A tasty alternative to American cuisine

Yes folks, I've branched out beyond easy Italian and Mexican! I've pushed aside spaghetti and meatballs, lasagna, and ziti! Overcome tacos, burritos, and enchiladas! (still working on the overuse of exclamation points)!!!

That's right...

I've made...

Dun DUN DUUUUUN!

Chinese.

The kiddos and I like the honey chicken at our local Chinese restaurant, but in the interests of not breaking the bank to go there often, we decided to experiment at home. My parents even joined the ranks of guinea pigs. I found a rather scrumptious-looking recipe online, bought the necessary vittles during our bi-weekly grocery run (surprisingly, most was or could be substituted with common foods and food stuffs), and waited for the day.

Sunday was the day.

Why Sunday? Well, Tim isn't as adventurous as we are, and he's not a fan of honey. I know, I know, blaspheme, but I love him anyway.

So, the batter was pretty easy to make, and while it sat for the required 30 minutes, we started the rice, heated the oil, and cut the chicken. I ended up deep frying the batter-dipped-chicken-pieces for a little longer than the suggested 2 minutes because I liked a deeper tan on my chicken pieces. While the pieces dried on paper towels, I made the sauce, also very easy, and once it was done, we tossed the pieces in it and sat down to eat.

For a first pass it wasn't bad. The author of the recipe was right, it wasn't nearly as sweet as the restaurant munchies we're used to, but it did have a nice garlic flavor to it. I did discover that ground ginger and minced ginger have different flavors, though I don't know enough about either do make that determination. I will add a little more honey to the sauce next time to even out the garlic.

Dad, Audie, and Chloie went back for seconds (thank goodness I doubled the recipe), and when Tim got home he ate the left-overs. Here's the best part... he even liked it, so I think this recipe is a keeper.

Oh, and did I mention we had home-made peach cobbler? With vanilla ice cream? And Oreo cookies on the side? Mmmm, tasty!