Pots and Pins

Sweet and Sour Chicken...

We woke to snow again this morning.  Snow is Seattle is rare...like the mister being in a good mood.  He winched about the weather all morning, how sick he is of the cold and gray and how he needs a vacation.  Thinking this was somehow an invitation to suggest going someplace sunny and warm, I did, "How about we fly to San Diego for the weekend?"  Silly me, how could I have known those would be fighting words?!?  The mister responded with, "Are you crazy?  I've got our taxes to finish, do you think they will finish themselves???  Do you have any idea how much YOUR medical bills were last year?  It took me three hours just to go through all the receipts!"  Oy vey.  One day I will learn...the mister is the master at bait and switch.  You see, the mister baits me with something, today it was his weather complaints.  Then I respond, as in I offered up a solution but the minute I did, he flipped his switch!  That's what bait and switch means around here!  The only thing we have agreed on lately has been this Sweet and Sour Chicken.  The recipe is from our friend Erik, who got the recipe when he was in Taiwan.  It has everything you want in a sweet and sour dish...pineapple-sugar sweetness pared with onions and peppers in a rich vinegar-sugary sauce - you'll be lickin' your lips with every bite. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had a Chinese Cooking night a while back and this was one of the dishes we made, along with spring rolls and steamed pork buns.  At our class, not only were we lucky to have great things to eat, but we had a wonderful show-and-tell with Aileen Slawson.  Aileen is from Beijing and she brought so many interesting things for us to see, smell and taste...weird-to-us fruits and veggies available in Asian markets.  If I had been smart I would have written everything down.  But we've already established I'm not and I didn't.  We tasted everything from dragonfruit to mushrooms to radishes, lychees, rambutans and longans!  All very good, in an interesting-but-I'll-never-buy-them kind of way.  Except for dragonfruit, I'll buy that again - so good!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sweet and Sour Chicken - Adapted slightly from Erik Lustig

(Erik’s original recipe did not include garlic or onion.  Also, Eric’s recipe called for water in the sauce, pineapple juice was substituted and while Erik’s recipe didn’t specify what type of vinegar, rice wine vinegar was used.)

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 egg yolks

2 tablespoons corn starch

3 large carrots, cut into thin rounds

2 red bell peppers, cut into bite-size pieces

2 green bell peppers, cut into bite-size pieces

1 large onion, roughly chopped

1 tablespoon garlic, minced

1 can (20 oz.) pineapple tidbits (reserve the juice)

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces

For the Sauce:

½ cup rice wine vinegar

½ cup sugar

½ cup of the reserved pineapple juice

½ cup ketchup

1 tablespoon corn starch (this is optional but will make sauce thicker)

Salt and pepper to taste

Make the sauce:  In a medium bowl combine rice wine vinegar, sugar, reserved pineapple juice, ketchup, cornstarch if using.  Mix well, season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside. 

In a zip-lock style bag, combine soy sauce and egg yolks.  Add chicken pieces and mix well to coat.  Open bag, sprinkle 2 tablespoons of cornstarch over chicken pieces, seal bag and mix until combined. 

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, heat ¼ cup vegetable oil.  When oil is hot add the chicken and cook, stirring occasionally, until done, about 8 to 10 minutes.  Remove chicken to a plate.  Add carrots, bell peppers and onion to the hot oil (add more oil if necessary) and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add garlic and pineapple pieces, mix to combine and cook for additional 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.   When vegetables are done, pour sauce over all and add chicken back into skillet.  Toss to coat.  Bring mixture to a full boil, so sauce will thicken, and cook until heated through.  Remove from heat and serve over rice.  Serves 6 to 8.

Pretty colors and delicious taste - make this one, it's worth the time and calories and your family will love it!  Thank you Erik for sharing your recipe with us! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cherry Cream Cheese Desserts...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think we can all agree on one thing, nothing says Happy Valentine's Day like a new washer and dryer!!!  Unless it's a new vacuum!!!  How is it appliances know to die right before a holiday??  Over the years I've received a new refrigerator for Mother's Day, a lawn mower for our anniversary and even a furnace for my birthday!!  Lucky for me appliances are the mister's love language!

