Chocolate Pecan Crinkles

As the girls and I were wrapping Christmas presents yesterday, I suddenly felt a tinge of sadness welling up inside me...and it was because I terribly miss my mom. You see, gift wrapping was one of those many things I enjoyed doing with her. I can still remember how much fun we had wrapping presents together. But I must admit that it was actually the after-gift-wrapping snacks that I enjoyed the most. After every gift wrapping session, my mom would serve chocolate crinkles and hot chocolate(which during my time was either Milo or Ovaltine). I'm sure you all know what Chocolate Crinkles are. They are those yummy chocolate cookies coated with confectioners sugar that "crinkles" or "cracks" as the cookies bake. I love them since I was a kid until now, not just because they are delicious but much more because they remind me of the fun times I had with my mother.

To brighten up my mood, I thought of baking Chocolate Crinkles. Clarise and Cherlin both love these soft, fudge-like chocolate cookies, and they enjoy helping me make them too. So instead of finishing the gift wrapping task, the three of us headed to the kitchen and made these delicious treats instead.

I'm sure my mom would love this version with ground pecans. It adds a bit of flavor but keeps the cookies smooth and soft.

Check it out! They are so easy to make and such perfect holiday treats for you and your family. These delightful cookies are good  Christmas presents too!

BBQ Pork Ribs with Creamy Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Hope you are all having a wonderful Monday! I know I'm posting kinda late again! I was having a lazy day, that's why! Ryan was off from work and the girls were on Fall break last week, so after a week of family fun, staying up late and then sleeping until 10am, it was really hard for me to motivate myself to get my Monday started. Anyway, I am here now, ready to share with you part of the yumminess we enjoyed last Thanksgiving Day.

Since we don't have relatives here in the DFW area, we always celebrate Thanksgiving with friends who are like second family to us. We have a very good friend who has her whole family here (her parents and siblings included), and it has been like a tradition already that we spend Thanksgiving dinner with them every year. But even though we're not the hosts, we still do a lot of cooking. We are always in charge of the roast turkey and some sides and dessert. Aside from that, I always cook something for the four of us to enjoy during lunch, and for this year, it is BBQ pork ribs with creamy mashed potatoes and gravy on the side. As we wait for the big feast with all the traditional Thanksgiving food, we satisfy ourselves with this tender pork ribs and creamy garlic mashed potatoes...

The pork ribs is almost the same as the one I shared with you last week, but instead of stir-fried, Ryan volunteered to grill the parboiled ribs which is more appropriate to go with the mashed potatoes that the girls requested. Basting it with the same barbeque and Hawaiian sauce mixture I used with the stir-fried one made this version equally yummy... 

Homemade Pecan Pie and A Happy Thanksgiving

-Picture was taken on Thanksgiving 2010-

It's Thanksgiving Day here in the US and as I reflect on all my many blessings, I want to share with you some things I am most thankful for. This is actually a list I made 2 years ago on Facebook Notes when I wasn't part of the blogosphere yet. Today, I want to share that list (with some additions) with you, my beloved readers with the hope of showing how good life is, no matter who you are...

1. I am thankful to God for His care, goodness, love, mercy and His grace which is more than enough for each new day. I am thankful for my faith which enables me to have extreme confidence in all areas of my life, knowing there is a divine plan for everything.

2. I am thankful for the kindness, compassion, patience and unconditional love that I got from two of the most important people in my life - my wonderful parents who taught me everything there is to learn by mere example of their lives.

3. I am thankful for the wonderful family that I have been blessed with...my parents, my brother, my grandparents, my aunts, uncles and cousins from the Flores, Lopez & Aguila sides. We have always been extremely close and I have always felt blessed to have so many wonderful people in my life.

4. I am thankful for the family I found when I married Ryan. The De Guzman’s and Mendoza’s have always been supportive & so loving, and are truly a good substitute for my own.

5. I am thankful for getting up each morning to the warm kisses of my husband. He’s such a wonderful man who inspires me daily, works so hard, and loves and understands me no matter what, like no one ever has!

