company chicken

We had a family of 6 over for dinner last night, and those guys can EAT! (Our guys do, too.)
We had a Chinese food buffet, with (bought) egg rolls, two kinds of chicken (since beef is 3x the price of chicken now), two veges, noodles, rice, and peach cobbler (so that's not Chinese, but tell me the mocha cakes are!).
I was asked for the chicken recipes, and since I have to type them anyway i thought I may as well share them here, in case Wil doesn't have them already. I mean, for all my dear readers. ahem.

Chinese Chicken (original recipe - I made about 3 times this much)
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken (some like thighs; I like breast), cut into 1 inch pieces
1/4 c. cornstarch
2 T oil
1/8 tsp garlic powder
8oz can sliced water chestnuts, drained
4 oz can sliced mushrooms, optional (or fresh, but still optional) yuck!
2 ribs celery, sliced
4 ozs fresh snow peas, prepared (I left these out since no one actually likes them)
1/4 c soy sauce (Kikkoman is best)

Coat chicken with cornstarch. Heat oil in large skillet to med-hi; add chicken and brown quickly. (Do this in batches if making more than one pound). Sprinkle with garlic; lower heat to medium; add next 3 ingredients. Cook and stir 2 minutes. Add remaining ingredients; cover, reduce heat to low, and cook a few minutes.

Honeyed Chicken Teriyaki (for 4 servings - I doubled this as well)
2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1 or 2" pieces
1/2 c flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 egg, beaten (I forgot this step!)
oil

sauce:
1/3 c honey
1/3 c soy sauce
1 T sherry
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp grated fresh ginger

Combine sauce ingredients and warm gently.
Combine flour, salt, and pepper. Dip chicken in egg, then coat with flour. Heat oil in frying pan over med-high heat (it says 1/2 inch deep, but I usually don't go that deep). When hot, add chicken in batches. Cook and turn till nicely browned. Drain on paper towels, then place in baking pan. Pour sauce over and bake at 250* for 20 minutes or so, turning once to coat.

hello again

I haven't been keeping up the blog, have I? sigh. When I have things I want to say, i don't have a chance to say them. When I have time, I don't feel like writing.

We've got the bathroom ALMOST done. Just a bit more with the mirrors, and touch-up paint. And another towel rack, and an over toilet cabinet.

Got housewrap on the new living room, and poured cement for the bay window foundation, and started to frame the window. Took a picture, but my card reader isn't working.

Got the garden about ready to go, and started seeds indoors (even though I swore last year was the last time).

Elijah finally learned his ABCs. Daniel learns a new word every day, and gets into more trouble than a pet skunk.

I'm battling nausea and exhaustion. Bob is wrapping up his photography degree, and Taryn's learner's permit expired. As the county sheriff is now using the community center for an office (where they did have driving tests once per week) I don't know where to take her.

It snowed AGAIN today. We got about 2 inches, on top of heavy overnight rain. So hopefully we are catching back up with our average rainfall, as we continue to slosh about the yard. I don't even remember how many snow days we've had this season, but it was a lot. The public schools are doing Saturday school to make up for all the time lost.

Daniel slept all night for nearly a week, and then was up at 3 this morning. The children take turns feeling sorry for him; I didn't even hear him last night.

The dog killed two chickens, but the live ones are laying again.

And the laundry monster refuses to die...