Been busy around these parts. So tonight will be quick and dirty, just how I like my {insert something witty but not sexual, that makes it funny}.

Played soccer last night where I drilled home the game winning goal in a 2-0 win. Also got to lay a body check early on an opposing player to send the message if he wanted to play me physical, I could do the same. The look on that larger individuals face was priceless as he staggered away.

The best part about having a 5 year old who can read? Having her read me a story before bed. Even though I read another story anyway, because I’m not willing to give that up if their willing to listen.

Also, from now on, if anybody messes with me you will deal with my enforcer. His name is Zebulon.You’ve been warned.

So? What do you think? Thanks to the wonderful talents of Sam at Temptation Designs, I have a wonderful new looking home. About time I say, and I also love what she’s done with the place. The helmet up there? That’s actually my mask. The colors prevent you from seeing all the marks on the helmet that prevented a few serious head injuries. Worth every penny and probably a few more to get the best materials you can just in case.

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This weekend found my girls and I at a book fair. It was held at the University just up the road and was pretty neat. The most significant message there though was getting excited to read. This was aimed at children mostly and they did a fine job doing just that.

The first part of the girl’s experience was a local non-profit group that uses high school kids to promote reading to children. To do this, the older kids read books to the kids gathered around and accompany stories with small puppet shows as well as physical activities like dancing and such. The motto of the troop was “I’ll read to you, and you read to me” and after the performances they did just that. My girls kept the volunteer students as long as they could. My girls had 2 or 3 books read to them and after they read a book to the high school girl they trapped on the carpet.

They loved it so much that shortly after we got home from the fair, they did their own show, although much less animation from the stuffy audience.

Before that though the book fair delivered something I would have loved as a child myself. They brought in some Star Wars characters for interactions, autographs, and reading. My girls and the rest of the 20 or so kids gathered at the time went nuts for them.

I’m kind of in shock about the new surge of Star Wars popularity from a new generation. It was 30 years ago this year that Mr. Lucas bestowed the best movie of the bunch, in my opinion, with the Empire Strikes Back. I was a little young to remember going to see this installment of the saga, but not much longer after that I was completely engulfed in the frenzy. Pretty sure my mother still has my Empire bedsheets in a closet in her house.

So yesterday I stood in awe at all the little kids, my own included, so very excited to see and meet all their fictional heroes. Part of me wanted to join in the excitement, but the adult part won out and I quietly observed with great admiration. I made sure my girls met each one and got each one to sign an autograph in my their new Lego Star Wars book.

The characters did a great job with the kids. They engaged each one in conversation as their turn in the make shift line came about. No one was denied a picture or an autograph when requested, and each one remained in character throughout. They sat down with all the kids and read the Star Wars books the kids gave them to do so. My girls sat right in the front as they always like to do when there is a form of story telling about to take place. The best moment was during one of Princess Leia’s read of a picture book, she asked who Han Solo was. A boy sitting in the third or fourth row shouted out “that dude you made out with” and I cracked up.

My kid’s interest in the movies and Star Wars universe are totally their own. I may have exposed them to the movies and told them they were a favorite when I was a kid, but they took it from there. I’m sure at first there was a desire just to please or connect with their daddy, but now it is something we all genuinely enjoy together.

If I could stop the growth process right now with them, that would be great. My kids love to watch Mets baseball, Islanders (and Penguins) hockey, and Star Wars with their old man. When we go to Disney World they feel the same magic in their heart as I do in mine. Although for me, it is on a level of appreciation and warmth they have no concept of understanding. Nor do the words exist in any language to explain it. They have their own tastes and interests, but when they line up in moments like this, there is no greater moment as a parent.

It just doesn’t get any better than that.

Welcome to my post number 250. Exciting huh? I know. No, not really.

So did you know I could cook? I don’t like to brag, but I think I’m pretty good at it. I’m no superstar, nor am I chef quality as mentioned in the title, but I hold my own. I have patience, don’t get frustrated easily, and I’m good at improvisation when required. I can tackle almost any recipe and I actually have fun when I do it. Today I made breakfast and dinner.

