Sweet and sticky Root Beer Chicken Wings are totally easy to make and absolutely delicious. Whip up a batch, or ten, today!
Have I told you how much I love anything sweet? I think by now most of my readers have figured out I have a serious sweet tooth. These Root Beer Chicken Wings hit the sweet spot perfectly.
I use root beer and cola every now and again when I cook. They are both particularly awesome in any kind of pulled meat. It helps flavour the meat tremendously. Plus it’s just easy.
This is something I’ve been doing since I was a teenager. I learned to cook when was 15 years old, out of pure necessity. My mom passed away in 1984, I was 15 years old at the time.
None of us kids knew how to cook. My mom was one of those supermoms who just did everything around the house. She made it all seem so easy. After we lost her we all learned just how wrong we were.
Her job was tough. We had no idea just how much she did around the house to make our lives so much easier. We all learned to cook, clean, and do laundry. We sucked at it, but we learned over time.
Years later my dad remarried someone he had known since he was a kid. Us kids hated her. For so many reasons. One of which is that my dad actually had an ongoing affair with this woman while my mom was alive.
Yup, pretty horrible right. So needless to say we all strongly disliked her. The first time she came to our place we made her life so miserable she walked away. She resurfaced later on.
I had a long talk with my dad about him being unhappy. I basically told him that if she made him happy then us kids would learn to cope. They ended up getting married within a couple of years.
In all honesty I never learned to like her. She made my mom’s life so miserable and I just could never wrap my head around the whole thing. They were married for 5 years. It felt like the longest five years of my life.
After she left we discovered she had taken a ton of money from my dad. She had him lend money to all her 6 kids, money that never got paid back. She took money out of his accounts, maxed his cards, and stole valuable family items.
My dad never remarried after that. I think he felt so taken advantage of. He just never got back in the saddle after that. It was so sad. My dad passed away in 2007 a single man.
The only perk of her having spent some time with us is she taught me a few things about cooking. Her heritage was Mexican and she could cook some seriously scrumptious food.
I learned the soft drink trick from her. So even though I never learned to like her I did learn some valuable lessons from her. Use soft drinks to make food exceptional sweet and sticky.
And never let anyone else touch your credit cards, bank accounts or valuables. Seriously, people. Just don’t do it.
What you should do is make this Root Beer Chicken Wings. Hop on over to Real Housemoms to get the recipe for these yummy Root Beer Chicken Wings. You’re going to love them.
Remember to swing by Real Housemoms for the recipe for these awesome Root Beer Chicken Wings.
Craving more root beer inspired recipes? Check these out:
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Toodles and smoochies! xx
Kristin Hawkins says
Absolutely delicious, I will diffidently give it a try !
Cookin Canuck says
What a horrible experience for all of you. Your poor dad! Thank goodness you were able to benefit from some great recipes from that woman. These chicken wings sound so good!
Kim Beaulieu says
I know right. He had known her since they were kids, I don’t think he expected to so much money stolen. It was awful.
But she could cook, she really had some neat tricks, and could rock appetizers like no one’s business. One Christmas she thought it would be fun to only serve appetizers because turkey was too much work. Normally I love appetizers but it was such a weird Christmas. Imagine 45 people sitting around eating bite sized food by the Christmas tree. It’s so hilarious to think back on. My childhood was so weird, it likely explains my own quirks. Ha
Ashley @ Wishes & Dishes says
Awww I’m glad something good (the food) came out of a bad situation. That story made me so sad. I had something similar happen in my life when I was a teenager – without going into too much detail. I know how that goes, though. Love the chicken wings – root beer gives such an amazing flavor to food.
Kim Beaulieu says
Awe, so sorry. Life is messy, I look back sometimes and wonder how I turned out semi-normal. My childhood was awesome but very odd. Big hugs to you from someone who gets it. xx
Stephanie @ Back for Seconds says
I’m so sorry about your mom, Kim. I can’t imagine.
Such a sad, tough situation, but at least you learned a little cooking trick! These wings sure sound awesome!
John@Kitchen Riffs says
Cola or root beer can be seriously good with meat. There’s a lot of this in Mexican cooking — and it is a neat trick. What a story! You’ve been through a lot. BTW, it just dawned on me today I haven’t gotten an email notification from your blog in ages (it’s how I follow your blog). So I haven’t been visiting. Sorry about that (and I checked my spam folder, and no, your emails aren’t going there). I’m assuming there’s some glitch, so I’ll resubscribe.
Kim Beaulieu says
Hey John. Oh man, my life should be a soap opera. It’s so bizarre. The stories I could tell are so outer limits. This woman tortured my mom by calling her and sending flowers to me while I was in the hospital once, so needless to say it was hard to let go. But I pretended to be okay with it for 5 years while he was married to her, and I never (even though I wanted to) told him “I told you so”. My life story is a bit crazy.
I’ve barely been blogging the last couple of months. I had to hit the hospital for some tests so it’s been distracting. So maybe it’s just because I’m not actually sending notifications out enough. I’ll be sending them once a week starting next week. Putting myself on a schedule with both blogs to make my life easier.
Hope you’ve been good. I need to swing by. I’m so out of touch lately.
Anita says
I’m so sorry you had that experience while you were growing up, but I’m so glad you were able to take something positive out of it, like these wings. You have a generous heart.
Brenda@Sugar-Free Mom says
It’s really so horrible to watch someone be taken advantage of. What a rough and sad experience for not only you all has kids but for your dad too. I’m so sorry you lost your mom so young. I really don’t think kids realize how much a mom really does do around the house. But the good that came from your sad experiences is Mexican food tricks and that is awesome!
Martha @ A Family Feast says
Wow Kim – I came over anticipating a story about the inspiration behind these incredible wings – but never expected to read such a sad story! I’m sorry you all went through all that – but I’m sure in many ways it made you the wonderful person you are today.
Erin @ The Spiffy Cookie says
OMG yes, I love root beer! I have made sloppy joes and pulled pork with it and have been meaning to do wings. After seeing this it is a must.
Nancy P.@thebittersideofsweet says
Kim, what a horrible story. I’m so sorry that happened to your family. I’m even more amazed that you were able to take something away from the whole situation.
Sandra @ A Dash of Sanity says
these sound really amazing! I love fun sauce ideas like this! We will definitely be checking them out. 🙂 Pinning, Stumbling and Yumming!
Amanda @ The Kitcheneer says
That’s awful! Im so sorry! But, you made the best of a bad situation and made lemonade out of lemons. And in this case really awesome root beer sauce to dress these wings!
Carole says
Thanks for sharing a difficult time in your life. It’s weird, isn’t it, how recipes can evoke memories – good and bad. But, food is the center of life, isn’t it? These look amazingly delicious…pinning!
Jennie @themessybakerblog says
Okay, this plate of sticky, delicious wings needs to make its way to my table. I could easily eat the entire batch. Pinned.