6. I am thankful for my daughters who give me endless happiness and sometimes, headaches. They give me the reason to get up and keep going everyday. I’m thankful for being able to watch them grow and learn, and for all the games, stories, hugs, kisses, laughter and love we share.

7. I am thankful for all the love from family, relatives and friends that I experience in my life every single day which makes me see the beauty of life.

8. I am thankful for friends near and far…in real life & online for the joy and laughter they bring…for all the memories they help create.

9. I am thankful for our home...it's not big and gets too crowded at times but it's always filled with love and laughter (and sometimes, chaos because of sibling rivalry) and I will never trade that for anything in this world. 

10. I am thankful for my creativity, my artistic mind and hands that bring smiles to my loved ones.

11. I am thankful for my blog, Pinay In Texas Cooking Corner...my very own space where I can share my passion for cooking not only with my family and friends, but with the whole world.

12. I am thankful to the blogging community and you, my blog readers who never fail to make me feel that I am not blogging for nothing. Your unending support keeps me on my toes and make all the time and effort I put into this blog so worthwhile.

13. I am so thankful for modern science…for the internet…for my iPhone 4S...for yahoo…for facebook...for Skype. Keeping in touch with my family & friends from anywhere in the world is a lot easier!!!

14. I am thankful for nature which my family loves...its wonderful color that pleases my eyes...the lake and the sea where Ryan and Clarise could fish...the beautiful flowers, butterflies and birds that give Cherlin delight.

15. I am thankful for the hard times. Hard times keep me on track. They give me great empathy and some wisdom. I learn from them, and they make me proud to see myself growing rather than shrinking away afraid.

Life is tough, and it is so easy to give in to the stress of daily life and complain about all the things we think are wrong with our lives. We always see what we don't have instead of what we have...bad things instead of good ones. But life is good and God has given us a a lot to be thankful for! We should just open our eyes and learn to count our blessings more than our sorrows, never overlooking the small ones. 

Through this post, I wish that you will always find gratefulness in your heart, no matter what situation you face in life. This is what full gratitude means, and this is what Thanksgiving Day is all about.

As we celebrate Thanksgiving Day here, these are my wishes for all of you...May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be… May you turn your whole life over to Him and never cease to give Him thanks…May you keep gratitude alive in your heart and make every day Thanksgiving Day!!!

Today, let me share with you one of the all-time favorite Thanksgiving desserts I fell in love with since the first time I had it in Thanksgiving Day of 2004...Pecan Pie, that is. I made it last night for the potluck Thanksgiving dinner that we'll go to tonight. I just love how easy it is to make! Even if you make the pie crust from scratch like I did, you'll have a delicious homemade pecan pie in no time! 

Stir Fried Pork Spare Ribs with Bell Pepper and Green Onions and Macy's Thanksgiving Giveaway Winner

Thanksgiving is almost here..and if you're still thinking of something different that you can add to your Thanksgiving menu, here's another tasty dish that will surely please your whole family and your guests as well! 

This Stir Fried Pork Spare Ribs with Bell Pepper and Green Onions is very easy to prepare. The only difficult part in making this is waiting for it to cook so you can enjoy its finger licking goodness!!!

"Arroz TapLog" - Beef and Egg Arroz Caldo for KCC Challenge

Today, I bring to you my take on this month's Kulinarya Cooking Club Challenge. For those of you who haven't heard of Kulinarya Cooking Club, it is a group of foodies who are passionate about the Filipino culture and its colorful cuisine. You know that my blog's main objective is to share the goodness of Filipino Cuisine, so I'm sure you can imagine how proud I am to be a member of this awesome club! 

Each month, the club showcases a Filipino dish with the hope of sharing its members' passion and love for Filipino food. For this month, the chosen theme is Arroz Caldo which is one of the most favorite comfort food among Filipinos. Arroz Caldo which is often thought of as one of those Filipino dishes that's of Spanish origin came from the Spanish words, Arroz which means "rice" and Caldo which means "broth"), but is actually an adaptation of the Chinese congee or porridge. It is a thick rice porridge that is flavored with garlic, ginger, onion and safflower (kasubha). The latter is our local saffron which gives Arroz Caldo an appealing aroma and a bright yellow tinge.

