The Buffalo shake is back!

It's orange. It's spicy. It's definitely a conversation starter.

And you have Liz Lemon to thank for it.

The Buffalo Chicken Milkshake started as a joke on "30 Rock," part of Liz Lemon's idea of happiness, when she sees a poster in a fast-food restaurant announcing the return.



Of course, it was only a short time before blogger Robert Bishop came up with a recipe for it and convinced "30 Rock" writer Tracey Wigfield to try it on camera. And of course, when I was trying Buffalo dishes for this week's story on Buffalo beyond the wings, I had to whip one up and give it a shot, too.

My reactions:
1. It's actually tastier than you'd think. It's not sweet at all. But the contrast between the spicy heat and the cold was fun.
2. A shot would be a good idea. If you're going to serve it for a Super Bowl party, it kind of cries out for a little tequila.
3. A shot would be a good idea, Part II: Keep the servings small. It's very rich, and it wears on you after 4 ounces or so.
4. Skip the chicken. Bishop's version just sticks a fried chicken strip in the glass. Unnecessary. But a celery stick and a final sprinkling of blue cheese are definitely called for.

Here's Bishop's recipe and my modifications.

Buffalo Milkshake

1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon heavy cream
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon whole milk, plus 1 cup milk, divided
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese, divided
2/3 cup tomato juice
2/3 cup Buffalo wing sauce
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
Celery sticks

Place the cream, 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon milk and 1/4 cup blue cheese in a blender. Blend a few times to mix (Bishop suggests only pulsing so the mixture doesn't get frothy, but I didn't see that it made a difference. It will smooth out in the freezer). Add the tomato juice, wing sauce and Worcestershire. Blend again. Pour into a shallow freezer-safe container with a lid (I used a plastic container).
Place in the freezer and stir with a fork every 30 minutes, until solid.
Measure out 2 cups frozen mixture. Place in the blender with 1 cup milk. Blend until smooth but still cold and creamy. Serve in small glasses with a celery stick and a sprinkling of blue cheese.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

How does your garden can?

In this week's column in Wednesday's food section, I'm writing about Mecklenburg County finally restoring the position of the Cooperative Extension family and consumer specialist. The position was cut in 2004 during a tight budget. But in summer 2010, the county hired Kristin Davis, the state's only family and consumer extension agent with a focus on local foods.

Part of what extension agents do is educate: The Cooperative Extension Service is a service with a long history of providing information. Extension services usually work with universities but are housed in counties, so that all of us can get information we need from universities.

So what classes do you need? If you live in Mecklenburg County, Davis is conducting a survey to find out if you want classes on:
Home canning (waterbath, pressure, pickling, jams and jellies, etc.).
Home food preservation (dehydrating and freezing).
Basic home gardening.
Basic food preparation skills (basic cooking, use of kitchen utensils, food prep and storage).
Nutrition and weight management.
Meal planning and food-budget planning.
Applying for and using Food & Nutrition Benefits (formerly food stamps).
Super Couponing.
Other.

You can go here to fill out the survey. Let the county, and Davis, know what you need.

And if you aren't in Mecklenburg but you want to know more about your county's extension service, go to www.ces.ncsu.edu and click on "county centers."

Best chocolate in the world is . . . here?

Travel + Leisure has a slide show with its picks for the 10 best new sweet shops. Click through and the show lists shops in Scotland, Switzerland, Mexico and . . . Raleigh?

http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/best-new-sweet-shops

Yep, the pink peppercorn flavor at Raleigh's new Videri Chocolate Station is No. 9. (I was expecting the stellar Escazu, but apparently it's not new enough). If you're over in Raleigh, get a taste of Videri at 327 W. Davie St., across from the restaurant The Pit. And go by Escazu, too, on 936 N. Blount St.

NC's beer Sexual Chocolate gets attention

Foothills Brewery of Winston-Salem knows how to get attention: The one-a-year release of the beer Sexual Chocolate had people lined, and had the cameras from CNN. And yes, beer fans tell me that SC is worth the hype -- if you can get your hands on any.

