Paper Bag Chicken...an Ode to Pop



Frying Chicken really is an art. Years and years ago, fried my first chicken leg, ended up with a leathery bone with no batter! Takes practice to get this good, and practice you will with this recipe!

         This is a recipe that was handed down to me by my father in law, a man that was so geniune and steadfast, I always wished and thought of him as my own father. This chicken is so crispy, you'll wake the dead with it's succulent crunch. The secret is in the paper bag...a plain old brown, paper grocery bag.
here's the recipe, a definate marriage saver!
fill a large frying pan with vegetable oil about halfway and start that puppy heating over medium heat. Choose your pan wisely, you'll need one that has a tight fitting lid. While that's heating....
    Get a clean brown paper grocery bag, MUST BE PAPER, the bigger the better, throw in a few cups of flour, seasoning, onion powder, garlic powder, chicken spice, a dash of cayenne pepper, and the secret ingredient, 2 to 3 generous shakes of Cinammon. that's right, Cinammon. Wet your chicken legs with water first, shake the excess, then a generous dip into your egg batter:
      2 beaten eggs, a few drips of water, salt, pepper, and a generous dollop of Honey. Yummmmmo! really roll the legs around in the egg, then drop it into your paper bag mixture. Shake, shake shake! Shake your booty.
   Not for the faint of heart,good to go in the grease right now...but...if you're going, while not go all the way and....while it's coated in the flour mix....drop and roll it again in your egg mixture again! Quick now, back to the paper bag...Shake, shake shake, Shake, shake, shake, shake your booty. A quick flick of the wrist removes excess flour, then into the hot grease....very carefully, don't want a splatter.
   To get the crispiest coating on your chicken, turn only once in the grease. No matter how tempting, no moving, no peeking, no prodding, no poking. Just drop it in the grease and LEAVE IT ALONE!  lay the chix in head to toe, head to toe, but shouldn't be touching in the grease, cover it, and leave it alone!
       You've only got one turn, make it a good one. When you see the juices start to seep from the uncooked top, running clear, flip it quick. I use tongs, so as not to pierce the chicken and lose my juice.
      Once fried, about 20 minutes total for the first batch, down to 10 min by the last batch, remove from the grease, laying your fried pieces on a clean brown paper bag on a plate, toes pointing to the middle. This helps the excess grease flow from the chicken to be absorbed by the paper bag. When cooled, I move the pieces onto another plate covered with a bar towel.



Best fried Chicken you'll ever eat!

When I do a paper bag session, I wear my sneakers. I'll be standing at the stove for a few hours, because this recipe is great to FREEZE! I promise, Stays just as crispy in the freezer 3 months from now as it does coming out of the pan! Amazing but true. So when I start, I fry 15 to 20 pounds at a time, separating into freezer bags 9 pieces in each. The key to a good freeze? Tear off a little piece of that paper bag, or a paper napking, and tuck it into the bottom of the freezer bag before the chicken. It will absorb the excess moisture, keeping your blue ribbon chicken crunchy.
And that's it, don't by chinzy, these babies go fast. When you do a batch, plan on doing several at a time. The boys in my family can easily put away 4 to 5 pieces, I've gotta hide them in the freezer or legs mysteriously start walking off on their own!
     Use a Ziploc freezer bag, head to toe, head to toe, like I said, I freeze 9 or 10 pieces in each bag, (don't forget the piece of paper bag or paper napkin to absorb moisture, very important if you're chicken is to remain as crispy on day 90 as it is on day 1) and put in the freezer.
    When ready to have your frozen legs for dinner, move to the fridge to defrost, put on a cooking sheet sprayed with non stick spray..and cook at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Yummeeee!!!
   Add a green salad and you've got a home momed dinner.
enjoy, I do@!@!!

Happy Mother's Day!

