Some chicken wings, one giant red cabbage and lots and lots of potatoes

So we ended up doing most of our German cooking today, before the big Oktoberfest. We had planned to make the red cabbage and potato salad in advance a) to lighten the workload the day of our party and b) we figured they would taste better if they had a chance to sit overnight and get all melded. There was a debate whether to do the black forest cake day of or day before, but Dad seemed to want to do it early. Then Heather and Amit were having such a ball they suggested that we get a jump start hand shredding the potatoes for the pancakes. We figured "What the heck?" About seven hours (minus a dinner break) and 10 pounds of potatoes we are finally finished.

This marathon cooking also happened immediately after our return from the National Chicken Wing Festival in Buffalo.

For the uninitiated, the National Chicken Wing Festival is the annual celebration of Buffalo's culinary claim to fame. I have actually met people in my life unaware of the fact that the "Buffalo wing" got its name from the city. I'm never really sure where people think it comes from. It's not like, you know, buffaloes have wings (ha... haha).

We also never called them Buffalo wings here, like they do most other places in the country. Just chicken wings. Although I guess now they come in so many flavors maybe it's important to clearly distinguish between them.

The story of the wing starts at the Anchor Bar back in the 1960s. The story I always heard was the owners' son came back late one night with some friends and wanted a snack. All they had left was the wings from the chicken, so they deep fried them and tossed them up with some hot sauce and thus birthed a national obsession.

Decades later, about a half million people have flocked to Buffalo since 2002 to consume about 2.4 million chicken wings. The idea for the festival apparently came from some Bill Murray movie Osmosis Jones where the main character dreams of going to the National Chicken Wing Festival. But there never was one, so in 2002 this local guy (who beat Bobby Flay in a Throwdown) decided to start one.

Restaurants come from all over the country to compete for various titles to demonstrate their awesomeness. I actually met a guy from a restaurant called Hurricane in West Palm Beach (apparently there's also a location in Sarasota) who said they come every year just for the shot to be recognized as among the elite wings in the nation. They had wings in all sorts of tropical flavors, like mango and raspberry chipotle, but none of us thought they were that delicious.

There are also things like a chicken wing eating contest and bobbing for wings in a pool of blue cheese (yes, gross).

Check it out.

Anyway it was a long day for all of us foodies in my family. But I digress and get back to my cabbage ...

The recipes will probably have to wait until at least tomorrow for posting, since I am getting very sleepy.