Chocolate Toffee Crunch Cookies

It's been awhile since I've made some cookies. Toffee bits have been in my pantry for a week or so and I was looking for something interesting to make with them. When I stumbled on a recipe for Toffee Crunch Cookies on Food Network, I decided to adapt a bit and made these Chocolate Toffee Crunch Cookies. These cookies are chock full of toffee bits, oatmeal, shredded coconuts and chunks of chocolate almond candy bars. It's a great mix of textures and flavors!...

A Weekly Serving - 1/29/2011

It's been a great week and I'm glad it's the weekend! Before I type away with some personal musings...

Here's what I cooked up in the kitchen this past week...

Lobster Mac & Cheese

A great dish for Valentine’s Day or just to surprise that special someone… 

Peanut Butter Brownie Pie

If you’re a fan of peanut butter and chocolate, this Peanut Butter Brownie Pie is for you!… 

Here are the recipe collections I've posted this past week...

7 Tasty Touchdown Snack Recipes 

Here are some some of the tasty recipes for the big game to check out…

8 Sliders for Superbowl Sunday

Some of the tastiest things come in small packages… 

8 Batches of Brownie Recipes

Serve up portable sweets like brownies for the Superbowl! 

My weekly musings on Family, Food and Fun...

Family -  I should make a movie called, 'The Fast & The Curious,' featuring my little munchkin, Joel. Just last week we were in the in-between stage where he needed some prodding to crawl and encouragement to reach and climb up on things. This week was a whole different ball game. Joel is all over the place and quick! One minute, he's in his designated play area content with his toys...and then the next minute he's on the other side of the room checking out whatever he can get his hands on. All his moving around has got me and Louis exhausted. I can't even imagine how much more energy it will be to keep up with Joel when he's walking around! Here's our little cutie pie's weekly pic, where he's now 38 weeks old...

Food/Restaurant News - This week major renovation started on our kitchen and dining area. I'm hopeful the work will be done in a month so we're all crossing our fingers. In the meantime, we're all keeping busy somehow. I've been working on scheduling public events to keep our momentum up. In fact, next week Friday we will be doing a special presentation and tasting preview at a local Whole Foods store. The following day, we're attending a big event within the Filipino community called Pin@ypalooza where we will have a booth and provide samples of our restaurant menu. So with those events lined up, we're anxious to share what's soon to come!

If you've read my "About Joelen" page, you may have noticed how I have plans to open up a gastro truck. I'm not the only one as my partners would love to open up one as well. Later today, my partners and I will be checking out a food truck to get some information and also familiarize ourselves with the food truck business, since it's much different that a stand alone business. I'm looking forward to it, since the owner of the food truck is also selling her truck... and was previously seen on Food Network's Diners, Drive Ins & Dives. Her name is Grace and is/was the owner of Galewood Cookshack.

So amidst the restaurant renovations, special preview events for the public and even a food truck viewing, another thing to add to the list of food/restaurant news is my new venture - Joely Cakes. In short, Joely Cakes is my independent cake and cupcake line, highlighting Filipino tropical flavors (as well as others). I've been baking for years and even had a side business back in 2002-2005 filling custom cake orders for private and commercial clientele. I stepped away from filling baking orders for a few years but got back into it within the last year after receiving quite a few special occasion cake and cupcake orders. The best feeling this week was having my Joely Cakes hit the retail market! They're currently being sold at Three R Filipino Cafe & Grocery with other local Filipino grocery stores soon to follow. Yay!

Fun - As for fun this past week, I've been enjoying the time at home with my boys. I did some considerable baking this week for Joely Cakes but also for the family... so stay tuned to find out what I've been baking up!

Hope you all enjoy your weekend and have a great week ahead!

Joely Cakes... now available at retail stores!

So the recent grease fire we had at the restaurant has left us out of commission for a bit while everything gets renovated. Before the fire, one of the projects I started working on was developing my 'tropical cupcake' line highlighting Filipino flavors. Not only were my cupcakes going to be on our restaurant dinner menu, but also sold in our retail grocery store. Going even further, the cupcakes would also be sold at wholesale to local Filipino grocery stores. The idea was to have my retail cupcake line separate from the restaurant.

As for the name, Joely Cakes, I named my baked goods line after my son since our nickname for him is "Joely Joel." It made sense to name it after him somehow since he was what encouraged me to really pursue what I've always wanted to do. Another reason was to tie him closer to his Filipino culture and food.