Valentine's Day is not even a Hallmark Holiday around here...although I do have to say the mister had me going the day before...he called me from Global Headquarters to ask if I wanted to run up to Northgate Mall with him and go to Alana Estate Jewelers...I had to check Called ID to make sure it was the mister I was talking to!  Never, in all the years and years of marriage to the mister, has he ever asked me to go to the mall, let alone a jewelry store!  I decided to play along, because I do love a good mystery!  The mister picked me up, it was a sunny day and I do believe everyone had left work early to go play in the sun as the traffic was worse than usual.  The mister, uncharacteristically,  was in a very cheery mood and he did not have one incident of road rage, even though it took us 1 1/2 hours to get to the mall.  And then I watched, with my own two eyes, as the mister willingly walked into the mall of his own free will.  It was a thing of beauty right there!  We made our way to the jewelry store, when he finally told me he had seen a TV commercial and that's how he knew about it and then the mister walked inside without seizing! There must have been a higher power at work because I was seeing things I'd never seen before...the mister asking the saleslady to show me pieces...asking me to try things on, joking with me about maybe I should by TWO!!  I had finally had all I could take...I mean, I KNOW the mister and he was either suffering from some sort of delusion or I was!  I was truly worried, so in my best Florence Nightengale voice I asked the mister if he was okay... when was the last time he had anything to eat...was he a quart low on fluids?  He assured me everything was fine but I wasn't buying it, or anything else, nope, my antennae were on high alert!  We left the jewelry store and the mister was on Cloud 9...and every jewelry shop we walked by he asked me if I wanted to go in and have a look...seriously unnerving!  We went to dinner, the mister could not have been more pleasant and I decided it was time for me get in the game so I told the mister that just him asking me to go to the mall, to a jewelry store was gift enough. 

The mister said, a very distinct sigh of relief, "Reeeeeeeally?  What are you up to?" 

Me:  "Me?  What am I up to?  What are YOU up to?"

The mister:  "I'm not up to anything, I was trying to be nice!"

Me:  "You're never nice!"

The mister:  "It's the new me.  I decided to be nice for a day."

Me:  "One whole day?  Then what,  you're back to your normal self?"

The mister"  "Yep, Happy Valentine's Day!"

True to form, the next day, Valentine's Day, the mister showed up at 8:00 at night with two boxes of cheap chocolates for Moi, his diabetic wife.  I asked he if was trying to kill me and he just laughed and then volunteered since it was so late the chocolates were two for one.  Aaaaaand the mister was back to his normal romantic self!

 

This very yummy dessert takes all of about 20 minutes to make.  Crushed graham crackers with melted butter and a little sugar, go into the bottom of the serving dish, making the 1st of this 3 layer dessert.   The 2nd layer is whipped up in a matter of minutes with cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk - I sense I am reeling you in here, yes?  The 3rd and final layer is the easiest, a tablespoon of canned  cherry pie filling is put on top or raspberry or blueberry or whatever makes your heart skip a beat!

Cherry Cream Cheese Dessert - Adapted From Melody Mellinger via Taste of Home

For the Crust:

3/4 cup crushed graham cracker crumbs (about 12 crackers)

2 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons butter, melted

For the Filling:

1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened

1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk

1/3 cup lemon juice

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 can (21 oz.) cherry pie filling

In a Zip-lock style bag, combine the cracker crumbs, (I put the whole crackers into the bag and crush them, no mess) sugar and butter and your your hands to mix together.  Divide crumbs among 8 dessert dishes, about 4 rounded teaspoonfuls in each, press into bottom of dish.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth.  With mixer running on low, gradually add sweetened condensed milk, lemon juice and vanilla.  Mix until well incorporated.  Spoon 1/4 cup of the cream cheese mixture into each dish.  Top with a tablespoon of the cherry pie pilling.  Makes 8 desserts.