In the Philippines, when you say Arroz Caldo, you are actually referring to chicken rice porridge because that's the most common version of this dish. But I've already posted my Chicken Arroz Caldo recipe during my first month of blogging...

...so for this month's Kulinarya Challenge, I thought of making another version which I call "Arroz TapLog". It's Arroz Caldo with Tapa (Cured Beef) and Itlog (Egg). It's kinda like my favorite breakfast, Tapsilog, but in this one, I paired the beef and egg with Arroz Caldo instead of sinangag (fried rice).

Back when I was growing up, my mom loved making Arroz Caldo especially during tag-ulan or rainy season which is from June to November and during tag-lamig or cold season which is from December to February. The Chicken version is what my mom cooked often...but I remember how she would make Beef Arroz Caldo whenever any family member was feeling under the weather. I guess for her, serving this version of Arroz Caldo makes a sick person feel more special and cared for because beef is a lot more expensive than chicken. :) 

Thoughts of my mom's tender loving care inspired me to create this Arroz Taplog for Kulinarya. The flavor of beef tapa gave a twist to the usual Arroz Caldo that my family enjoys.  But I must tell you that no matter what meat is in your Arroz Caldo, it will always bring that comforting and healing effect to your body! The flavors of garlic, ginger, onion and safflower combined with rice and broth is what makes it so filling and satisfying! Whether you're feeling under the weather or just having a tough day, a nice hot bowl of Arroz Caldo will definitely make you feel better!


Don't miss our Macy's Thanksgiving Giveaway!!!

Garlic Chicken Wings and Button Mushrooms

Thanksgiving Day is almost here! Whether you have the honor of hosting a Thanksgiving dinner at home, or  you'll just be bringing a dish to a potluck party, thinking of the perfect food to prepare for your family and friends can be difficult. If you're still looking for recipe ideas for your Thanksgiving feast, you should check out Macy's Recipe Share on Facebook. There you'll find favorite Holiday recipes for appetizer, side dish, main course and dessert shared by Macy's fans. And while you're there, and you have your own favorite recipe to share, you might as well do so for a chance to win awesome prizes like $1000 Macy's gift card and a signed copy of Marcus Samuelsson's "New American Table" cookbook.
 
By the way, if you haven't entered our MACY's Thanksgiving Giveaway, you may still do so until   November 21, 2011 - 9PM CST! This is open to all U.S. residents. One lucky winner will be chosen via random.org, and will win a Martha Stewart Professional Cookware of his choice from these three items: 

-  Ceramic Covered Casserole Dish 
-  Hand Anodized Fry Pans (set of 3)
-  Stainless Steel 15” Roaster with Roasting Rack

 

Today, I'm sharing with you another family favorite! Just as I've mentioned before, we all love mushrooms here. But it's not only mushrooms that made this dish our favorite. This has chicken wings too which we love a lot! With mushrooms and chicken wings combined, you can just imagine how happy we all are whenever we have this on our dinner table! This very easy to prepare but totally great tasting Garlic Chicken Wings and Button Mushrooms can be served either as an appetizer or part of the main course. You can never go wrong with chicken wings and mushrooms, right?

Beef Morcon and Macy's Thanksgiving Giveaway

Growing up in a country where there's no Thanksgiving celebration, I was at lost as to what to prepare when we first had our first Thanksgiving here in Texas. We relocated here from the Philippines a week before Thanksgiving Day in 2004, and though we were invited by a friend to celebrate with them, I decided to cook something that we can bring. I searched over the internet about what's usually served on a Thanksgiving feast, and though I wanted to be adventurous and try cooking a usual Thanksgiving dish, I opted to just make something that I'm used to prepare. Beef Morcon, which is a favorite holiday food in the Philippines was one of them...and surprisingly, it was a hit not only to our friend's Filipino guests but also to the American ones!  

