This is one of those recipes that you can totally whip up in fifteen minutes, unless you want to make it all from scratch. In that case, have at it and just use my recipe for the sauce. It is delicious and is perfect appetizer for a large gathering. I made this for book club and my friends were raving about it. I must say that these mini chicken and waffles served with a whiskey cider sauce may be one of my favorite recipe creations to date.
This is a recipe that Sandra Lee would coin "semi homemade" I not only used mini eggo waffles, I was in a crazy hurry and whipped into the line at our local PDQ and ordered a dozen chicken tenders. So yeah, let's not pretend I slaved in the kitchen over this all day. However, what makes this particular version so tantalizing is the addition of my whiskey cider sauce. It will leave you craving more, this I pretty much guarantee.
If you want to make your own, just grab some chicken tenderloins, cut them in half, season and bread them and fry them up. I did this the second time I made these and while they were just as good...I spent more time and made a large mess, so for me...Hi PDQ. You could also use any breaded chicken tenders from Tysons or any other brand and cook them ahead of time.
With that said, once you have your chicken ready to go, you're set.
2 dozen chicken tenders
2 dozen mini chicken waffles
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup apple cider
1/4 cup bourbon
2 tbsp spicy brown sugar
1 tsp chili powder
Toast the waffle sheets and break apart into single pieces. With a toothpick, place chicken piece on top of waffle. Set aside. In a small sauce pan, place all remaining ingredients. Turn heat on high and whisk continuously, until sauce begins to bubble. Lower heat to medium and continue to whisk until it begins to thicken. Once it has thickened, using a spoon, ladle the sauce over top of the chicken and waffles. Serve immediately.
Now let your family fawn over you. It is well deserved.
*notes~
I used a dozen chicken tenders and cut them in half. You could also use nuggets, but I preferred the tenders. The crispier the better. Keep in mind that each waffle piece has 4 mini waffles, so you should only need 6 waffle sheets to make 24.
We took a trip to Vegas to celebrate my brother's 40th birthday and decided to head out to Arizona a few days early and make an extended trip out of our west coast visit. Some of our best friends moved to the area last year and this was the perfect chance to visit with them. We had a phenomenal time and I already can't wait to head back. We were only there for about 36 hours and we packed in every possible moment!
If you find yourself in the Phoenix area and limited on time, these are my recommendations!
Top Golf.
I will make no bones about admitting that I may be the worst golfer ever. This is not an understatement. I am really quite terrible. For starters, I have really short arms, my nickname is Trex for a reason. (T-rex;) and on top of that, I have boobs that make watermelons look like cantelopes. When our friend suggested meeting up here, I was slightly skeptical. That said...this was one of my favorite parts of our visit. Seeing mister Karlee for a bit was also a fantastic part of the excursion. The food was actually pretty tasty to be bar food and the view, I mean. What a way to spend our first afternoon. It is also right next to the casino, which was also a lot of fun so you could make a full night of it!
Biltmore Hotel.
I have read about this place in many travel magazines and even as the backdrop of a few fiction books. We still had a little sunlight left and stopped off to partake in one of their famous cocktails as the sunset over their beautiful patio and grounds. They happen to be the home of the original tequila sunrise. Who would I be not to try one? I didn't go with the traditional, but instead went with their tropical sunrise. This was a decidedly good choice. Beyond tasty! Not too strong either, just right. Although, I imagine if you went with a few too many they could pack a serious punch.
Desert Botanical Gardens.
I will be honest, coming from an area that is full of flowers, beaches, lakes and green mountains, I was unsure of how "beautiful" I was going to find the desert. The Desert Botanical Gardens soon put those preconceived notions to rest. This peaceful spot was just one of the many ways in which I underestimated Arizona. This place was beautiful and we spent quite a decent amount of time walking around. They also have a night walk that is apparently a must see because they have an array of lit up globes around the gardens. I would definitely like to go back and experience the park after hours.