And now it's finally happened! I made my first batch of Joely Cakes for retail sale and they're now available for purchase at Three R's Grocery with other local stores in line soon to sell them too!  Although for the retail stores I'm highlighting tropical Filipino flavors, I can certainly do other flavors as well. Right now, I'm supplying the store with my Joely Cakes in time for the weekends since that's when there's the most traffic. If all goes well and they take off, I'll slowly start supplying the store with them to carry through the week. I hope to offer more flavors in the future and I'm happy to take private orders too. At least this is keeping me busy and in the kitchen while we're waiting for our kitchen and dining room renovation to finish. So stay tuned... this sweet culinary adventure is just starting!

You can find my Joely Cakes at:

Three R Filipino Grocery & Cafe
2712 W. Montrose Ave.
Chicago, IL 60618

Here's my 'Tropical Trio' featuring
Ube (purple yam), Mango, & Buko Pandan (coconut screwpine) cupcakes...

8 Batches of Brownie Recipes

For the upcoming Superbowl, I've found dessert bars to be a great choice to serve up. While friends and family are gathering around the tv watching the game, it's a good idea to offer food that is portable and doesn't require any utensils. With this in mind, my dessert bar of choice would have to be brownies of course! There are so many brownie recipes out there with quite a few variations. It can be hard to choose but here are 8 Batches of Brownie Recipes that I've made myself and highly recommend!...

Peanut Butter Brownie Pie

This is a post my husband wished I didn't write. Actually, it's a recipe he wished I didn't even make. He's not a peanut butter fan and so when he found out I was making this Peanut Butter Brownie Pie, he wasn't too keen on the idea at all. Regardless, I continued with my plan and made this truly decadent pie. If you're a fan of peanut butter and chocolate (specifically, brownies), then this is a pie for you!...

8 Sliders for Superbowl Sunday

The best things come in small packages, don't they?! One thing in particular that comes to mind are mini burgers or sliders. These small bite sandwiches are perfect for the upcoming Superbowl, especially if you're planning on having friends and family over. Don't limit yourself to just plain old ground beef for sliders. There's so many other options to take advantage of including chicken, turkey, short ribs, prime rib, and even chili! Here are 8 Sliders for Superbowl Sunday to nosh on...

Lobster Mac & Cheese

Sometimes its best if I just keep my mouth shut. Now that I'm cherishing my kitchen time at home even more so these days, I'm looking forward to Valentine's day this year where I hope to make something special. But now I have to start over because I opened my mouth. My husband asked me what I'd like to do for Valentine's day and apparently he couldn't wait a few more weeks when I shared with him potential recipes I would make. As a result, he asked me to make this Lobster Mac & Cheese early. Granted, it was a hit at our house but now it's back to the drawing board for other romantic meal ideas...

7 Tasty Touchdown Snack Recipes

Now that we know who's playing in the 2011 NFL Superbowl game in a couple of weeks, it's time start thinking about gameday eats! It's one way for me to get over the Bears being defeated by the long rival, Greenbay Packers. Blah... I was really hoping the Bears could take the win!  Although the Chicago Bears aren't moving on to the Superbowl this year, I certainly can appreciate the opportunity to entertain friends with food for the upcoming game. Here are 7 Tasty Touchdown Snack Recipes to try and add to your Superbowl menu!...

A Weekly Serving - 1/22/2011

Yay for the weekend! It's a special weekend here in Chicago since our beloved Chicago Bears is going up against our northern neighbors, the Greenbay Packers for an NFL playoff game. But aside from that, this past week was still full of culinary adventures despite our restaurant kitchen being out of commission. More on that later but...

Here's what I cooked up in the kitchen this past week...

Pina Colada Bread Pudding

7 Tasty Gameday Chicken Wing Recipes you can try out… 

Stuffed Pork Chops

Stuffed Pork Chops with blue cheese, roasted red peppers and spinach...
need I say more?!

Leek & Garlic Rice Pilaf

A tasty spin on the usual rice pilaf… 

Here are the recipe collections I've posted this past week...

7 Tasty Gameday Chicken Wing Recipes

With so many Chicken Wing Recipes to choose from, you'll be ready for the big game!

10 Finger Lickin' Good Rib Recipes
Try out one of the 10 Finger Lickin’ Good Rib Recipes for the Superbowl…

My weekly musings on Family, Food and Fun...

