While Mike and I do make a habit of always staying in on New Year’s Eve – we typically stay in, AND throw ourselves a pretty sweet party.  Even if it’s just the two of us, there’s lots of food, and lots of booze!

But not this year!

This year – we are keeping it low key.  Neither of us feel very great, and we are both pretty worn out from crazy December schedules.  The idea of lots of food and booze doesn’t sound so hot.

But speaking of hot…

I did get the brilliant idea first thing this morning – that was should do our own “challenge” (we’ve been watching too much Man Vs. Food!) – and try the 3 hottest sauces that BW3’s has to offer.

A little HEAT will always help kick an oncoming cold to the curb, right?

Mike and I tested out all 3, and while we might not quite yet be as bad ass as Adam Richman – we were surprised at the results!

Mango Habanero: Had nothing on us! Actually – it was extremely mild.  It tasted a lot like most restaurant’s “Medium” sauce.  Plus there was this weird, sweet honey-ish glaze to it (I’m assuming because of the “Mango”).  While it was easy to stomach in terms of HEAT, I wouldn’t order it again in terms of taste.

Wild: This one was definitely spicy, but definitely tolerable!   Lots of zing, but I think most restaurant’s “hot” would be right around the level of these suckers.

Blazin’: This was unpleasant.   The taste was actually quite awful, there was something very very harsh about it, and holy MOLY was it spicy.  From the first bite – it hurt to BREATHE, because my mouth felt like fire, and the air felt like ice.  YIKES!

So there ya have it! Watch out Adam Richman, we’ll be at your level in no time!

Now – I’ve got my hubby, my puppies, some nice new couches, and these suckers to get my through the rest of the night!

Not sure when got so old (and dare I say, LAME?! ), but I’m actually okay with it! HAPPY NEW YEARS EVERYONE!!!!

Several of you asked what that delicious looking dish was in my Christmas post…

…I didn’t tell you because I was saving the full the secret for now.

It was homemade chicken paprikash.

My Mother-in-law made just for me (okay, and my sister-in-law too ), because we requested it, and because she rocks!

Oh yeah – and – she cooks like me!  No measuring, just going!

Here’s the family secret recipe! (*this recipe was used to make a double batch, so if you wanted a “single batch”, just cut everything in half*)

Homemade Chicken Paprikash

Throw 2 sticks of butter in a large pan, that is set to medium heat

Top with lots of chopped garlic.

Chop two medium/large onions:

Throw onions in with melted butter, stir well to coat onions in butter, cover, and let cook down for a little while.

Start breaking eggs (my guess would be about a dozen) into a large container (you’ll be adding flour later so make sure you’ve got room!)

Check your onions!

Chop up chicken breasts (my MIL used one large bag of frozen chicken breasts, half way thawed), add them to the pot, sprinkle with salt, pepper, and LOTS OF PAPRIKA!!!!

Cover up your butter/garlic/onion/chicken pot, reduce heat to medium, and leave it alone!

Go back to your eggs, and WHISK ‘em up!

Add some garlic powder and onion powder to your eggs.

Start adding flour into the eggs, a little at a time, and whisking until fully incorporated.

This is where the expert eye really comes in.  You “just know” when the batter is thick enough.  See this:

Not thick enough.

See this?

THICK ENOUGH!

Bring a large pot of water (with a decent splash of milk in it) to a boil:

Start spooning out 1/2 to 1/4th spoonfuls of the batter, right into the water, and let them cook for about 5 minutes. (they should float to the top when they are done cooking!)

Continue to fill the pot until you have the entire surface covered. Don’t over fill, then the dumpling won’t cook right!

After the first batch is finished, strain them out using a slotted spoon, and let them hang in a colander in the sink.

Continue to make batches of dumplings until the batter is all gone!

Try not to eat all the dumplings while the next batch is cooking

After the butter/garlic/onion/chicken pot has been cooking on medium/low for about 1.5 to 2 hours – it should look something like this:

At that point – remove all the chicken, and plate it so that it’s ready for serving:

Once the chicken has been removed from the onion/butter/garlic pot – add an entire container of sour cream to the onion/butter/garlic mix.

Combine dumplings, chicken, and sauce in a bowl and DEVOUR serve!

So. AMAZINGLY. Delicious!  ENJOY!

(Special thanks to my Mother-in-law, June, who not only cooked us an amazingly delicious holiday meal, but also allowed me to stand over her shoulder, taking pictures, and asking non-stop questions like an insanely inquisitive 4 year old for 2 hours! “What’s that?” “Why are you putting that in now?” “How much of that are you putting in?” THANK YOU JUNE!)

…through pictures.

Happy Holidays to you and yours!

All our love,