No More Monkeys!

I heard music coming from my closed bedroom door this morning. I opened it and this is what I found:

Two little monkeys jumping on my bed. Thankfully, none fell off and broke their heads. (Mama had enough of doctor's visits the day before!)

Superhero had brought the cd player into my room and he and Queenie were in there jumping, flipping and dancing up a storm to kiddie tunes.

Have a great weekend!

We have a winner!

Three cheers for allrecipes.com! That is my favoritest website ever! I found a recipe there recently called Perfect Sesame Chicken, posted by Doreen P. Thankyou, Doreen, wherever you are! I made the dish tonight and it was a big hit.

These are the ingredients:

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

I fudged on some of the ingredients, because I didn't have them. But it was still good. Here's a picture of my sesame oil and my chili paste together. That's soy sauce in the background (I think he was feeling a little camera shy.)

Make a thickish sort of batter with the first 9 ingredients. Then add the chicken. Fry it in the oil until it is brown and begins to float. Then take it out and let it drain on paper towels. This is mine when I first put it in (I fried it in several batches, because I tripled the recipe):

If you're coordinated enough and the ducklings are spellbound by a Magic Schoolbus DVD, go ahead and make the sauce now. Stir the next 7 ingredients in a pot and bring them to a boil. Mix the cornstarch and cold water and stir them in until the sauce gets thicker. Set it aside until you're done with the chicken.

After you're done frying the 23 pounds (well, almost) of chicken you cut up, stir the sauce into it so that all is coated evenly. Then, go settle a fight that erupted between Magic School Bus episodes involving several hoodlums wearing boxing gloves, er.. uh...oven mitts.

I was sorely regretting not having any broccoli on hand, because it would have really gone well with this dish. I ended up cutting up and sauteeing some carrots & onion and adding them at the end with the sauce.

Man, it was soooo good! I'm not exaggerating. Two of my toughest critics gave it 2 thumbs up!

More Miscellaneous

Miscellaneous. That's pretty much how my brain operates. Hundreds of unrelated thoughts, ideas, plans, etc... swirling around in my head...

Mr. C turned 7 recently! He had a "Appy Birthday". He zoned out while decorating his cake & unknowingly ate the "H". (Do these boys look like they need all the sugar in that cake?)

Beautiful Eggs! Aren't these eggs so pretty? They remind me of spring.

We had a Fabulous Fifties Valentines Banquet at church last Saturday. I donned a poodle skirt & Daddy Duck slicked his hair back & rolled up his jeans. It was a lot of fun. I tried to tease my hair to make it bouff up in the back, but it was a lot harder than I anticipated. (Mainly because I was afraid of having to comb it all back out!)

Horrified

Horrified. That is what I felt when I came out of the bathroom yesterday and found Queenie sitting on my bed, next to Bobby the Kitten, with a pair of scissors.

I said, "Queenie, nooooooooo! You weren't cutting Bobby's hair, were you??!"

Pause.

Queenie said, "No. I trying cut Bobby's tail off from him."



Horrified.


(Note: Bobby the Very Tolerant Kitten managed to escape unharmed. Whew!)

We need more brooms.

It has been so cold here lately (although, I hear that is supposed to end tomorrow - woohoo!) that the ducklings have been cooped up inside this here circus tent. It is hard to come up with things for them to do that will help them burn off some energy and not leave major disasters to clean up as well. (Or fights to break up, etc...)

Yesterday, some of the ducklings rediscovered their roller blades. And, they are fortunate that there is no carpeting in this here circus tent. Queenie doesn't have blades of her own, but that hasn't phased her; she uses mine. Who cares that they are a woman's size 9? They've got wheels, don't they?

This afternoon, some of the ducklings shoved the couches aside and struck up a game of roller hockey. Now, this is one of the major benefits of having lots of brothers & sisters. There is always someone willing to play.

However, we only have 2 brooms, so a couple of the other ducklings opted to become cheerleaders or practice their gymnastic moves on the furniture. I think Queenie has some talent, don't you?

Bootsie's Dialogue

Bootsie had to write a dialogue for her Language (English) class the other day, using Charlie Brown and Lucy as the speakers. I thought it was pretty cute (well, except for the handwriting, that is). If you click on the picture, it will get bigger.

Eggs, Flour & Kitchen Decor

Last week, Monkey Man found this egg in the nest. The shell was soft and squishy. We've had this happen 2 or 3 times in our past 4 years of having chickens. I'm not sure what caused it, but it is kind of neat. I was afraid to eat it, though, so I let Monkey Man play with it. He threw it up in the air a couple of times & it bounced! (Later, he managed to throw it hard enough to splat.)

Have you ever spilled 20 pounds of flour on your kitchen floor? If so, you will be familiar with the following picture. Actually, most of it had already been scooped up before I remembered to get my camera. Daddy Duck took care of the rest with the handy dandy shop vac. (That is Queenie's freshly bathed & slicked down head in the foreground.)

Some people decorate their kitchen counters with lovely, stylish canisters. Others have dishes or spice racks. Me? I decorate with really cute 2 year olds. Queenie loves to sit there and "help" me cook.