Your husband will gladly give some extra money for bingo when you offer him this Chicken bathed in a luscious wine reduction over pasta on bingo night.

Ingredients

Olive oil
1 Large yellow onion, very thinly sliced
Mushrooms, thinly sliced
1/2 Head Chopped Garlic

1/2 cup Red Wine *
1 pkg. Chicken Strips
1/2 cup flour
salt & pepper to taste

1 Box Linguine

A few sprigs of Parsley
Lemon juice to taste
Grated Pecorino Romano

Directions

Heat olive oil in a frying pan.

Add sliced onions and a handful of sliced mushrooms.

As the mushrooms brown, continue adding mushrooms a little bit at a time (brown the mushrooms, don’t just cook them).

Add garlic and a tbsp of balsamic vinegar and reduce.

When the onions are caramelized, remove from pan, set aside.

Add 1/2 cup red wine (well maybe a splash more) and 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar to the same pan. Reduce to syrup.   Turn on a stove-top fan, if you have one… vinegar smells bad.

Start boiling the water for the pasta and pour yourself a glass of the wine you are cooking with. Remember…reducing wine intensifies its flavor.  Always cook with a wine you enjoy drinking.

Add salt and pepper to flour to taste and dredge chicken in flour mixture.

In wine-vinegar syrup, add the chicken strips to the pan over low heat. Add more garlic and cook about 4 minutes on each side.

Remove chicken strips.

Reheat the vegetables and add some fresh garlic and parsley.

Cook the pasta.

Mix all of it together and squeeze lemon on top, add cheese!

*Recommendation

As you know from reading my previous recipe, this Bingo Babe only recommends the best!  And in this case I recommend using Ringtail Vineyards’ Petite Sirah.

The Gambling Commission, an independent body sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, quizzed 8,000 adults about whether they placed bets via the internet, mobile internet, SMS or interactive TV.

It seems both men and women young and old are discovering that technology now allows them to play bingo as well as other games at home.   This is only one report of many to note the continuing rise of internet-based games such as online bingo.

Thomas Roche, global gaming leader at Ernst & Young, commented: “Online games provide a form of escapism for people during the difficult times and the potential audience is huge for anyone with an internet connection. The past year has already seen accelerated growth in this area as online games become a fun, cost-effective alternative to other leisure activities during an economic downturn.”

So let’s look at a few safe, secure games listed on this website. This Bingo Babe has done her research in hopes of finding something for everyone. I will give you a little informational tidbit about 5 games.  All you need to do is touch the games name and you will be whisked right off to the game site.  There you can read all about what each game offers and what you have to do to play.

Online Bingo is a game that produces a full spectrum of emotions.  There’s the rush you feel when the jackpot is enormous on Bingo Moolah and you are down to one number.  Each number that is called makes your heart beat faster with the hope and anticipation that the next number called will be the one you need to win a huge jackpot. Especially when you might win it on the $20 they gave you to try the game for free!

Online bingo has taught me to have faith. I have faith that someday the bingo gods of Paramount Bingo will be good to me, and I will be lucky enough to win one of their guarantied $500 jackpots.

Along with faith comes sheer determination. I just know that my day will come and I can call all my Desperate Housewife friends and bask in the glory as a Big Jackpot Winner.

On days when it’s raining and I feel a little depressed, I truly believe nothing can cure a case of the blues faster than playing Bingo Gala. My goodness, just the thought that I could win their $2500 progressive jackpot brings out the sunshine! I don’t have to get dressed.  I don’t have to talk to anyone if I don’t want to, and if I do want to talk to someone there are lots of happy people waiting to talk to me in the secure on line bingo chat rooms.

When you are engrossed in a game of bingo, you can’t think about your problems, the problems with the economy, or anything else for that matter.  All you can think about are the cards in front of you and the numbers you need to bingo or maybe about going to Bingo Tropics, a bingo hall that has so much more than just your everyday bingo. It really is very therapeutic.  A combination of all these emotions often produces a kind of euphoria. So who needs Prozac when you can play online Bingo?

So let’s start the New Year off with an adrenalin rush of adventure and the hope of all wonderful things to come.  Take a look around at some of the many safe – secure online games we offer.  Try them out and meet some new friends.