This will be the 8th time that we're celebrating Thanksgiving here, and though I've been preparing traditional American Thanksgiving food (like roast turkey, mashed potatoes & green bean casserole) since our second time, Beef Morcon is one of those Filipino food that I love making for Thanksgiving. I don't know if it's simply because it was my late Mom's favorite dish to cook for my birthday (which falls on Christmas Day) or it's my way of looking back to our first Thanksgiving celebration 7 years ago. Well I guess both are good reasons...but I must say that Beef Morcon is certainly a dish to love.

Let me share with you my Mom's Beef Morcon recipe that I altered a bit. You will find this dish irresistible, and you definitely won't regret if you'll make this a part of your Thanksgiving or Holiday feast. It's such a good addition to the usual star of the dinner table, Mr. Gobble Gobble Turkey. The best thing about Beef Morcon is that you can prepare it ahead of time!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

The sudden drop in temperature here in our side of the world is making me and the girls feel a bit under the weather lately. I guess it's that time of the year again when our bodies are having a difficult time adjusting from the extremely hot Texas summer to the cold fall temperature. We've been bothered by cough and cold for days now. This is not a good thing especially for me because a simple cold can really wipe me out, and when cough hits me, it tends to linger longer than it should. In times like this, there's just one thing that kinda help me feel better...and that is a steaming bowl of soup. For me, (and I guess for everyone else), nothing beats a nice bowl of homemade soup when you're down with a cold. It's just so good in helping loosen congestion and  keeping the body hydrated. Everyday since Tuesday, I've been making soup. I cooked Chicken Tinola last Tuesday, then Wednesday we had Ground Pork Macaroni Soup. Last night, I thought of making this Chicken Tortilla Soup. I guess I didn't have enough of it at a friend's party last Sunday, that's why I decided to make my own.

This is actually my first time to cook tortilla soup, and I created this recipe based on how I remember it from last Sunday. We all think that it tasted the same (even better according to Ryan). I guess the only difference is that I used chicken strips instead of shredded, fresh tomatoes instead of canned and I added black beans. I must say that I really find it so flavorful and truly soothing! As I write this post, I am enjoying another hot bowl of it! Want some??? Well, here it is...I am sharing it with you virtually right now...:)

Pancit Bihon with Stir-Fried Ground Beef and Mixed Vegetables

Of all the Chinese influences to the Filipino Cuisine, I must say that noodles has been my most favorite since I was little. My mom used to cook all kinds of noodles common in the Philippines - bihon, canton, miki and sotanghon, in many different ways depending on what other ingredients are available in our refrigerator. I grew up having pancit (noodles) for lunch or dinner frequently, which could be chicken, seafood, pork or plain vegetable pancit. On special occasions, we usually have my mom's supreme pancit which has all the ingredients mentioned. But I don't remember her cooking it with beef. I am not sure if it's because beef takes longer to cook or because it is more expensive. Well, I guess it's the latter.  

The other week, the girls requested for Stir Fried Ground Beef with Mixed Veggies. Instead of serving it with rice, I thought of serving it with bihon noodles. Clarise and Cherlin both love anything noodles so I wasn't surprise when they both asked for a second serving. Ryan, on the other hand, is not a big fan of bihon, but I guess it was also good enough for him. The only thing he complained about is why I didn't cook more! :)

Before going to the recipe, let me announce the prize for our "Recreating PiTCC Recipes in Your Kitchen" Facebook Photo Contest! It will be a $50 Visa Gift Card and Lynn Alley's 50 Simple Soups for the Slow Cooker recipe book (worth $16.99). You don't need to be a blogger to join! This is open to all fans of Pinay In Texas Cooking Corner on Facebook. All you have to do is to submit a photo of any of our recipes that you recreated, and that's it. The photo with the most "likes" will win. For the complete contest details, just visit our Facebook Page! :)

And now, here's my Pancit Bihon with Stir-Fried Ground Beef and Mixed Vegetables recipe. Wishing you all a wonderful Wednesday!!!

