ASIAN CASHEW CHICKEN, AND THE ROAD TO HERE........

Our journey to The Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York has been a long and interesting one, to be sure! B.A., Little Miss Thing and I have moved around this country quite a bit in the last 20 years (due to B.A.'s amazing career), and we feel so blessed! The places we've seen, and the people we've met! In fact, whenever our daughter felt a little blue about changing schools, yet again, we always reminded her that in the end, all of this relocating will make her into such an INTERESTING person,  into someone who is not afraid of change or meeting new people! To be honest, sometimes our little speeches worked on our grumpy teenager, and sometimes they didn't. But we tried--always looking on the bright side, we Willards!

Just like Little Miss Thing, I moved around quite a bit as a child also, but all within the state lines of California. My father was a banker (who didn't retire until his 70's!), and I was born in Orange, California, which is a hop, skip and a jump from The Happiest Place on Earth, Dizzyland!................(just so you know, most of these travel photos in this post are from Google Images).......

When I was a little bitty baby, my folks decided to move to Central California, to the utterly breathtakingly gorgeous Monterey Peninsula. Truthfully, when I think of "home", I think of that area....it's where I spent my formative years. Our first home was in the quaint seaside village of Pacific Grove................

We also lived in nearby Carmel by the Sea for short periods of time....just about the cutest artists village you'll ever wanna see.......this is the bank my dad managed at the time....I think it's now an antiques store.............

The darling mom and pop shops on Ocean Avenue, reminiscent of an old English village................

But for most of my childhood, we lived in a beautiful home on Pebble Beach's Seventeen Mile drive.....I know, I know, I had a rough upbringing!...........

We spent my high school years a little further south, in Santa Barbara....truly a Southern California paradise by the sea!. Love those tiled roofs..................

After high school, I was off to college at California State University, Chico (just north of Sacramento, in the central valley agricultural region)--voted #1 Party school in the nation by Playboy magazine when I was there. I can still chug beer and play Quarters with the best of 'em...............

This was my dorm......where I met Mr. Badass! I truly did get my "MRS" degree, marrying him the year after we graduated.....

Back to the Monterey Peninsula we went to get married and set up our young newlywed lives in Monterey, home of John Steinbeck's Cannery Row , an amazing Fisherman's Wharf and the famed Monterey Bay Acquarium......

It was in my homeland, the Monterey Peninsula, that we had our beloved daughter, Little Miss Thing. After a few years of banging our heads against a wall and finally realizing that we could never, ever afford even a tiny shack in the area we loved and I grew up in (sob!), we tearfully decided to relocate to the area my parents had recently retired to, the Motherlode region of Central California. We bought our first home there in a darling town named Twain Harte (after Mark Twain and Brett Harte, the famous authors), and enjoyed everything that living in the central Sierra Mountains had to offer....lakes, skiing and fresh, clean mountain air (we lived at 4,000 feet elevation!)......

Six or seven years later, it was time to pack up again, as B.A. was offered a position at the famed Omaha Country Club in Nebraska, an offer he just couldn't refuse! We loved living in Omaha...what a vibrant and friendly city.................

Most people don't know this, but Omaha is home to one of the country's most amazing zoos, the Henry Doorly Zoo. I used to spend daysss there......

(you can see more of gorgeous Omaha by visiting one of my older posts, "My Old Home-Aha, Omaha")

Three years later, B. A. accepted his current position as General Manager of The Adirondack League Club here in Old Forge, New York, a position he has held for over 7 years now.....

 He truly considers this the "job of a lifetime" ; really, it was tailor made, just for him! 53,000 acres of pristine wilderness! No-motor lakes! Lodges! Hiking! Hunting! Cross country skiing! Awesome members...who could ask for anything more.

We built our home in nearby Thendara in 2004, and our daughter was able to stay at ONE school for the remainder of her junior and high school years....................here's a photo of the Old Forge Pond, where the kids swim each and every summer. Again, PARADISE! I'd certainly say we've been one lucky family, wouldn't you?

Here's the one and only school in our town, grades K-12.....

 

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Who knows where the future will take us next? Well, for now we're just enjoying life here in the Adirondacks, one dinner at a time! Hey, what's for dinner at your house tonite? If you'd like to try something a little different but super delicious, you should whip up a batch of my Asian Cashew Chicken.....I've prepared this recipe probably once a month for YEARS now, and it always comes together perfectly. AND, it makes for the best leftovers, ever! Please don't be intimidated by these ingredients--they are available at just about every market on the planet.

To begin, you need to assemble your marinade with these ingredients..........

Combine sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, chicken broth, apple juice and garlic powder. Cut chicken breasts into bite sized cubes, then add to marinade and toss..........

Cover and refrigerate chicken for 2 hours or more. Remove chicken from marinade (reserve marinade!), and brown in oil over medium heat...............

Remove browned chicken ; in same skillet, stir fry broccoli and carrots.........

Next, combine these ingredients in a small bowl, plus the reserved marinade.........

Don't make the mistake that I did and use a stir fry sauce instead of Hoisin sauce! The outcome was NOT the desired one--Hoisin is a jelly like consistency that adds the most wonderful color and flavor, ever, and refrigerates well for a long time......

Add Hoisin mixture to vegetables....cook and stir until slightly thickened and bubbly. Stir in cashews, chicken and sliced water chestnuts............

We like to eat ours over brown rice, but this would also be perfect over some nice thick Asian rice noodles.......Enjoy!......

Here's the recipe......

ASIAN CASHEW CHICKEN

Serves 4-6

1 tblsp. sesame oil

1 / 4 cup rice wine vinegar

3 tblsp. chicken broth

2 tblsp. apple juice

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 and 1 / 2 lb. chicken breasts, cut into bite sized cubes

3 tblsp. vegetable oil (I used peanut)

3 cups frozen broccoli florets, thawed

1 cup thinly sliced carrots

2 tsp. cornstarch

1 / 8 cup soy sauce

1 / 3 cup Hoisin sauce (found in the Asian Foods section)

1 tblsp. ground ginger

1 cup salted cashews

1 can sliced water chestnuts

Hot cooked rice or noodles

In a large bowl, combine first five ingredients ; add chicken and toss. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours. Remove chicken from marinade and reserve marinade. Heat oil in large skillet. When hot, add chicken and cook for 3 minutes or until no longer pink. Use slotted spoon ; remove chicken and set aside. In the same skillet, stir-fry broccoli and carrots until crisp tender, about 2-3 minutes. Combine soy, cornstarch, Hoisin, ginger and reserved marinade ; stir into vegetables. Cook and stir until slightly thickened and bubbly. Stir in cashews, chicken and water chestnuts ; heat through. Serve over hot cooked rice or noodles.

TODAY I'M SO THANKFUL FOR.....

***Good insurance that extends all the way to California! Little Miss Thing has a few back problems and is finding huge relief from a Berkeley back cracker.

***My continued relatively good health! I feel good more days than not lately--first time in over 6 years!

***The fantastic and soul-soothing conversation I had with BFF Lisa yesterday--that girl GETS me!