This pile of scraps became this:


love it when a  plan comes together!

plan courtesy of Jim Delorme from my Kreg Jig Communityhttp://kregjig.ning.com/photo/album/show?id=2900167%3AAlbum%3A421389&xg_source=activity

Cost roughly  20.00 to make, Including flowers! lots of sweat equity. Ended up using stain and paint I had on hand. This is the perfect gift for a woman, similar items I've found online go for 100 and up, and not much different! So I was happy to make a bunch of these to make everyone's mother, including my own, very happy. I did change the trim, using 1x2's, as well as adding a mini shelf to the top of it, I absolutely love it. I ended up using 2 1x2's in the planter box, to make sure water would drip out, and not pool.
Few more pics from the snap happy builder:



My moms





this gives you an idea of the width

And for my Mother's Day? My 16 year old, who just had her birthday May 7th, used her birthday gift card to pick, order, and pay for these beautiful flowers for me...

She is the light of my life, and because of her kind spirit, her brother and father's name were added to the card. I got the "What Flowers?" when I thanked the boys. Thank you Bre, for being my daughter.
    Short and sweet, gonna try like crazy to get four 12's this week, try to stay one step ahead of the bills.
Keep on keeping on people~!

Building Rock Star!!



Yeah!! And pulls from either side



How's that for awesome!


 Feeling very superior, totally full of myself, can't believe all I can do...only thing not going my way...My new bikini top. Every time I bend over get a face full of boob. No, this isn't an Xrated blog, not gonna add of pic of THAT...super annoying till I figured out I had it on upside down. Whoops! So much for Queen of the Universe. Didn't think there was supposed to be an overwire.
    Okay, back to earth. Today was dedicated to last sand and stain on the 2nd lounge chair, finishing my extremely customized pullout shelf, and finally working on the Back bracing.


Doing the happy dance!~




forgot to factor in wood swelling, no dice by the pool

  

 

Did end up tweaking my plan a little bit, about 47 times! Originally, the table was sandwiched as pictured above...really wanted an easy slide.

Here's the winning plan...



Start with a Gorgeous shelf, mine is 2 inches smaller than the width of my chair





Here's a closeup, repurposed wood. As usual, check for level after every step.

 


 it's waterproofed. I don't want to have to kill anyone who spills a beer.

Flipped the lounge chair over, attached to bottom, just like it looks above. the 1x3's to the underside. Tried to line them up with the 1x3's of the chair seat...


Can hardly tell it's there!



pulls from either side, for the lefty in me.....

 



or the righty!




 

weight testing!



believe it or not, this prototype shelf took longer to make than the entire lounge chair! Wanted it sturdy enough to hold a small child, because one will probably sit on it! yet sleek, low profile, don't want it to look homemade. The biggest compliment I ever get is, "it looks like it came from the store." makes it all worth it.... 



adds character



a final shot, couldn't help myself

One last tip, I did half screw in a 1 1/4 screw on the underside to the shelf, in the middle. keeps it from being pulled out by anyone who doesn't have a drill handy; but very easy to remove for cleaning, or breakfast in bed! love dual purpose things. 




sneek peek:
working on my back support, can't wait till later today to finish it.

one side of back support, check back tommorrow this time to see how I did it

EXCITED!!

little busywork...halfway through with the wall planter. Waiting for cedar planting box to assemble itself.

 

May all your drill bits stay out of your thumbs!

Drinks Anyone?

  Now that the second lounge chair is drawing to a close, still have a third to make, but it's all downhill from here, it's time to start drawing up plans for the largest project to date, JB's Outdoor built in Kitchen/Bar/Man Cave. I plan to be completed by Father's Day and I feel I'm qualified to build this because I've logged more than 1,000 hours watching the DIY network! 
This year, when we go to the LA County Fair, JB won't have to dream of the bars they've got set up there, he'll have his very own!
  I'm not talking expanded grill trolley, or a freestanding grill and table with an ice chest, no something more like these....