Family - After the fire we experienced at the restaurant last week, I've had a chance to catch up on family time with my 2 favorite boys, Louis & Joel. We spent some time with my parents up in the burbs and I had more time in my home kitchen cooking and baking at my leisure, which is always a good thing! After being home more this week, I've been able to notice how quickly Joel is moving. The past month or so, he'd crawl slowly on his own and needed some prodding. But now, it's all so different. He's crawling much more on his own and is even building up speed. Joel's also been reaching more to pull himself up and over things, like his pack & play, crib, chairs and sofa. So now we're kind of in the middle of the crawling/climbing stage. We've also been working on some gestures. I wish I would've done baby sign language early on and stuck with it consistently but oh well. However, Joel's got "up up" (to be picked up) and uses it daily. Another one he has down is waving one arm for "goodbye". The most recent one he learned is "touchdown" for the big Bears vs. Packers game tomorrow. Here's his weekly pic, where he's now 37 weeks old...

Food/Restaurant News - This week was spent with special guests from California - Tita Leena & Tito Bebot. They are relatives of my partner, Ron. Tita Leena & Tito Bebot shared with us some recipes for dishes we'll be including in our restaurant menu. Another tidbit is that my partners and I are making homemade Filipino sausage (longanisa) and Filipino cured pork (tocino) to make in house and sell in our grocery store. I'm working on taking it further and selling these items wholesale to some Filipino grocery stores in the far north suburbs of Chicago where I'm originally from. I've got about 6 stores in line who are anxious to try our product and most likely will sell it at their retail stores. I'm super excited since one of those stores is a large supermarket that my mom helped build out a Filipino grocery (produce, dry & frozen) section for.   

Fun - As for fun this past week, I had a chance to spend more time with my favorite boys. We're gearing up for the Bears vs. Packers game tomorrow and will be watching the game at our friends' place.

Hope you all enjoy your weekend and have a great week ahead!... Go Bears!

Leek & Garlic Rice Pilaf

We're a rice loving family (we're Asian, so it's the norm lol) and I personally get tired of having plain steamed rice all the time. To switch things up, I often make rice pilaf or some kind of fried or toasted rice using whatever I have to work with. The most recent rice dish I made was this Leek & Garlic Rice Pilaf. It's a side dish that won't overpower main dishes, yet can stand on it's own...

10 Finger Lickin' Good Rib Recipes

The Superbowl. It's in a couple of weeks and my husband is already asking me what I'll be making for the big game. A request he had was some kind of ribs as one of the main meat dishes. I'm sure my husband isn't alone in being a rib fan, especially during Superbowl season. With so many rib recipes to choose from, it's easy to find one that suits your tastes. If you're looking for some tasty variations for ribs whether it's for the Superbowl or dinner, here are 10 Finger Lickin' Good Rib Recipes...

Stuffed Pork Chops

Finally, a night where I can cook at home! I've been craving pork chops lately and decided to make a special dinner of Stuffed Pork Chops for my family. Using some random ingredients in the fridge, I made a stuffing with blue cheese, roasted red peppers and spinach. It came out deliciously and the extra step of brining my pork chops made them super tender and moist...

7 Tasty Gameday Chicken Wing Recipes

For many Chicagoans I know, this Sunday is a big day. Our beloved Chicago Bears will be playing the long time rival, Greenbay Packers in the NFC Championship game. Aside from waiting for the Bears to demolish our neighbors of the north, friends and I are gearing up to host a traditional tailgate spread. Even if you're not planning on watching this weekend's game, you may be thinking about the Superbowl which will be coming up in a couple of weeks. With that said, now's a perfect time to plan out some gameday eats. In our family, chicken wings are a must! I've made my fair share of various chicken wing recipes so here are 7 Tasty Gameday Chicken Wing Recipes you can try out...

Pina Colada Bread Pudding

The winter blues have me thinking about summer already. So even though it's cold and snowing outside, it doesn't mean I can't enjoy tropical flavors. This Pina Colada Bread Pudding was one way for me to get a taste of summer in a comforting bread pudding. Crushed pineapples, coconut milk and a subtle hint of rum gave me a sweet little thought of sunny beaches on a getaway island...

A Weekly Serving - 1/15/2011

What a week. It was a full and busy week with nearly 60+ hours working at the restaurant to gear up for our soft opening... but it didn't quite end up as planned. Instead, I'm thankful to even be here typing up another blog post to share. More on that later but here's what I did post the past week...

Here's what I cooked up in the kitchen this past week...

Turkey Parmigiana Sliders

Grilled Chicken Flatbread

Here are the recipe collections I've posted this past week...

10 Stews to Warm Up Winter

4 Meatloaf Recipes to Slice Into

12 Pizza Recipes Fresh Out of Your Oven

Normally I'd link to blogs and recipes that caught my eye, but with my work schedule, it's made it nearly impossible to read fellow food blogs. I'll probably include links again when my schedule allows more leisure time to read!

