Back to School

That familiar school bus is making it's way down Old Prairie Creek Road that winds back to our house. If I come home from shopping 4ish, I get behind the bus. It makes half a dozen stops out our way, not too many kids live out our road. They always look like pack mules carrying backpacks, lunchboxes and jackets! Tired little disheveled bodies pour off the bus and run wildly up their driveways or roads. I was a city kid and never rode the school bus, but our daughters did and complained unmercifully about the torture they endured on the bumpy un-airconditioned buses. There was always a mean driver, or a kid that picked their nose, or just the fact that it came so darn early! I would drive them to the main road where we would wait patiently for the bus to round our curve and stop. We'd listen to the radio and talk. Great talks about friends and feelings, right and wrong, conversations that make Moms and children bond.

It's back to school today for GRANDson Gavin who's an 8th grader in middle school. Next week GRANDson Ewan starts 1st grade, both are feeling like they "know the ropes, I've done this before!" That's part of growing up and gathering up strength as you gather up knowledge! I have a little lump in my throat remembering those years when their Moms were out the door on that first day of school. I know how my daughters feel this morning and I know what's ahead for them for the next 9 months... helping with homework, packing lunches, attending school functions and along the way making memories that will last a lifetime!

Springfield Style Cashew Chicken

I was pinning away the other night on Pinterest, when I came across one of my recipes posted back in 2011 for "Springfield Style" Cashew Chicken. When I grew up in Missouri in the 1960's, there just weren't a lot of Asian restaurants. I can remember the first time I went, my future sister-in-law Terry asked if I'd like to go to lunch. I think I was 14 and other than La Choy in a can, I'd never had Chinese. The restaurant was decorated with black lacquered chairs and tables, white paper screens and lanterns, and a waitstaff that gave 5 star service... it left an impression! When our orders of Cashew chicken arrived at the table, they smelled delicious. Crispy fried chicken pieces smothered in a rich brown sauce and topped with salty cashews, alongside a snowy bowl of purest white steamed rice. From that moment I have loved Asian cuisine!

Leong's closed their doors in 2000, but lucky for you their recipe lives on in many restaurants across the state. When you think of regions of Chinese food, Sichuan, Cantonese or Hunan come to mind... but don't forget to add Springfield Style to the list!

Just click on the title to print the recipe!

"SPRINGFIELD STYLE" CASHEW CHICKEN

1/2 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast (per person)
2 eggs per pound of chicken
1/4 cup milk per egg
flour
salt and pepper
peanut oil for frying

Sauce
2 chicken bouillon cubes per cup of water
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons oyster sauce
chopped green onions
cashew halves
hot rice for serving

Heat water to boiling and dissolve bouillon cubes. Stir 1/4 cup of broth into cornstarch to make a smooth slurry. Stir cornstarch slurry into broth with sugar and oyster sauce. Set aside and let sauce thicken as chicken cooks.

Heat oil to 350-400° in deep pan or fryer. Cut chicken into small pieces, dredge and let stand in flour for 15 minutes. Mix together egg, milk, and salt & pepper. Remove chicken from flour and let stand in egg mixture for 10 minutes. Roll chicken pieces in flour and deep-fry, in batches if need be, until golden. Drain well on paper towels and keep warm in covered pan in 200° oven.

Serve chicken over hot rice, topped with sauce, cashews, and chopped green onions. Pass soy sauce at table.

Time Out

We like to sit outside under the trees after supper and relax on lazy weekends, just enjoying the sounds of summer. I allow myself to just sit there, literally thinking about nothing...content to listen to the crickets and watch the fireflies do their magical dance. I sit there totally relaxed and happy.
 

There is something about the “great outdoors” that seems to put all things in perspective. It's good to slow down our lives and breath in all that is right with the world. Sometimes it feels like the world just wants us to absorb the negative. Newspapers and TVs blast it at us.
 

After a time out, it's easier to let go of the little things, allowing them to just pass by and not getting hung up on the things that aren’t quite right. There are so many things in my life that are right. Things like the joy that our kids and grandsons bring us, good health and a marriage that has endured the test of time.
 

So fix yourself a glass of iced tea and go outside after supper tonight, just to listen to the sound of the crickets singing their "Summer Song!"