Breakfast was banana pancakes. It’s too easy. Make pancakes and slice some bananas first. After you pour the batter on the griddle, add some banana slices. Flip the cakes and the bananas caramelize a bit. Yum.

For dinner, I made and photo documented for you guys, a reverse engineered recipe. I worked in a kitchen for my high school years and I did everything you can do in a kitchen from starting as a dish dog, to running the front line of the main kitchen. I did event cooking and during the winter months I did the catering cooking. I learned my way around the kitchen and I was pretty good at it. My strong point was the fryers and no, there were no timers. You just needed to know what it looked like when food was done. Some things were frozen(fries, cheese sticks), most were fresh(chicken, shrimp).

Tonight I made Cap’n Crunch Chicken. A recipe I lifted from eating a couple times at Planet Hollywood. I never worked there, or in any chain restaurant for that matter, I just ate it and knew I could easily remake it. You could easily replace the cereal with anything else of your choice. We did frosted flakes once and that was alright but not as good. Plain corn flakes work well also, but I like the extra sweetness and texture the captain provides.

Here goes…

First, all my prep pics got lost in transfer. So you’ll have to survive on just text.

Buy a box of Cap’n Crunch cereal. Mostly fill a large zip seal Ziploc bag with the cereal from the box. Don’t totally fill it as you need some room, but drain out as much air as possible from the bag. It’s important you get most of the air out or the next step can get messy.

Get a rolling pin and pulverize the cereal in the bag. It’s ok to let it be lumpy, but a mostly powdery texture is what we need. To gauge how much, a pound of chicken will use 2-3 sandwich size bags of un-crushed cereal. In the pic below before they get dropped in oil should be a good gauge about how much smashing you should do.

Setup 2 small bowls and 1 larger one putting the crushed cereal in the larger bowl.

Get some chicken breasts or cutlets and trim the fat. Cut the chicken into reasonable size fingers or strips.

In the other 2 bowls you’ll need some flour in one bowl, not too much, maybe a cup per pound. In the other bowl make an egg wash. 1 cup milk and 1 egg all mixed up. I like to add a little salt and pepper to both the flour and egg wash. Red or black pepper, you pick. Also, not too much, just lightly cover the top.

Heat a pan of cooking oil(veggie, canola, peanut) on the stove until you have about a 1/4 inch of oil in the bottom.You can deep fry if you like, but pan fry like this tends to be a little healthier I think. I’ve tried baking them and it just doesn’t work as well. Of course, I suck with baking things.

The flour is for a little secret that makes anything you fry look great and add a little extra crunch. Take your chicken strips a couple at a time and lightly toss each piece in the flour. Take each piece from the flour and dip in the egg wash to get each piece wet and then go to the crushed cereal.

Thoroughly cover each piece in the cereal. I like to bury each piece down and give a little squeeze of each piece to get as much on it as possible. Set aside for cooking. Oh yeah, your fingers will get really messy so be close to a sink or setup a bowl of water you can rinse the batter off that will cake on quickly.

Now just cook the fingers in your heated oil flipping after a few minutes when the edges start to appear white to evenly brown on both sides.

I set aside on a plate lined with paper towels to assist draining each piece. Don’t worry if the chunkier pieces look black or darker in color. This is actually just the sugar in the cereal caramelizing. A golden brown base is what you’re after with the cooking.

Serve with whatever you want. Veggies, baked fries, or whatever floats your boat.

I also like to whip up this awesome dipping sauce. I cannot divulge this recipe because it is lifted from where I worked, I’ll just say it’s in the honey mustard family but not honey mustard. Honey Mustard is better than any Ranch or BBQ sauce for these guys. Well, in my opinion.

Enjoy!

Finish it off with some of these for dessert and you’ll get happy young customers every time!

Even the old dog wants any crumb she can find.