yummy sesame chicken recipe

i love to cook and try different things. but chinese cuisine always eludes me. it never tastes authentic. since i am always on the prowl for another attempt at redemption i found the following recipe. tried it this weekend and it is heavenly!! finally a winner!

sesame chicken

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon dry sherry
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 dash sesame oil
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast meat - cubed

1 cup chicken broth
1 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 teaspoon chile paste
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup water

1 quart olive oil for frying
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
1. Sift flour, 2 tablespoons cornstarch, baking soda, and baking powder into a bowl. Pour in low-sodium soy sauce, sherry, 2 tablespoons water, vegetable oil, and a dash of sesame oil; stir until smooth. Stir in chicken until coated with the batter, then cover, and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, bring chicken broth, sugar, vinegar, dark soy sauce, sesame oil, chile paste, and garlic to a boil in a saucepan over high heat. Dissolve 1/4 cup cornstarch into 1/2 cup of water, and stir into boiling sauce. Simmer until the sauce thickens and turns clear, about 2 minutes. Reduce heat to low, and keep sauce warm.
3. Heat olive oil in a deep fryer or large saucepan to a temperature of 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
4. Drop in the battered chicken pieces, a few at a time, and fry until they turn golden brown and float to the top of the oil, 3 to 4 minutes. Drain on a paper towel lined plate. To serve, place fried chicken pieces onto a serving platter, and pour the hot sauce overtop. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds to garnish

the only change i made was instead of 1 cup white sugar i did 3\4 cup brown (a suggestion from the reviews). it was fabulous! even brendan who is a notoriously picky eater loved it. one side note is that according to larry it does not warm up well so make sure your quantity is for one meal only. and don't be discouraged by the length of the recipe. it takes a little bit of work, but the end reward is worth the blood, sweat and tears!! just kidding - it's really not that bad at all. you just have to have a little patience.

you know it's windy when....

your grill takes a spill.

it's been windy here all week. have a mentioned before how much i hate wind?? yesterday the wind was out of control. i had to do some grocery shopping late in the afternoon and the wind was so strong that it pulled some of the lighter bags out of the trunk, carried them for a couple of feet and then dumped the contents into the parking lot. complete craziness! then our poor grill got knocked over by it. i kept looking around for the twister. it felt very dorothy right before she gets carried out of kansas - ish. the best though was the other day when a giant piece of cardboard came flying at me while we were driving down the road. but that actually was a little bit more "twister" with the cow flying across the road now that i think of it.

peaceful

lately, the only way we can get lily to take a nap is to load up in the car and go for a little ride. but today, she climbed up onto the ottoman and promptly crashed.

i could watch that sleeping, serene face for hours.

we got ourselves a bleeder over here

taking into consideration that the female to male ratio in our house is 2 to 1 you would think that accidents would be few and far between. however, for some reason it seems like every day someone in the house is bleeding. now the quantity of blood varies and usually it's nothing more than a minor scrape. but occasionally we have what i like to call "bleeders". last night, while watching the grammy's, brooke decided to show us her mad dancing skills. about 10 seconds into her phenomenal routine her head made an unfortunate connection with the wood feet of our couch. the end result was this lovely flesh wound.

now i have to say that brooke is one tough cookie. she hardly cried. although maybe that's because she was in shock?? and today she didn't complain about it at all. but she has decided to put her dance career on hold for a little while longer. to keep the tally of a bleeder a day running, while playing with the butterfly tunnel this morning lily ran smack into another kiddo. promptly producing a bloody nose and lip. i have to say that she was not as calm as brooke. she kept screaming "i'm bleeding" and became very disgruntled when i told her that i couldn't put a band-aid on her nose. "but how will it stop mom?" thankfully it didn't last very long. but i am seriously amazed at how often these kind of things happen in our house. is this normal?? are we just a house full of klutz's or do the kids just play too hard?? i really don't get it. if it were a house full of boys i would expect these kinds of things. i would have cases and cases of band-aids and polysporin. anyway, i'm hoping that tomorrow will be less eventful.

mission accomplished!

well, i might be jinxing myself my doing this post BUT i'm so excited i can hardly stand it! lily is potty trained!!! there were a couple of hairy, chaotic days where i wanted to throw in the towel and break out the diapers again. but i held my ground, ate a lot of chocolate to soothe my shot nerves and we made it! she is doing such a great job. accidents are practically non existent. since the weather has been so awesome we have wasted the last two afternoons soaking up the sun at the park and yesterday she didn't have to go the entire time we were there. so fare thee well diapers. may i never have to spend another cent on you again!!

ps - one of my daycare mom's is planning on potty training her little girl while she is on vacation. so with any luck soon i will only have one little ones diaper to change compared to the four little ones i was changing a few weeks ago. ahhh - bliss is mine!!

new love

(to the tune of the christmas waltz)

it's that time of year.... clearance treasures you find...... so much joy to buy something cheap...

i.am.in.love with my target clearance find. i love these stylin converse that i picked up for a mere 6 singles. the only problem is that they are at least half a size too big. i was in a hurry at the store and didn't have time to try them on so i grabbed the size that should fit. converse fit a little weird anyway. but of course i love them so much that i will wear them regardless. the last time i had shoes that were to big was in the 7th grade. and i still have a scar with a gorgeous dent on my shin where running up the metal stairs at the state junior high basketball game the tip of my empty shoes slide right off. let me set the stage for you - i was a cheerleader and we all had to match. so we went as a group to get our shoes. i had really small feet at the time and they didn't make my size in the shoe that everyone wanted. i didn't want to make any waves so i bought the too big shoes insisting that they would be fine. and the whole season they were. but on that day, running up those stairs, right before the big game where i had to cheer, i was cursing those shoes. bleeding, in pain and feeling like a major fool. don't you love junior high memories?? i know i do ;)
i've been busy around the house doing some vinyl work. i promise that this will be my last vinyl post; for awhile anyway. i really like how this tile turned out. prayerful could be a little bit more centered but for someone who can't tell that something is off or crooked unless it's majorly off - it's actually pretty good.

i put this one in the girls room of course. growing up i always wanted a sister. i craved that sisterly bond. so i am forever telling my girls how important it is that they are not only sisters but friends as well.

on this one i was trying to figure out how to make a phrase curve. it didn't turn out exactly how i wanted, but i know why and next time i'll get it right. i hope anyway!

front side.....

back side