Dandy! No Lyin', Just Daughter!

 I had the misfortune of being fooled by my substitute program last night.  I saw a job come up and took it.  It gave the date, but I did not, this once, look.  I simply grabbed the job and was happy I could stop looking for the night.  This morning another school district called, desperate for a sub, but I turned them down knowing I had a job...long story short, I apparently took a job for YESTERDAY.  So, I showed up for work and saw a blank expression on the secretary's face.  Never a good sign.  Turns out there was a bit of a snafu yesterday, some sub took the job, but didn't show up, and they must have cancelled it because it came up in my screen...Despite my calling my other two districts to see if they needed a sub, well, they didn't.  I would very much like to get my hands on that other sub...

On the bright side, I got to spend the day with my lovely daughter.  It was probably for the better, since she was not feeling 100% good.  So we had some good father/daughter time.  I decided to take her to the post office to get the mail.  Well, there was no mail, so rather than making a 180 degree turn, I decided to walk us to the park.

I am glad I did, since I got the chance to really introduce her to dandy lions.  You remember as a kid blowing on the seed head of a dandy lion.  Well, I figure this is a time honored tradition that needs to be handed down, neighbors' yards be damned!

 She decided they were much better on her cheek, and instead of blowing as she does very well with her bubbles now, she rubbed them on her cheek.  Then she offered me some.

 If you try to tell me she's not the cutest thing in the world...well, I'll just ignore you as a crazy person.

It was a good day.  I did a lot of laundry and dishes and even mowed the lawn while she was napping.  I also made some calls and relaxed a bit.

For dinner, I decided to try to approximated the wonderful Kung Pao Chicken we had in Beijing.  We haven't had anything similar since.  Well, after some discussion with Cora involving the suspected ingredients and some research on-line, I arrived at something that seemed likely to me to approximate that wonderful preparation we had four months ago...can you BELIEVE it's been four months?????  Jeez!  Parents for four months!!  WOW!!

Oh, yeah, food...where was I?  Would you like the recipe that I used?  Because it turned out good...not QUITE Beijing style, but mighty good!

OK, here it is:

2 chicken breasts(cut into small uneven pieces)
about 1/4 cup soy sauce (I'd reduce this next time)
about 1/4 cup honey(maybe a touch more)
1 teaspoon of peanut butter
about 2 tablespoons white wine
about 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
a dash of cayenne
a larger dash of red chili powder
about 1/4 cup sesame oil
some olive oil (what i cooked the chicken in)
one bunch of green onions chopped into 1/2 inch long pieces
1/2 cup of peanuts (unsalted, natural as can be)
1 teaspoon ginger finely chopped
1 tablespoon of garlic freshly minced
red chili peppers (you know the small dried ones) about a hand full.
and 1 teaspoon of cornstarch.

I made the soy sauce, honey, wine, vinegar, cayenne, peanut butter, sesame oil and cornstarch into a sauce. and cooked the chicken in olive oil, then added the chili peppers, garlic and ginger.  Once the chicken began cooking I threw in the peanuts and then waited, finally I added the sauce and the green onions...wait to add the green onions, you don't want them to be overcooked.

I added a bit more honey at the end to make it as sticky as the Beijing type, but missed horribly.  Still, it was entirely edible!  Give it a shot.  And if you do, let me know what you thought!