Chicken and Broccoli Stir Fry with Dried NM Red Chiles

Last month, I got 6 cans of Hatch Diced Green Chiles and a pound of dried New Mexico Red Chiles for winning in MJ's Kitchen's New Mexico Red and Green Chile Giveaway! The hubs & I both love spicy food so we were both excited to try how hot these New Mexico Chiles are.

The first I tried using are the red ones. I thought of adding three pods of it to my classic version of Chicken and Broccoli Stir Fry. Since the package says "Medium", I assumed that the red chiles would be just sweet and mellow, so I didn't take out all the membranes and seeds from the pods. And I was right! 3 pods of the dried NM Red Chiles just gave my Chicken and Broccoli Stir Fry the perfect kick which my daughters called "kid-friendly". Clarise and Cherlin loved the sweet flavor it added to the dish.

If you want it "hotter", leave all the seeds and membranes to the pods or double the number of the red chiles you will use. :)

Homemade Beef Chili

November is finally here...and now that the cold weather has returned to Texas, my thoughts once again seem to be focused on food that provides warmth and comfort. Next to Filipino cold weather comfort food like Arroz Caldo, Tinolang Manok or Tahong, Beef or Pork Nilaga, and Fish or Pork Sinigang, Beef Chili has become a household favorite! We actually love chili anytime of the year...but we find it so perfect during fall and winter. It's so good and easy to make, and with saltine crackers, it's enough to stand alone as a meal.  

Here's one of my Beef Chili recipes which my family consider to be one of the "best cold weather meals prepared by mommy"! :) I always use home cooked beans for this. Though beans take time to cook, you can leave it unattended for most part, so I still  go for it! At least I am sure that there's no sodium and preservatives in it, and they taste better and aren't mushy as the canned ones.

According to the girls, my beef chili has the perfect flavor and just enough spice to warm them up. They really love it --- actually, we all do! Check it out and see for yourself! ;)
 

Godiva Pumpkin Spice Coffee Flavored Cinnamon Rolls & Frozen Pumpkin Spice Coffee

More than a month ago, I received this wonderful gift in the mail...

Yes, Godiva Coffee again! But this time, it's Godiva's limited edition fall flavors: Pumpkin Spice and Caramel Pecan Bark. As I've mentioned before, I am not much of a coffee drinker. But the hubs is...and though he's not a flavored coffee person, he loves anything pumpkin and pecan so he was really so excited that I got this gift as part of Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program with Godiva. Ryan had tried both flavors and he said they are both good but he likes the Pumpkin Spice more. He really likes the combination of pumpkin, cinnamon and nutmeg flavors and finds it so perfect on a cool fall morning.

Yesterday, I thought of  giving myself the chance to experience how  good it is. Not as a regular hot coffee drink though. I made cinnamon rolls with it - Godiva Pumpkin Spice Coffee Flavored Cinnamon Rolls.

Sounds good??? Well it doesn't only sound good, it tastes really good too! The flavor of Godiva Pumpkin Spice Coffee worked so well in cinnamon rolls...and we all love it! Immediately after these cinnamon rolls came out of the oven, Ryan had one roll with a cup of plain and strong Godiva Pumpkin Spice Coffee. The girls had it with hot chocolate. And me...Guess what I paired it with!

I made myself this cold coffee treat...which is blended ¾ cup brewed Godiva Pumpkin Spice coffee, ¼ cup heavy whipping cream, 1/3 cup caramel syrup and 1 cup ice cubes, topped with cool whip & a little chocolate syrup. Hmmmm...it was so perfect with cinnamon roll!

This morning, the girls and I each had another roll with a glass of hot milk. We really love it! I'm definitely making these cinnamon rolls again! I better get some more packs of Godiva Pumpkin Spice Coffee before they're gone! 

If you want to try it for yourself, you can get $2 off Godiva Coffee coupons here.