I have to admit, this is another one of those true Bingo stories I should be ashamed to say that I was a part of.  Please … be warned that this is something you should never try!  It started out harmlessly enough, but I’m afraid it got a little out of hand. Now that all is said and done, we can laugh about it, even though the results could have been more disastrous.

As most of you already know, this Bingo Babe loves to cook.  I especially like to cook with a good wine or liquor as my cousins, Donna & Rob in California, are the proud and caring owners of Ringtail Vineyards & Winery.  I have been spoiled by some of the best and most delightful wines in the world at their vineyard.

Well, my friend Sophie (not her real name) was looking for a treat that she could take to a Christmas party at her local bingo hall. I won’t even tell you which bingo hall to protect the innocent. She found a recipe for Bourbon Balls in my Gotta Get to Bingo Cookbook.  Now, y’all must understand, the purpose of this cookbook is to have a collection of quick and easy recipes at hand to please your family, so you can get out the door to bingo … fast and guilt-free.  My husband, Harry, is thrilled to sit at home and watch the game with a little bowl of these “bourbon balls” at his side.

So Sophie whips up a delightful tray of these wonderful chocolate confections using my recipe … on page 38.  They looked harmless enough with a little sprinkle of confectioners sugar over the top, and candy canes arranged neatly around the edges of the tray.  Sophie proudly set her tray down in the center of the table along with the treats the other ladies had brought.  She giggled like she was “cheating the devil” as she whispered to her friends that they were Bourbon Balls.  (I must give you fair warning:  you should know you are NOT ALLOWED to bring alcohol into a bingo hall.)

Back to the Bourbon Balls … “don’t worry,” one of the ladies said, “alcohol evaporates when you cook it,” as she popped the first bourbon ball into her mouth and rolled her eyes in sheer delight!

Well, here’s the deal Babes… the bourbon is injected into the balls AFTER they are made so the alcohol does not cook off!  Sophie admitted the next day, fostering one heck of a hangover, she must have been a little overzealous when she injected each ball with the bourbon, as she had used up over half a bottle of it.

By the first quarter break these usually quiet, well mannered ladies had become increasingly louder and more rambunctious.  By the half-time break, daubers were abangin’ and laughter was abounding.  It was clear that these lovely southern bells … were simply snockered!

I was sitting two tables away and didn’t want to give their secret away, but the more I asked them to quiet down, the louder they got.  They became a bunch of loud, uncontrollable wild women.  I could just imagine one of them jumping up on the table to dance for the crowd, who by now, knew something was very amiss.

I was also worried that at the end of the evening they would all get into their cars and try to drive home.  I could not let that happen.  As much as I didn’t want to ruin their party,  I notified one of the floor runners and within moments, the very few remaining bourbon balls on the tray were whisked away and each lady was offered a very strong cup of coffee and some real food.  By the end of the evening we made sure they had completely sobered up.  Sophie even won a jackpot!  Surely this will be one of those stories that Sophie will be hearing about for years to come!

Christmas is coming.

The losers gone home.

The winners gone shopping,

When good luck had shown.

The numbers kept coming,

And were daubed one by one.

Until that big jackpot,

Had finely been won!

So Wal-Mart get ready.

We’re on our way.

To shop for the grandkids,

And friends which we play.

May your Christmas be full,

Of good luck and good wealth.

And let’s not forget,

Love and  good health.

May ya’ll win a huge jackpot, and have a Merry Christmas!

Bodacious Bingo Babe

Well better late than never.   I had to post these great pictures of the Halloween costume party at my favorite bingo hall.  What a fun night! Troy and Sarah of the Bingo Palace in Palatka Florida sure know how to keep us entertained.

Audrey tried hard to scare us as a Wicked Witch, but we all know she is just a big sweetie under all that green makeup.

Poor Tommy had to endure the girls dressing him up to look like a “Bingo Babe”.  He however did put his foot down when he was asked to wear pantyhose!  Now he has a much better understanding of what us girls go through to just get dressed on a daily basis.

Our darling Brenda made all the men smile.  Even in a Devil Costume she can’t help but look lovely.

Then of course there was me, your own fabulous Bingo Babe .  I took 1st Place for the prettiest costume as a Bingo Butterfly, which we all know that I am. The costume has a 10 foot wingspan and is covered in sparkles. the Bingo Palace will sparkle for months to come.  And that’s OK, Christmas will be here soon enough!