Since I do like celebrating Valentine's Day, with or without the mister, I invited some of my leeeeetle friends over to make Valentines and have some dessert...they loved sparkling punch with extra sugar cubes and edible glitter, the hot cocoa, which we call Sludge because it's so thick, was eaten with spoons while they swooned, and they loved the Fairy Bread, too!  Sugar cookies were enjoyed by all but the Cherry Cream Cheese desserts were the favorite...one little munchkin said, "I know I'm still a kid but I have an adult palette so I love this!"  Cute little creatures!  All things considered, not even Hallmark could have improved on this Valentine's Day! 

Bacon Chips...

I have my neighbor to thank for my latest addiction.  Christina brought a plate of these to our Christmas Eve party and I saw them being set down on the counter but within minutes they had disappeared!  Gone, every last crumb!  Nothing has ever been devoured so quickly in this house!  Naturally, I was curious and wanted to know what it was that had everyone licking their lips and asking, "Any more of those bacon-y things?!"  Bacon?!?  I would certainly have sniffed them out had I been a bit quicker on my feet!

These are so simple to make you will probably think nothing this easy can be so good.  You would be wrong.  I have made these every week since Christmas Eve.  Every week.  The mister practically demands them, he'll reach for the remote and at the same time he'll bark, "Got any of those bacon-cracker things?"  That's my cue to head into my sweatshop kitchen and fire up the oven!  Of course, I'm more than happy to do so, these are at the top of my Foods I Must Have To Survive List!  

Like I said, so easy it's shocking.  Sprinkle crackers with Parmesan cheese, then wrap with a piece of bacon.  Bake in oven until the bacon and cracker become  o n e .  That's it.  Prepare to be amazed!  And no, the crackers don't get soggy!!  They get caramelized with bacon...the antidote to all that ails.

Bacon Chips -  From Nobody Puts Mama in a Corner via Christina Spranger

3/4 cup grated Romano Parmesan cheese

1 sleeve of Club Crackers (you want a rectangular shape which holds the bacon better than a round or oval shaped cracker)

1 pound sliced bacon, cut in half

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.  Place about 1 teaspoon of the cheese on each cracker and wrap a piece of bacon around it.  Set a "cooling rack" on top of a cookie sheet, to catch juices from bacon.  Place the wrapped cracker on the rack, bacon seam side down.  Bake for 2 hours.  No need to flip crackers.  Serve hot or at room temperature. 

 

 

Elsa's 5th Birthday Party...

Years ago I remember telling the mister, in my best woe-is-me-voice, that I would never be a gramma.  He just nodded and told me I turned into a gramma when I was 30.  Whatta guy!  Although he did have a point.  I was born to be a gramma...I like nothing better than to spoiling children and send them on their way, which is  Rule #1 in the Gramma Handbook.  But I was impatient and time moved very slowly - finally, after the girl had been married for eight loooooooooong years, Max was born and I officially became a gramma!   Four years after Max arrived we won the lottery a second time and Elsa was born.  And I know you've heard this a million times but it's true, it seems like it was just yesterday when that happened.  Now our little princess is five and she needed a princess party!

Elsa was very sure of what she wanted for her birthday - a cake with Ariel on top!  So this is what I came up with.  (I ordered the Ariel, which is a resin-carved Jim Shore creation, from Amazon.)  Of course, Ariel had to have some of her ocean friends around her and she had to be in "water"...Jell-O Jigglers to the rescue!  All the kids loved the Jell-O, except Elsa, who wouldn't even touch one!  Elsa could not have been happier with her cake - she loved everything about it, and said, "I didn't think I would like the frosting but I did!"  (The week before her birthday Elsa would Facetime me every day to ask me about her Ariel Cake...she loves cake as much as her gramma!)

Elsa and her little friends were very surprised when Ariel herself showed up for the party!  So naturally, Elsa changed into her Ariel costume from Halloween!

Ariel had the kids mesmerized from the get-go!  She told them a story about living under the sea and sang to them (she had a beautiful voice!) and let them listen to the ocean with a shell and she even gave them all little plastic forks to comb their wigs hair! 

After an hour and a lot of pictures, Ariel had to leave to get back to the sea.  The kids lined up to hug her and then waved and watched as she swam away... 

Happy Birthday sweet Elsa - I hope all your dreams come true!