Green Beans and Chicken Stir Fry

I never can find enough new and interesting ways to use green beans or blueberries.  This stir fry is a little different and really enjoyed by everyone I have made it for.  I always think of old friends,  or meals  shared, and gatherings when I make a dish and friends and family I may not have seen for a while.  My old boss and friend Natalie comes to mind when I make this one as she LOVED it!  So, where ever you are and whatever you are doing Nat, I am thinking of you today.

Ingredients:

1 pound chicken breast or thighs sliced for stir fry (skin and bones removed)
1 pound fresh green beans washed, stemmed and broken
1 large sweet onion cut to your preference
3 T. cornstarch
3 T. soy sauce
1 t. garlic powder
1/2  t. black pepper
1 C. cool water
1 T. bead molasses (optional, for color)
2-3 T. vegetable oil or chili oil

4 C. prepared rice

Start the rice according to package directions.  Draw the water and add to a medium bowl.  Add the soy sauce and stir.  Add the cornstarch, spices, and bead molasses and mix well, then sit aside. Meanwhile heat wok or large flat bottomed pan and add oil.

Stir fry the chicken until no longer pink then add the green beans and onions and continue to cook.  When the vegetables are tender crisp I turn off the heat until the rice is done.  When the rice is ready turn the heat back up and quickly heat through.  Add the reserved sauce and bring to a boil stirring until thickened and clinging to the vegetables.  Spoon over hot rice and serve.  Yield 3-4 servings.  Pass additional Soy Sauce at the table.  This is also good over Chow Mein Noodles or any noodle your family enjoys.

Helpful Hint:  I almost always break, blanch, shock, and drain my green beans right away when I get them then store them in a plastic bag in the refrigerator until I am ready to use them.  It makes the actual cooking go even quicker. 

Hawaiian Bread in the Bread Machine

This loaf is sweet and fragrant and has a lovely "chew" and texture.

I came across this recipe while perusing Suburbhomestead's Blog.  I was inspired to give it a whirl and made it my own!

Ingredients for Hawaiian Bread made in the Bread Machine and Baked in my oven:

1 C. Scalded 2 % or whole milk
1 large egg (from local farmer if possible)
2 T. butter
1/2 C. vanilla sugar ( just add a tiny drop of vanilla if you do not have this made up)
3/4 t. kosher salt
3 C. King Arthur Organic All Purpose Flour or Bread Flour
4 t. Laura Brody's bread dough enhancer or powdered gluten
1 scant T. instant yeast

Add the ingredients as your bread machine maker suggests and set the machine on the dough cycle.

Upon completion of the cycle remove and shape to a loaf of your choosing. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F for at least 10 minutes.  I use a baking stone for round loaves so I put it into the oven when I set it to preheat.  When the loaf has been shaped I set it upon parchment paper spread across a  peel or cookie sheet.  Sprinkle the paper with a bit of corn meal or flour place the loaf then cover it for the rise of 45 minutes or until doubled in bulk.

After the dough has risen I slide the parchment from the peel onto the hot stone and bake for 35-40 minutes until done. (I like a deep dark crust.)  After removing from the oven brush the top with additional soft butter if desired.

Do not be afraid to open your bread machine and touch the dough.  Because of the variance in humidity and flour you may need to add as much as 1/2 cup additional flour.  The dough should not be sticky but soft like a baby's bottom.

Note:  This smells like heaven baking.  The lingering smell of the yeast and hint of the sweet vanilla, aha.

Tending the Garden Today or Playing in the Dirt with Doris

My morning routine for the past few weeks has been to get outside for chores early in the day before the sun beats down and the temperature shoots up!  Several times in recent days I have enjoyed the pleasure of my next door neighbor, Doris' company.  She and I are in the neighborhood of close to the same age and had struck up a friendship and bond over the course of our years as neighbors.

Calamities have risen on both sides of the fence and we have helped and comforted each other through it all.  Aren't good neighbors such a blessing!

Well anyway, she gets to tending her stuff and I mine and we visit and chat and enjoy each others tales of recent family goings on.....just like a sitcom of yesteryear.  We wave at the young Mothers as they load up their children and hurry off,  as memories of our days of being young Mothers flash through our minds.

A couple of days ago we blabbed and pulled weeds and blabbed some more.  It's a girl thing you know.  This morning we marveled at a tiny little cucumber nestled just above it's lovely yellow blossom!  We awed at two tennis ball sized green tomatoes.  Then we watched in horror as the beetles held an orgy on the pole beams,  literally!  An orgy!  We admired the shinning green heads of cabbage as big as grapefruits!

So I will share these lovely moments and a few garden shots with all of you today and encourage you to meet and greet and get to know your neighbors.  My most wonderful best friend of the last 30 years started as my neighbor across the street and we met chasing a dog.  So good neighbors are a great thing.  I wouldn't want to let  "neighboring"   become another lost tradition in these days of cyber living.