I love the layout of this one, but ours will need an L shape somewhere



I like the roof and the shake shingles, since JB's from Boston, I'm looking for a Pubby feel..oh and the Boston B will have to go somewhere



this is a nice setup



This has the perfect shape for our pool area





like the feel of this one. The roof, the L shaped eating area. NICE!



I'll need to draw up some plans. Right about now, I wish I could google sketchup,, but will probably just use the old pencil and paper....


Wish list:
1 I know that I'll need electrical done out there. No lights whatsover as it is. Luckily, Randy, a family friend, did my Koi pond electical, and so far so good. I'll be hiring him.
2 Would like water out there as well for a small sink. JB does a lot of grilling, and it would be great to have 
   a small sink to wash his hands in.
3 Drop in grill, hasn't made up his mind about natural gas vs propane.
4. Outdoor Fridge just a tiny one.
5. Drawers for utensils, bar rags, etc. Things that we don't want chewed up in case the dogs get in
6. Outdoor Lucite Television, visible from inner bar area and the pool. That way JB won't miss a minute of
     His sports, but there will be NO NASCAR! I repeat Steve, NO NASCAR!
7. Bar Stools handmade by me.

Updates will be coming, and I'll also blog along the way, in case there's another wife crazy enough to build an outdoor bar/kitchen herself!

Just for Laura Fama, builder Extrodanaire!!!

   I hate the racket that all this building supply places have going on with "predrill bits". Over here in Southern California, the cheapest, not only in price, one you can get is $9.00! Redonkulous!!! and if you don't have the most steadiest hand, this is what happens....

Snaps right off in the wood, and the rest goes in the trash.
After buying 3 or 4 of these, I started experimenting with drill bits. After all, when I spoke to  Cobweb Carpenter down the street, he's about 150 years old, and knows everything there is to know about woodworking. In fact, he's the inventor of the nail, it's documented, on file somewhere...and in his mind, he's right up there after Jesus as the greatest carpenter ever...okay, back to the story about the predrill bit, Cobweb, well, he'd never heard of it, didn't know anything about this newfangled gadget.His words, not mine. How could this be?
   Was he splitting wood left and right? Or was I buying an unneccessary piece of crap...again.
 One night, woodwoodworking feverishly into the wee hours, I broke this sucker, but didn't want to stop what I was doing, so I had to figure out a quickie way to predrill. I'm sure everyone else on the planet already knows about this, but in case you don't....here goes, complete with snaps.




Excuse the bandaid...just drilled into the cuticle. Ouch!

Take a simple drill bit..One of the smaller ones that come in the kits. Not THE smallest. That's the size the always snaps on the predrill bit. This is what they use, connected to a piece of plastic ( the cheap ones) or metal.

Snug that sucker right into your drill. Getting the picture? The part of the drill that tightens around the bit, that's going into the wood, just a little bit, and that will make the circle indentation for your screw head...really, Laura, it works!

SEE!!!!!

Hope this helps my friend...

Hi Laura!! Sorry it's blurry, had to take it in the dark...or else JB would have me committed snapping at 03:30 am...an no, I never sleep :)

PB&J Pullout Shelf Part 2 aka the neverending shelf

Frustrated today. Nothing's going right, stains tacky, EVEN though it was a thousand degrees out today. My 1x4's are wavy, gonna try to jam them in place, screw and glue, and hope for the best. Because these are the side boards on my 2nd lounger, may have to scrap them if they don't look right when all is said and done.

Had company over tonight, played a drinking game with hub, friends, son, and nephew. Haven't laughed like that in a really long time, and I wasn't even drinking. So glad I put in all that time on the pool, did my heart good to have family in it and enjoying it. My goal is to Build my own Spa Getaway in the backyard.....

one lounge chair at a time.


look at that smile on Bruschi's face!

