Homemade General Tso's Chicken

Hey Gang,

This post has been on my to-do list for oh, about two weeks now! So here I am on this gorgeous day in November sitting down to reminisce about our delicious General Tso's Chicken. This recipe is from America's Test Kitchen, probably the most amazing people ever!! I was a little nervous about frying chicken just because the oil can be so temperamental but all in all-super easy recipe and DELICIOUS.

Very versatile with sides too, we did brown rice with broccoli but you could do chard, peas, beans, asparagus, white rice, fried rice, noodles, quinoa-the possibilities are endless. The hoisin sauce REALLY makes the difference in this recipe.

Happy Eating!!

XO,

Grace


General Tso's Chicken
Recipe from America's Test Kitchen

Serves 4

Marinade and Sauce
1/2 cup hoisin sauce
1/4 cup white vinegar
3 T soy sauce
3 T sugar
2 T cornstarch
1 1/2 cups Water
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (cut into 1 inch pieces, about 1 1/2 pounds)
1 T Veggie Oil
2 T Grated fresh ginger
1/2 t Red Pepper flakes

Coating and Frying
3 Large egg whites
1 1/2 cups cornstarch
1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 t baking soda
4 cups Veggie Oil

1) For the marinade and sauce. Whisk the hoisin, vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, cornstarch, and water in a bowl. Combine 6 tablespoons of the hoisin mixture and the chicken in a zipper lock bag, refrigerate for 30 mins.

2) Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Cook the garlic, ginger and pepper flakes until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add 2 cups of the hoisin mixture and simmer, whisking constantly, until dark brown and thickened , about 2 mins. Cover and keep the sauce warm.

3) For coating and frying. Whisk the egg whites in a shallow dish until foamy. Combine the cornstarch, flour, baking soda, and remaining hoisin mixture in a second shallow dish until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Remove the chicken from the marinade and pat dry with paper towels. Toss half of the chicken with the egg whites until well coated, then dredge the chicken in the cornstarch mixture, pressing to adhere. Transfer the coated chicken to a plate and repeat with the remaining chicken.

4) Heat the oil in a Dutch over over medium-high heat until the oil registers 350 degrees. Fry half of the chicken until golden brown, about 3 mins, turning each pieces halfway through cooking. Transfer the chicken to a paper towel-lined plate. Return the oil to 350 degrees and repeat with the remaining chicken.

5) To serve. Warm the sauce over medium low heat until simmering, about 1 minute. Add the crisp chicken and toss to coat. Serve and ENJOY!

LOVE is a beautiful thing...

Since love grows within you, so beauty grows. For love is the beauty of the soul.

~Saint Augustine~


I found this video tonight from Elysium Productions-a fantastic videographer. This video had me in tears by the end, it is so full of elegance, beauty, love and raw emotion and I LOVE IT. We (I say we as a society and as a bride myself) often get caught up in the "wedding" part of the wedding. It is a lot of fun to plan all these details but at the end of the day, Joe and I become husband and wife and share a commitment that is everlasting and unconditional.

I see a collage of weddings like this and I feel the love, my heart beats when the girls walk down the aisle because instead of seeing their groom, I see my own. I hear my own father's voice as he gives his toast and I see my own dress hanging up in the doorway. But most of all, I love what this video represents-true, unconditional love and the joining of two individuals journeys into one. I for one, cannot wait to start ours!

Enjoy!


XO,

Grace

P.S. Right click on "Elysium Productions" to open in a new link!

Wedding Wedding Wedding on the brain

Hello faithful followers,

Tonight I abandoned reality (except for a glass of wine and Modern Family snuggle time with Joe) and delved deep into my mind to create some inspiration boards for our wedding. I have so many fun ideas and most of them probably won't come to fruition but I want to remember the process and the journey as the wedding evolves and so at 11 months away-this is what I have. Try to blur the edges and focus not on the actual details of the details but the bigger picture/theme/ideas within the pictures. I am in love with what I believe our wedding will be and I honestly cannot wait to see how the real thing plays out!

So, enjoy and know that this is the first of many because at this point inspiration is truly inspiration and I feel like like an artist with a blank canvas and a hell of a lot of paint.

This first one is more of an overall theme for the wedding, which I've coined Rustic Organic Elegance. Picture the thick woods of Northern Michigan in the early days of Fall. The sand between your toes as you munch that perfectly toasted smore, not caring that marshmallow and chocolate are smeared on your face and hands. You watch the stars begin to emerge and even spot a shooting star or two as the waves lap on the beach and the embers glow to warm the crisp air around you. A perfect Northern Michigan bonfire.



This second one is the development of our color palette. I am really not going to be too strict with this but in general, warm plum tones will blend with earthy greens and browns and sand like neutrals...maybe even some wine colored amaranthus to give another pop of color. The possibilities are truly endless! Joe wanted to make note that he will not be wearing this suit exactly and to absorb the deep purple and gorgeous calla lilies that just scream elegance.






Like I said, more to come, just a taste to get the juices flowing. Now, off to bed to dream of plum colored linens, pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting and a handsome groom to share the rest of my life with!

