Wednesday, January 27, 2010

My Blossoming Birthday Celebration!


Today is my actual birthday that I share with my beloved twin sister.

Life lately has been beautiful. Celebrations with friends and family have been abundant, and I am so grateful for a life rich with a close family and strong friendships.

Life has also been blessedly hectic lately between my new niece, a promotion at work, and so many great outings with friends and family. Hence, I decided to take this day off from work and spend it relaxing and enjoying rare quiet time alone. The gift to myself today is downtime and a chance to text and talk with friends and family instead of being at my desk at work on the trading floor. I woke up and went out for coffee and a bagel with a good schmear, pampered myself today at the nail salon with a manicure and pedicure, cracked open a bottle of pink prosecco, and also enjoyed this dish that was prepared in my Crockpot (no way was I making anything today that would ruin the nails!). I served this on top of white rice. I would have done brown rice if it were not my special day to make it healthier, but I wanted to indulge! Oh, and of course I read food blogs ALL day. Fellow foodie bloggers, you make my day and being able to read them leisurely today was a great gift!

I highly recommend this dish any time of year in the Crockpot. It was delicious and full of wonderful flavors and so easy to make. The next time I make this I may do half pineapple juie and half orange juice for even more great flavors, but it is truly perfect the way it is!

Orange Blossom Chicken Teriyaki (a recipe for a slow cooker)
Ingredients:
8 chicken drumsticks (you can also do half thighs if you want, but use dark meat; I also used skinless since skin slow cooker recipes make little sense to me - it gets too soggy)
1 large onion, thinly sliced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup grated fresh ginger
1/2 teaspoon cardamom (I was fortunate to have this particular spice given to me recently by a friend who was in Ethiopia, so I cracked the outer shell and ground the pods in my mortar and pestle!)
1 thinly sliced, unpeeled orange
1 tbsp cornstarch
2 tbsp water

Directions:
1) Mix onion, garlic, and olive oil and place at bottom of slow cooker.
2) Place the chicken on top (sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste).
3) Whisk together orange juice, soy, honey, brown sugar, ginger, and cardamom in a mixing bowl. Pour over chicken.
4) Cover chicken with sliced oranges
5) Cook on high setting for 4 hours or low setting for 8 hours (I did low).
6) Remove chicken and oranges with slotted spoon.
7) Add cornstarch to the water and mix - then stir into the juices and whisk to thicken.
8) Place chicken and oranges back in the pot and keep on warm setting until ready to serve.

21 comments:

  1. Happy Birthday! How great that you took off and had the day all to yourself to do whatever you wanted! And what a delicious dinner you cooked up. I love the idea of Teriyaki with orange! Is there cake?

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  2. Thanks for the kind wishes! I have a small chocolate cupcake to nosh on. :)

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  3. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!! Wishing you and your twin many more!

    Boy, oh, boy, does this look good. All the flavors I love in a crockpot.

    Bookmarked!

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  4. Happy birthday to both you and your sister! The description of your day, as well as this recipe, sound perfectly delightful. Enjoy!

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  5. hey i have a great easy crockpot recipe someone just passed along to me! hit me up and i'll give it to you... so easy, impressive results. All hail the crock pot!

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  6. Happy Birthday! Thank you for the comment on my blog earlier today, you'll love that applesauce cake and butter-rum glaze!
    I can't wait to try this Orange Blossom Chicken Teriyaki, it sounds soo good!
    -Andrea
    PumpkinTart

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  7. Happy birthday sweetie! This sounds like a great dish. I hope you had some cake to go along with it...

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  8. This sounds delicious and simple-two things I love in a recipe! Happy (slightly belated) birthday! Sounds like you have a wonderful life and much to celebrate :)

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  9. wOWOW.u have a twin?I love twins.....
    Happy happy birthday....lets all sing the birthday song ...lets all sing along....well can u hear me singing......
    Love is in the air and i wish u loads of it....

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  10. Happy Birthday! Your dinner looked wonderful! I love a good simple dish...all my favorite's are definitely simple dishes! Slow cookers are the best kitchen tool's ever invented (besides the stove/oven)!!! I also love reading about people who are as happy as you are, LOVE your positive attitude and incredible life! All the best to you on your birthday and the year ahead of you!

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  11. Thanks everyone for your kind wishes and words - what a great gift they are!

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  12. Happy Birthday to you! I hope your day was special.

    I love that terrayki chicken dish you prepared. Nice!

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  13. Happy Birthday! Good for you for taking the time to celebrate your special day!

    Your chicken looks yummy! I love the orange blossom!

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  14. I hope you had the best birthday ever. Your recipe looks terrific. I can't wait to give it a try. Have a great day. Blessings...Mary

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  15. aw, happy belated birthday, aimee! there are many appropriate ways to celebrate, and most of them involve food. :)
    lovely recipe--citrus and fresh cardamom(!) would make this meal simply divine.

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  16. Happy Birthday, Aimee to BOTH of you! Is it fun to be a twin? I always wondered.
    What a nice way to spent it, too. Doing exactly what you want. Perfect.
    Your slow cooker recipe has flavors I love: soy sauce, sugar, honey, orange. I love cardamom too-and use it in lots of recipes.
    So glad you had a great day.

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  17. Have a wonderful birthday daaaahling *birthday kisses*. Lovely recipe, it looks fantastic. Cardamom is one of my all time favorite flavours.

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  18. I hope you have a wonderful birthday!!! This chicken sounds fabulous. I love just about anything that has cardamom in it!

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  19. What a nice day you had..warm birthday greetings. I dont own a crock pot..maybe its time I buy one as this chicken dish looks DELISH!!!

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  20. Happy Birthday to you and to your twin sister. I always wanted to make teriyaki sauce, yours must taste delicious. I bookmarked this recipe, hopefully to make it soon!

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  21. Happy Birthday, Aimee! It sounds like a fantastic birthday, and the pampering was richly deserved.

    This chicken looks really tasty - I like the addition of the orange.

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