Girl Scouts are smart cookies

Who doesn't get a smile over Girl Scout cookies? Well, OK, I still remember the way the old cardboard handle of the cookie cartons cut into your fingers on a long afternoon of slugging cookies door to door back on Old Fort Drive in Ocala, Fla. And the way the crabby old guy three blocks up the street slammed the door in my face when he found out I had already sold out of Thin Mints.

But you know, those memories actually still make me smile.

So, as a former Girl Scout and a fan of all things lemon-flavored, I have to point out the news in the Girl Scout cookie season:
1. It's the 100th anniversary, for those of us who can still hum along to "Juliette, Juliette, Gordon Low/founded the Girl Scouts so long ago. . . ."
2. In honor of the anniversary, there's a new lemon-flavored cookie, Savannah Smiles. ("From Savannah Mrs. Low did roam/But she always called it home.") The cookie is half-moon shaped, sort of smile-like, and it's crunchy, with a light powdered-sugar coating and a bright lemon flavor.
3. Girl Scout booth sales (no one carries cartons door to door anymore) start Feb. 17, and now there's a Cookie Finder app. Dial **GSCOOKIES (**472665437) from your smart phone and you can use GPS to find the nearest cookie booth. (There is no app needed for finding the Girl Scout parent taking advance orders -- there's usually at least one in every office.)

Photo: Huffington Post

Is it where you eat it?

In his column BA Foodist, Bon Appetit's Andrew Knowlton has an intriguing idea: There are some Southern foods that aren't the same unless you eat them in the South.

His list:
1. Pork rinds. Specifically Hickory Ridge brand from Bartlett, Tenn.
2. Sweet tea.
3. Fried seafood. With shoutouts to Hudson's on Hilton Head and the See Wee in Awendaw, S.C.
4. Okra. Specifically the fried okra at Farmburger in Atlanta.
5. Brunswick stew, particularly the stew at Harold's in Atlanta.
6. Waffle House. "If you don't love Waffle House, you don't belong in the South."

Here's Knowlton's full piece, with his reasoning on the above choices: BA Foodist.

After you read it, let me know: Is there a food - Southern or non-Southern - that isn't as good if it's removed from its place?

One Great . . . seafood chowder

Gray, damp and drizzly. Is there a better time than January for a good bowl of chowder? After the holiday party-food sales, I still had a container of crab and a bag of shrimp in the freezer, just waiting for a night that begged for something cozy.

I found this very popular recipe on allrecipes.com and made a few changes, dropping the original servings from 10 to 4, and simplifying some of the ingredients. The seafood is adaptable too: Thaw and peel a handful of shrimp and skip the crab, use crab only, or replace both of them with a chunks of firm fish, such as mahi mahi or even frozen wild salmon.

Corn and Crab Chowder

Adapted from www.allrecipes.com.

2 slices bacon
2 teaspoons butter plus 1/4 cup butter, divided
1/2 onion, peeled and chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons white wine
1/2 teaspoon each dried basil and thyme
Pinch cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons Old Bay
2 cups frozen corn kernels
1 to 2 large potatoes, such as russets or Yukon Gold, peeled and diced
3 cups chicken stock
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup half-and-half
6 to 8 ounces peeled, deveined shrimp (rinsed to thaw if frozen)
6 ounces crabmeat, shell pieces removed

Place the bacon in a skillet and cook over medium-high heat, turning, until browned. Remove to a paper towel, cool, crumble and set aside.

Heat butter in a large Dutch oven or deep pot over medium heat. Stir in onion and celery and cook about 10 minutes, until onion is softened and translucent. Add garlic for the last minute or two.

Pour in the wine and bring to a simmer. Season with the basil, thyme, cayenne, Worcestershire and Old Bay. Add the corn and potatoes, then pour in the chicken stock. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer 10 minutes.

Melt 1/4 cup butter in a small saucepan while soup is simmering. Stir in the 1/4 cup flour and cook, stirring constantly, until flour has turned the color of peanut butter (be careful not to let it burn). Stir into the soup and add the cream, half-and-half, crumbled bacon and shrimp. Simmer about 10 minutes, until the shrimp are cooked through, the potatoes are tender and the soup has thickened. Stir in the crab meat. Taste and adjust seasoning and serve.

Yield: 4 servings.