Back to my frustration. Due to the wavy 1x4 that fits on the side of my lounge chair...had to cut off more than was called for. I think I'll be able to fix it, probably less frustration to go out and buy 2 new boards, just hate...hate...hate....to waste boards. The ones I have, already sanded x2, stained multiple times, ahhhhh...that's a sigh.
Due to the board fiasco, I haven't attached the shelf but am ready to. Decided to blog about my progress so far, that way I can get back to work: Quiet Work.. since it's 2:30 in the friggin morning. I don't want to be chased out of the neighborhood by villagers with pitchforks and torches!

Once again, my frustration. Probably doesn't help that I'm building 2 of the shelves at once.
First and last time I'm doing that. But, doesn't matter, this time next week, my hub and I will be lounging, and this frustration will have passed. Gotta keep my eye on the prize, whispering to myself, "Spa Getaway, Spa Getaway."

   Part 1 ended with the Snuggie, aka Tray, built. Here's a pic to refresh our memory, and if you're one of my 9 fans, and are just joining me here, you can always go back to Part 1 and get caught up :) The Snuggie is built, and now the upper guide rails need to by added. These rails are very important because they'll keep your tray nice and level. I know you've been places and seen shody  (is that right???) work where a pull out something will tilt, or even drawers on older dressers, that pull out and lean on the ground instead of sticking straight out. So this isn't a step to forgo. Recap, don't skip these rails. Keep your drinks from spilling and you need something to attach to the lounger, and these rails will be a great place to do that.

Here's the Snuggie with upper rails attached. ANGIE< you say, you're a genius! How'd you get those 1x3's so perfectly straight, attached to that 1x2, with Kreg holes, no less, and they seem to be hovering in midair!

At least, that's what I said to myself while patting myself firmly on my sunburned back :)

okay,  okay, I'll let you in on the secret. lay the frame on the floor, since I'm using 1x3's for the sides of my tray, I need a board that's thicker, so my tray slides easily. I went with a 1x4, lay that right on the edge of the tray, snugged up against the 1x2 side, Put your Kreggie's in, and just glue and screw!  the 1x4 underneath your top slide rail give you the slide space you'll need, also, squares your top rail right up! no need to hold in place~! yeah!@!! Make sure the smooth side of the 1x3 top rail is facing down in case your carefully sanded and finished shelf ever comes in contact with it, there won't be an scratching.



Top view. When your top rails tightly screwed in place...and I'm so happy I finally figured out how to Kreg into 1x2's, just pull that 1x4 out



Viola!

Lather, rinse, repeat...to the other side. 

Flip it upside down on the bottom of your inner stringers. Doesn't have to come all the way to the edge, Very importante!! it can't go over the edge...Remember a 1x4 is going to sit up against your inner stringer, so your tray cannot overhang. I'm not quite ready to attach yet, staining to do. Should've really stained beforehand, I broke my own cardinal rule, just had to see it together and make sure all moving parts worked.  

Top View..which is really going to be the bottom view, when this is flipped over.

My works not done yet...


like to shove a little stain into the Kreggies...these will be directly under the seat slats, and don't want any drippy butts ruining my virgin wood



While that's drying, a total pain too, getting into all the crevices with stain, decided to stain back annd sides of slats so I could put my shelf together. There's one of the slats in the front of the pic, the little 1x4 with the Kreggies in it, so started on that, once dry, after about an hour in Cali right now, started on my shelf...

Love it! and here's the backside...

with 2 coats of stain! Since can't use my sander at this time of night, the front side will have to wait til tommorrow, sigh.

Hope this is helpful, and really hope that lady builders everywhere will be working on their own Snuggie pull out shelf!

On another note, my Makeversary is coming up in 2 weeks. One year ago is when I realized I could make these beautiful things myself, save a crapload of money, and have any piece of furniture I wanted, built by me to my own specifications, to fit my own needs, and most importantly, to make my happy.

Because I'm like a kid on Christmas...here's a sneak peeeek!!!!

May all your boards be straight!