grandmas chinese chicken wings

i am a chicken wing lover...well i like the legs. my husband prefers the legs as well but he makes sacrifices to ensure i get the most if not all of the legs i want. 

(i really try hard not to eat the other half...tid bit of truth...he loves me! no really you understand when it comes to men and their food...he really loves me!)

since we are fans of wings i was excited when my friends jen and george were having us over to try this new recipe with them.

it was amazing! it was almost like the non-leg parts didn't matter and i could have licked the bowl(i think we did actually).  the wings had a bite but were perfect and you can easily tailor this recipe to your liking.

more sweet...more hott...you decide!!

ingredients

16 whole chicken wings, flap segments removed and saved for stock

1/3 cup sake
1/3 cup soy sauce

4 tablespoons brown sugar (If you like it sweeter, add more. you can check the flavor of the sauce at any time and I encourage you to)

2 -3 tablespoons mirin

3 tablespoons fish sauce (originally oyster sauce-can but you can try with hoisin sauce)

4 large thin slices fresh ginger

1 -2 cloves star anise

1 dried hot chili pepper

1 cinnamon stick

shaved green onion, for garnish (julienne cut)

sesame seeds, for garnish

directions

1.place a 14-inch nonstick saute pan over high heat. add the chicken and dry-sear to lightly brown the chicken.

2 add the sake, soy sauce, 1/3 cup water, brown sugar, mirin, hoisin sauce, ginger, star anise, dried chile and cinnamon stick and bring to a simmer.

3 cook, covered, about 12 minutes.

4 uncover and simmer until the pan is almost dry, tossing frequently to coat the wings, 10 to 12 minutes.

5 skim off the fat if you like(recipe did not recommended), and serve, garnishing with scallion shavings and sesame seeds. 

we are having twins

i saw this picture and immediately thought of sharing it with all of you. i have known maria for quite some time now and her personality is just as gorgeous as she is. i am so excited for her and her husband.

what a perfect way to announce that they are having twins!!!

congratulations ryan and maria...

honey garlic pork loin steaks or chops

this recipe has only 4 ingredients which we had on hand...love those kind! this got two thumbs up from my husband and our son wouldn't stop eating it. i'm actually making the sauce again but with chicken this time.

ingredients
1/4 cup of honey
3 tablespoons of soy sauce
6 cloves of garlic minced or pressed
6 pork loin chops, boneless and fat trimmed off about 4 oz. each 

directions
1. in a shallow dish, whisk together honey, soy sauce and garlic. coat chops in mixture. and reserve leftover sauce for basting.

2. place chops on greased grill over medium heat. baste 2 to 3 times on each side. flipping 4 times until done

pink glitter fabulousness

i had to share these little gems...too cute to keep a secret. for those of you that know me i love all things pink and glittery so when i saw these on my director and friends feet i had to have them. definitely a break from my norm of wearing all things high and stilettoey but these are perfect to wear with jeans. these also would make great wedding day shoes for those that want comfort without sacrificing the girlie style.

these are by gotta flurt...i had never heard of the brand until these shoes. these gotta flurt disco shoes are definitely at the top of my list of favorite shoes i own,

the forgotten restaurant

i finally took the time to google and research the name of one of my favorite restaurants that i have ever been to...yes i did forget only because it was somewhat chaotic that evening. and it only took me 7 years to research. i have been to chicago many times since and couldn't ever figure out where i was to be able explain it to anyone...then people would mention names of restaurants and none would ring a bell.

yes here is the story...then i will get into all of the juicy details of this amazing place. i actually worked for a pharmaceutical company and we had our national meeting and product training in chicago that year. thousands of reps attended making it very congested. with restaurants in the general vicinity of the conference center  and hotels packed a member of my team called her parents who were very frequent visitors of the windy city. we hailed a few cabs and we were off to 60 east grand ave. (well i know that now) as my team mate called to make reservations we were on our way. the night was dark rainy and cold we were very hungry and almost opted for room service but this was really the only night we could all get together as we were all going in different directions throughout our stay.

my first impression when walking in was i loved the look, atmosphere and energy but there was no room to walk...it was packed (which that is a very good sign when you have never been). people were waiting for tables, mingling at the bar laughing at the high top tables, voices were all you could hear...and you had to talk loud to the person across from you. the picture below is the "waiting" area with the bar and high top seating.

so i think it must have taken close to 1.5 hours to actually get seated since our reservation was made in route. we enjoyed conversation as well as laughs so the time went fast. we headed through the curtain entry way pictured above which they keep the curtains down during the peak hours and i was surprised at how quaint and formal it was. we were seated at a large round table for 8-12 (maybe).

we all placed our orders. a few of us ordered the crab...i am such a seafood girl so i was one of them (pretty sure it was the king crab legs). we were all pretty excited to see what the crab was all about because we were told that's what they were known for...that and their amazing steaks (filet).

our dinners came and a guy like the one pictured below showed up. he cut our crab legs for us. so it was a matter of peeling back to two pieces and pulling our the meat. wowza these were huge and of course everyone that didn't order them were wanting them now.

this is similar to what they looked like. mine actually came with 2 large claws and probably 6 meaty legs. these are served chilled with butter and lemon. and are beyond amazing. as many different times as i've had crab from various cities these were the largest and sweetest ever.and actually they were so large they actually filled me up quick and i shared the rest with the others. the next few pics are some of their entrees. I love the presentation...simple and yummy...not too crazy!

scallops

turtle pie

meeting and banquet room

so the next time you are in chicago visit joe's seafood prime steak and stone crab they have an amazing restaurant, a top notch wait staff and the most important thing...their food is killer! the next time i go (now that i found it again) i will be going with my husband...but its a surprise....shhhhhh ((wink))

or

you can visit their one other location in las vegas 

or

in january 2014 a location in DC

pink and green plaid cookies with hearts

created by: lish dish from the pantry in rak 

handmade wreaths from ohio

thought these hand made wreaths were super cute. jessica has done some specialized wreaths for my thirty-one sisters and her talents were too cute to keep it a secret. i love her company name...door decor by jessica.

here is a little about her...
jessica lewis is an ohio girl and her business is based out of the columbus area (let's go bucks).. she is a wreath designer who specializes in custom orders. relatively new to the whole wreath making scene, jessica surprises herself daily with her inventiveness. she applies her skills of thinking outside the box to come up with new and creative designs. from custom sports wreaths for your little athlete to classy wedding wreaths for that special day, jessica will work with you to come up with the design you are hoping for.
her work is available to view and purchase at local craft shows in the columbus ohio area as well as her facebook page.