Jewel's Gluten Free Bakery
Our friend has celiac and he happened upon a completely gf restaurant/bakery and so we ended up having breakfast there on our day of exploring. Let me just say that I have had the misfortune to try some bad gluten free recipes. This joint was so tasty that you would never have any idea they were GF unless someone told you in advance. Oh my gosh, the pecan sticky bun doughnut and the espresso panna cotta. Lord have mercy, I could go for some of it right now
I am writing this watching football and drinking eggnog while it is still 65 degrees at 11 pm at night...and all the angels sang "Hallelujah" I love warm weather. On Christmas day it can be chilly and maybe even a few snow flakes, the rest of the year, I'll take this!
We had a full weekend that started on Friday night with a gingerbread house competition. My friend Caroline hosted it and she, as is always the case, had an amazing spread! This is how parties are when you're a food blogger and so are your friends;) My other real life bestie, Nicole, was there as was another favorite, Angela from Head to Toe Chic. It was a great night and when I say my husband and I did not win, I mean that sincerely. It was bad. I could never be a craft blogger. You are all so very welcome for that.
Saturday I got my hair done and then got a phone call from my husband about car trouble. After AAA was an hour late to pick him up and the tow truck dropped him off, we had to get dressed, I had to do all of my make up and wrap white elephant gifts in 15 minutes so we could then rush out the door and head to his company Christmas party. To say I was stressed would be an understatement. To say the fact they had a full bar helped to alleviate some of my stress would also be an understatement. Life is about adapting;)
Yesterday we shopped and walked around Raleigh with me wearing sandals and a sundress! It was rather amazing. We had a fantastic brunch at Coquette. My french onion soup was delicious, but these butter pecan profiteroles were absolutely scrumptious. I may be dreaming of them for a few weeks to come.
That was my weekend in a nutshell, we have a busy week ahead with basketball and my book club cookie exchange. I will have a few yuletide cocktails for you guys this week!
This post has been waiting right at about a year for me to write. Every year on our trip up to Boston, whether it be Thanksgiving or Christmas, we usually stop at a different city (or small and charming towns!) on the way up and on the way back. We try to turn our long drive into mini trips and see a new place each time. We were driving and debating between Philadelphia and Wilmington when we found a great last minute hotel deal in Philly and the decision was made. We were there for less than 24 hours, but these are my favorite sights of Philadelphia at Christmas, with a bunch of architecture, history and food thrown in!
We ended up staying at The Latham Hotel which was recently renovated and in a central location and points for a bar with amazing bourbon cocktails. They obviously cared about me. The rooms were a good size for an older hotel. Not large enough for a gathering, but certainly enough room for the two of us to move around freely. Mainly...the bed. I almost cried when it was time to wake up because I was so comfortable.
Anyways, once out of the hotel our first stop was historic Reading Terminal via a walk by the absolutely gorgeous City Hall. We ate a bunch and if you want to know how hungry I was...I didn't even get a picture of my food before I inhaled it. Just trust me, delicious. Every meal we ate was nothing short of fantastic.
We walked around a bunch more, checking out what sights we could because it was a Sunday and lots of places I was interested in seeing were closed. I did grab a shot of the home of the one and only Betsy Ross. I was maybe a little too excited over that. Then we stumbled onto the spot where the first photograph was taken and we pulled up what it looked like on google and took a photo of the frst photo at that sight. Cause we are nerds and everything.
Interestingly enough, my favorite stop of the whole weekend was at the Macy's. They have an amazing light show and organ concert in the original Wanamakers store. It is a tradition dating back to 1956 and their third floor has a Dickens Village set up. I cannot recommend stopping by there enough.
Hopefully we get to go back again soon when we are able to spend a little bit more time and really embrace ourselves in all the history.
One of life's little treasure, at least to me, is the joy of discovering covered bridges. They are usually found on a scenic road in a sweet little town or stumbled upon on a lonely stretch of road. There are a few left in Virginia, but by far, my favorite is Meems Bottom Covered Bridge found in the gorgeous Shenandoah Valley just shy of New Market. The road leading to it is framed by lovely trees that seem to frame the setting.
The bridge is named after the Meems family that owned the land and was built in 1894 and stayed in great shape until 1976 when it was partly burned. Thankfully they salvaged what they could and instead of scrapping it, rebuilt it with reinforcements. If you ever find yourself traveling on 81 in Virginia, it is found right of the exit and I promise it would be a short detour well worth your time.
Fall in Virginia is a sight to behold and here is just a little snippet of why I love it so.