XO,

Grace

P.S. Click on the pictures to open in a new window and you will be able to see the whole board!!

DELICIOUS PEANUT BUTTER ENERGY BARS

I recently discovered this recipe via Kelli Curtiss (Thanks Kelli!) and Joe and I are hooked. We have been making them every week and usually have one for breakfast every morning.

I love that they are a) EASY PEASY b) versatile-you can add whatever fruit and nuts suit you c) delicious without being bad for you. They pack a punch of energy and seriously, who doesn't love peanut butter.

I highly recommend them, in fact, I'm off to buy more ingredients so we can make more today!!



Here is the assembled ingredients-like I said, SIMPLE.



Next, melt your peanut butter, oil/butter mixture or coconut oil and agave nectar over medium low heat. Really you just want to meld all of this together and make it pliable enough to mix your dry ingredients in.





Mix in all your dry ingredients until they are thoroughly coated with the butter mixture. Press into a 9 1/2 X 13 inch pan. You can line the pan with parchment for a little bit easier time but either way is fine. Cool in the fridge and Kelli and I both recommend storing in the fridge so they stay together better.



Last Step: EAT YOUR HEART OUT.

Happy Eating

XO,

Grace

Double Take

A post dedicated to my lovely little sister. A reminder to her that she is all of the following:

Stunning

Worldly

Intriguing

Delightful




All in all-truly one of a kind. On that note, she does have a striking resemblance to someone else in this world. While I haven't met this other woman, I'd dare to say that my sister probably has the one-up. Just saying.



And if Joe and I were getting married back in Aix, this would be your MOH dress without a doubt.



An ode to you Claire, for all that you are, and all that you'll be in this lifetime and the next. My Maid of Honor, my best friend and forever my little Claire Bear. Dream big Bear for the world is truly your oyster.

Love,

Big Sis

XO

And the Leaves begin to turn....

Whew, it has been awhile. I'm not quite sure how time can go so fast when you think you don't have that much going on. We've been to Bozeman and back for Brandon and Laura's fabulous wedding and drove the Rabbit back to Michigan so we have two cars once again.

I've come to the realization that I didn't think much beyond our "summer in Northern Michigan" which has now turned into our Fall and part of Winter in Northern Michigan. I guess I thought it would be easy to just pick up and move back. Now that I am officially on the real job hunt, it is a lot harder than I expected. We have jobs that pay the bills right now but don't do much more than that. So to move back to SLC just to move back seems silly and expensive. So far now, we are enjoying the color changes and the cool nights as Fall hits Northern Michigan. Fall happens to be my favorite season anyways so I am happy to be here. Wedding planning is going really well, I am really going to try to post more wedding posts in the near future to keep people updated, as if people care-LOL but I will do it anyways. I'll try to post more food stuff too now that we actually have time to cook!

As far as the wedding goes, secretly I want it to be right now! I am so ready already and it is still 11 months away, that seems like an eternity. I will say that I have been stressed but unfortunately mostly about how everyone else is going to react to our choices and decisions, which I know shouldn't be a priority but I am a caring individual sometimes to my downfall.

This is what we have done so far and the list grows every week!

My dress
Bridesmaids dresses
Flower girl outfits
Ceremony/Reception Site
Photographer-Melisa McKolay-check out her website she is SO Fricken COOL!
Band-Jelly Roll Blues Band
Florist
General idea of centerpieces
Fun ideas that I can't give away cause it would ruin the wedding weekend!! :)

We are still mulling over a couple of caterers but hopefully will get this down in the next week or so. It really has all begun. I can't believe we are actually planning OUR wedding-I mean seriously, haven't I been thinking about this for like the last five years and now I really get to do it!!!!!!!! I am really going to try to enjoy every minute because I don't plan on every doing it again so it is a once in a lifetime experience.

Now, I'm off to go shower, spray some rocks for a wedding project and sit through some really important football game involving the Packers- pretty much I will be on Style Me Pretty instead-HA!

Until next time,

Grace Elizabeth

Which way is the wind blowing...

It is the last week of July 2010. The job search has begun and boy do I feel lost. Torn between health and food, Salt Lake City or beyond and really afraid to take this next step. I want too, I want back our routine and a home and our own things but at the same time, I want to already be established. I get butterflies just thinking about starting a new job. I feel lost, conflicted and pretty damn unproductive right now.

I have been consumed with planning the wedding when really I should be planning my life. I guess I am struggling with what my strengths are, whether I need more schooling, where I want to live, whether I want to start my own business now or wait a couple of years. Overall lots of emotion and conflict and no resolution.

How can I come off of six weeks of adventure and feel so down about life? I guess life isn't supposed to be easy but is it supposed to be this difficult to decide what you want to do with your life? I know I can always change but I don't want to feel like I am wasting my life away. I'd like to be cooking more as I feel that would lift my spirits but we really don't have the money to be cooking right now. The sense of urgency is helpful in some ways and hurtful in others because I feel like I have to find something NOW! I haven't even turned in my resume to one employer-what a schmuck I am.

Will it ever get better? I don't want this to be a pity post, I need some intervention or some light at the end of the tunnel. Right now all I see is gray.