My weekly musings on Family, Food and Fun...

Family - With the many hours I put in at the restaurant this week, I've missed my family so much. At times, I wondered how long I can maintain this type of schedule. But thankfully, this is just the crunch time before our opening. I'm grateful my family understands and has given me so much support to pursue my dream job. It's also allowed me to cherish the time I have with both my husband and son even more than I used to. This week, Joel reached his 36th week... crazy how fast time flies. In fact, here's a picture of me when I was pregnant at 34 weeks. A little over a week later, I gave birth to Joel at 35 weeks and 4 days. We were able to take him home after spending a week in the NICU and below is a pic of him at 2 weeks old. I'm so truly blessed he continues to grow and develop into such a smart and handsome little man!

 

 

Food/Restaurant News - This past week we were slinging our dishes in the kitchen like nobody's business! After nailing our recipes and ingredient ratios the previous weeks, we spent the entire week preparing our menu and focusing on presentation. We took pictures of nearly all our menu items, which you can view here on our Facebook Page. We have roughly 40+ menu items including our desserts. So then, we get to Friday night. Friday, we prepared a great deal of dishes, which we served to close friends and business associates. We had just finished cooking in the kitchen and brought out our last dessert to the group. It was a fabulous time.... a time where we all felt confident, ready and anxious for our upcoming soft opening scheduled on Tuesday, January 18th. But all that was short lived. Without getting into too many details, we noticed smoke coming from the kitchen. It was a grease fire and a very bad one at that. We have considerable damage to the kitchen as well as parts of the grocery and dining room. Right now, we're currently looking at the restaurant being closed for a couple of week, perhaps a month.

There's so much that has to be done to be back up to code so it's been a great learning experience. I'm so thankful that no one was hurt and it could have been much much worse with far more horrible circumstances. This fire has served as a perfect eye opener for our staff and we're clearly going to do some extensive training on fire safety, kitchen safety, cleaning and sanitation standards, equipment auditing and inventory auditing, etc. The whole nine yards and then some.

So our soft opening scheduled on Tuesday won't be happening but we greatly appreciate your support despite the fact. Instead, we'll be focusing on a big Grand Opening in the next few weeks once we're back in business. It's a slight relief and blessing we'll have more time to focus on our opening to ensure everything is where it needs to be, both in the front and back of the house. This is the fresh start many of our long time employees needed. If you have any vibes for a speedy recover to get things up and running sooner than planned, they'll be greatly appreciated!

Fun - All the fun I had this week was really while I was working in the kitchen. The person responsible for a lot of my smiles and laughs in the kitchen is Ray, my culinary partner in crime...

Hope you all enjoy your weekend and have a great week ahead!

12 Pizza Recipes Fresh Out of Your Oven...

Having long days at the restaurant is starting to get easier. It certainly helps to have my home kitchen stocked with a lot of pantry staples so my husband can whip up dinner with ease. One of our go to stress free meals that are quick to make is pizza. I mean, who doesn't love pizza?! We enjoy pizza quite a bit and prefer making it from scratch rather than ordering it out or buying store bought frozen ones. Even better than making pizza at home for ourselves is throwing a pizza party with friends. And with the Superbowl creeping up in a couple of weeks, a pizza party is a great way to gather friends both in the kitchen for the big game. Here are12 Pizza Recipes Fresh Out of Your Oven and a few links to inspire you to throw a pizza party with friends!...

Grilled Chicken Flatbread

Last weekend, we went out to lunch with friends at Olive Garden. I really wanted to order one of their appetizers for my meal but settled for something else. So with that appetizer still in mind, I set out to recreate it at home. Their Grilled Chicken Flatbread was a breeze to make at home, and I wouldn't be surprised if it came out better than the restaurant's version (which I have yet to do a taste test of.) If you're looking for a different spin on pizza with a restaurant flavor, this Grilled Chicken Flatbread recipe is one to try!...

4 Meatloaves to Slice Into...

It's another week of extra long days working on the restaurant. We're gearing up for our soft opening in  less than a week! So when it comes to making dinner at home, one of the easiest things I can whip together (or my husband can make) is a meaty meatloaf. By combining ground meat, spices and perhaps a few extra ingredients, you can have a tasty meal on the table in no time. The best part is that meatloaf makes for great leftovers in sandwiches too! If you're looking for a new and different meatloaf recipes to try, here are 4 Meatloaves to Slice Into...