Honey bee

Bees

Fudge Frosting

Fudge Frosting
6 Tb. butter
6 Tb. milk
1 1/2 C. sugar
1 C. chocolate chips

In a sauce pan, boil the milk, butter, and sugar. Stir to make sure it does not scald, and the sugar fully dissolves. Remove from heat. Add the chocolate chips (and a tsp. vanilla if you have it). Stir to fully incorporate. Pour over brownies. Decorate with candies or nuts, then place in fridge to harden. It sets up exactly like Christmas fudge.

Oxeye Sunflower

Basket of Fire

Basket of Fire is a compact branching chili that has a very attractive habit producing a heavy crop of 2-3inch creamy colored peppers that matures through yellow and orange to bright red all over the plant. The fruits are quite pungent, measuring 80,000 scoville heat units which is a little less than a habanero type. I got a pre-made window basket containing these peppers, Mexican cilantro, basil, and thyme.

Popcorn chicken

Perfect tempura batter
1/2 C. flour
1/2 C. corn starch
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
assorted seasoning (I like a pinch of pepper and cayanne pepper)
up to 1 C. ice cold water, you have to eyeball it.

Mix batter. Dip bite size chicken pieces in it. Deep fry your dipped chicken pieces over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Sometimes they get soggy if you let them sit around too long, but deep frying for an additional minute takes care of that.

Cucumber

Fried Rice

This spicy fried rice with side of mangoes was made with leftover chicken tenders and sweet ginger chili sauce.

Baked Chicken Tenders
Small strips of chicken
1/4 C. flour
salt, pepper, paprika
1 egg beaten with 1 Tb. water
panko bread crumbs

Make seasoned flour. Dip chicken in flour, then in egg, then in panko. Bake tenders at 425* for 20 minutes until they are crispy. They get a little soggy if leftovers are refrigerated, but perk right back up if you fry them in a pan.

Basic Chicken Tender Fired Rice
chicken tenders, cut into bite size pieces
1 green onion, diced
2 rings of sweet white onion, diced
1 medium sized carrot, diced
1 Tb. butter
small amount of cooking oil
1 C. cooked rice (preferably cold and leftover)
1 egg
soy sauce

Saute onions and carrots in butter until tender. Remove from pan. (A large dinner plate is my go to.) Reheat chicken tenders in pan and then remove them from pan (this time I added the chili garlic sauce. Wash the pan. While it is reheating, add the small amount of cooking oil. I like to use sesame oil and rub in in with a paper towel. There is not a pool of oil in the pan when I am done. So I suppose a cooking spray would work too. When the pan gets hot, crack the egg in there and stir it with a wooden spoon so it gets a little scrambled. Add onions, carrots, and cold rice. Fry ingredients together. When it gets a little crispy you can add the soy sauce. If you add it too soon it just absorbs and turns into hot mush. Plate your fried rice and top with crispy hot chicken pieces.

Baked Avocado

This super easy recipe is quick and tasty and low in carbs. The downside is that the avocados are only good while they are still warm, and then go bad quickly. They would be good served in a taco. We ate ours as a tempura appetizer.

Baked Avocado
Start with very very firm avocados. Peel the skin off and remove the seed. Slice avocado into 12 pieces(In half, in half, in thirds). Coat each slice in a olive oil (easiest using a bowl with a little oil in it) and then dunk into a bowl of panko crumbs. If you wanted to salt them, this would be the time.  The crumbs don't really stick, but don't worry about it. Bake at 375* for 12 minutes. Serve immediately. They turn brown tasting as soon as they get cold.