicious, but I wasn’t feeling that lazy.  I’m not a fan of microwaving wings, partly because the skin gets limp but also because the bone ends get super hot, and I either burn my fingers trying to eat or end up having to make greasy little napkin handles.  So it was definitely a Level 3 night.

I covered a baking sheet with aluminum foil, sprayed with non-stick spray, poured on a couple of shots of buffalo sauce, and rubbed it all over the wings.  Next they went into a cold oven, which I then remembered to turn on to 375 degrees.

20 minutes later, the wings are out of the oven, drizzled with some more buffalo sauce, and onto a plate with a cup of  the blue cheese dip. (We need to post this blue cheese dip recipe some time – it’s a favorite on holidays, eaten with salty potato chips or pumpernickel pretzel rods)

I pulled apart the winglets and drumettes with the intention of making it easier to dip into my little cup of blue cheese.  Unfortunately, it also made it easier for our cat General Stonepaw Jackson to steal a wingette when I wasn’t looking.  It was a reminder that even if you are home alone, you should still guard your plate of wings like you’re in a prison cafeteria.  The 3 pieces I did get to eat were crispy, juicy and spicy – everything that you want out buffalo wings, and 4 times the size.