I've been making this recipe for 10+ years. I found it online many years ago, a son posted his mothers recipe (called it hong kong chicken). Wait for chicken thighs to go on sale, buy a bag of onions and you are golden.
It is one of those recipes where you throw it together, put it in the oven for a few hours and then get a delicious meal. Level of Difficulty: 1/5 Costs: Low 3 pounds chicken (pref thighs) 1 ½ T oil 2 T balsamic vinegar or red wine 4 cups sliced onions 3 T dark soy sauce 1 thinly sliced red pepper 1 T sesame oil thinly sliced carrots 1T rice wine vinegar 1 ½ t salt 1 ½ T sugar or molasses 1 t ginger powder 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced Combine first column and let the chicken marinade for at least 30 minutes. Addition of some thinly sliced red pepper is very nice, as is a few tablespoons of hoisin sauce. Set aside. Saute the oil and onion until the onion is cooked and transparent. Spoon cooked onions in and around the chicken in a roasting pan. Roast at 30 minutes at 425 degrees. Turn chicken, lower heat to 350, and continue cooking for around 1-3 hours, or until the chicken is very tender and onions have started to break down. I often cover with foil for an hour or so if things get too brown. The onions will melt and form a sauce. Lessons Learned 1.Low slow cooking is delicious. Chicken thighs get super tender, fall off the bone. 2. It is good served with roasted sweet potato. 3. Don't double the red peppers, impacts the texture in a bad way.
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Another day, another project!
Our 1980's track lighting in the kitchen was falling apart, needed a refresh. We finally choose a new fixture, having very different ideas about budget and style. I found a company in Alberta that sells light fixture etc and found this one on sale. I was looking for something with warm light, where you don't look up and see the lightbulbs. Level of difficulty: 2/5 Costs: light fixture $250 connector thingy $1.59 Tools: volt checker screw drivers putty and knife First turn off the power! It took me a while to take down the old fixture, which also showed a 1980's paint job underneath and a few holes. I patched the holes but will have to paint the ceiling another day (new project!) I've installed few lights so had no issues with the electrical side of things. However.... I needed to shorten the light arm, as it hung too fair down from the ceiling. There were different arm lengths but all too long I found a piece at a hardware store that let me join the light to the ceiling bracket- score! My sister Amy helped me out - there is a part with installing (connecting the wires) where it helps if someone is holding up the fixture. Thanks Amy! Lessons Learned 1. Measure all directions. If i hadn't of found that connector piece, the light would not have been functional. 2. One project can lead to other projects. That is fine by me, but now i have to paint, install a dimmer switch, etc. 3. We love the light but may move it to the dining room. Not sure. Going to try it out for a few weeks. So not a total success, but so it goes. The previous house owners left behind two bar stool in the kitchen, which nicely matched the 1980's decor. Over time, my stool became very unstable, wobbly. I had trouble convincing Abe that this was an issue (Abe: "It's fine"), so I switched our stools (Abe: "Hey, this is wobbly")- and then got support to move ahead with new ones. Yippee!
New stools are, like most things, so damn expensive. I decided to hunt on kijiji for replacements, spent months looking. Finally I found two white stools for $20 - Score! The white fabric was a bit old and scratched - perfect for a project! Luckily the weekend we went looking for fabric, the whole store was 40% off. Project stars are aligned. I pulled in my sister Amy to assist, as we were discussing sewing slip covers. My take on slip covers:Too slow! Grab the T50s and get to work! We started with stapling down the fabric to where the seat meets the back and went from there. Lots of discussion on technique #sisterdebate: Amy's desire to save fabric scraps for a runner clashed with my desire to plough on through. Level of difficulty: 3/5 (Curvy chair back was a pain) Costs: 2 stools ($20) 3 yards fish material ($50) - I love the fabric! T50 and J20 staples ($4) Tools: heavy duty stapler allen key (to remove seat from the chair base) scissors broadway playlist (this was for Amy, keep her cheerful while we work) Time: 2 hours per stool Wobbly no more, with a splash of fish! Lessons Learned 1. Don't need to sew to cover, though might have been more polish-looking. 2. It is very hard to staple into a metal frame..(duh). Thought it was all wood, was wrong and it made things a bit difficult. 3. Get the longest staples you can find, as it can be challenging to attached through the stuffing. 4. The project would have been easier if the back didn't have the curve to it. We figured it out, but the job would be cleaner and quicker if the chair design was simpler. It is much easier to cover ottomans, etc. |
Author: Leah BartlettLover of projects, big and small! I try to not be intimidated by lack of experience/skill/know-how. Archives
September 2018
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