Semi-Homemade - Nestle Tollhouse Cookies!

Drew has made batches of these the past few days and boy, I'm hooked! For those craving newly-baked cookies and don't want to bother with actually putting them together from scratch, your answer is Nestle's Tollhouse ready-to-bake cookie dough! Just place them on the cookie sheet by the spoonfulls and within minutes, you're savoring the gooey, chocolatey goodness of these cookies.

Eating them the next day? No problem! Zap them in the microwave for no more than 15 seconds and you can enjoy them as if they were fresh out of the oven.

Bistro Luneta - brunch review

Bistro Luneta in San Mateo, CA has been known to be the Filipino-French fusion cuisine mecca of the Bay Area. I had the chance of trying out Bistro Luneta a few years back and while the food is tasty, unique, and served as single servings (not family-style), the items are a bit pricier. The restaurant is simple with high-ceilings and blown-up replicas of photographs of Manila from times past that line the walls. The open kitchen is very modern and there's even seating at a small bar where you can literally watch the chefs at work. Most patrons of Bistro Luneta are Caucasians. I have witnessed this a few times already, so it can only mean that whatever they're doing is catering to more than just Filipinos.

I met up with an old friend for brunch here and the weekend brunch menu was typical, and again, with a twist. I had the tapsilog or tapa (thinly sliced seasoned beef quickly fried) plate pictured here. The tapa was made with ribeye steak and it was oh-so-tender. To the right is a jelly version of the "suka sawsawan" or vinegar dipping sauce. The garlic rice just nice and running in the middle was some chopped up red egg with tomatoes and cucumbers. I had two (smaller-sized) eggs done over easy to complete my plate. It was delicious! My only complaint? Not enough beef!

To finish off my brunch, I ordered Bistro Luneta's barako creme brulee. I had to order this because it's at Bistro Luneta that I first saw this on the menu and other restaurants who try to have this on their menu never seem to ever have it when I order it (Intramuros). This dessert is different than I have ever had. It's creme brulee based, but flavored with "barako" which is comparable to espresso! The strong coffee was just right and kept me on my toes for the rest of the day. I let my friend have a couple of spoons, but if you were to ask me, I probably could have finished off another order.

The weekend brunch menu also had Filipino versions of brunch staples such as eggs benedict and mimosas, but I stayed away. On the menu, it stated that the eggs benedict were made with pan de sal (so probably, two inches across is generous?) and the mimosas were made with calamansi juice and bubbly. Maybe next time when I'm not so hungry. :)

All in all, Bistro Luneta is "just fine" for a brief brunch meal. My friend would probably not agree so quickly. She found nothing she liked off the weekend brunch menu (because we were accidentally given the weekly brunch menu where she already had picked out her order but the chef said we could not have) and for coffee, well, they didn't have any cream choices but half and half. My friend ended up ordering bachoy (soup with pork and noodles) and she actually shared some with me. Within minutes though, I found the soup and noodles cold. Maybe the high ceilings had something to do with it or maybe the cool winter weather. Whatever the reason was for that, I don't know, but I tend to like my soup on the hotter side.

There's just one thing to do: try Bistro Luneta for yourself and you can make your own judgment...

Under-grilled Fare: TRIBU GRILL, Union City - restaurant review

A cold and dreary evening without dinner made at home found us navigating towards Tribu Grill in Union City. We've been to the Tribu Grill in San Bruno, CA and were not wowed. We were hungry and a quick look inside this branch made us go inside and order.

The ambiance was definitely better than the San Bruno branch. This one boasted of three large screen TVs that were not even tuned in to TFC! The place is definitely bigger than the cramped San Bruno restaurant and with baby in tow, there was plenty of room to rock the stroller while we ate.

I knew that Tribu Grill is known for their chicken inasal, but looking at the menu, they only offered the chicken with garlic rice, sort of a rice plate. We really wanted to order it a la carte and while one of the servers said we could order it a la carte, the other said the kitchen could not do it. I thought it was odd, as we were going to pay whatever the reasonable cost is for a la carte and we did want to try it; instead, we ended up ordering grilled liempo which came under-grilled. You could tell that the liempo was pre-cooked (boiled), then slapped on the grill, which would have been okay, but it just was not grilled enough. (top picture above) The pork was pale and I'm actually not sure if this was liempo because I did not see the recognizable fat strip, which is my favorite part.

We also ordered beef salpicao (bottom picture above) and that was tender and a bit salty and Worcestershire sauce-tasting. I also had the melon shake because I remembered I liked it a lot from the San Bruno branch, but this version came a bit bland and too foamy. About half of the glass was actual beverage.

Our total bill came close to $60 and with food that we weren't totally satisfied with, it was a bit expensive. Ambiance, great. Food, so-so. It all brings me back again to my little Filipino restaurant pet peeve, that we end up paying top dollar for food that we can actually cook better at home.

Breakfast Sandwiches Save My Mornings

It's mornings like today's when en route to work, I make a pit stop at the corner Lee's Deli for a breakfast sandwich. I prefer Lee's breakfast sandwiches because they are made fresh, home-made like, in front of your eyes, and yes, the cheese melts as the sandwich is assembled together. Lee's breakfast sandwich pictured here consists of sausage, scrambled egg, cheddar cheese, all between an English muffin. Yum!! For $3.50, these hot sandies with a bottle of juice makes my not-so-perfect mornings oh-so-much better.

Other days when budget is tighter and time is of the essence, I swing by my other reliable breakfast sandwich source: McDonald's! McDonald's sausage muffin with egg tastes like fast-food, but it's cheap ($1.25) and can be eaten on the go (read: while driving).

With a full stomach and hopefully not so much cheese drippings on my top, I'm ready for whatever work throws my way!

Got Benedicts? STACKS - restaurant review

There's nothing like brunch consisting of eggs benedict. Stacks in Burlingame, CA is so far, the only place I know who serves eggs benedicts daily. Other brunch places make it their specials for weekends only, so having eggs benedicts on "any old day" at Stacks is pretty sweet! (Well, not literally!)

Stacks not only has eggs benedicts, but they have other versions of the benedicts with hollandaise sauce as well: eggs louis (crab meat, spinach) & eggs florentine (ham, spinach). Pictured above is a combination. They don't serve it as such, but if you're lucky enough to go with someone who will split theirs with you (Thanks, Drew), all the other benedicts are worth a try! The hollandaise sauce is fresh and has not been sitting under a lamp and is free-flowing and not rubbery. The eggs are just poached to perfection--runny yolk, the way poached eggs are supposed to be!

Going to Stacks should be done first thing in the morning when they open at 7am. Otherwise, be prepared to wait for long lines easily form outside the free coffee they have right outside. They close at 2:30pm. I frequent the Stacks in Burlingame for ease of parking. There are other locations in Menlo Park and San Francisco (Hayes Street), too.

Stacks was introduced to me by a dear old friend some 12 years ago and ever since, I have known it to be an excellent breakfast place. While the benedicts are my favorite, I have also tried their omelets (while I was pregnant) and they don't disappoint!

Go try Stacks for yourself and you'll leave happy.

Craving Lechon? TASTEBUDS- restaurant review

Filipino restaurants amuse me. Trying out a new place always becomes an adventure, because we don't know: Is it a greasy spoon place? Will the food be tasty? Will we waste our time and just hope we cooked the food ourselves?

Tastebuds in San Bruno, California, is a fairly new discovery for me. At first, because the restaurant did not have a Pinoy-sounding name, I was not even convinced they served Filipino food! But many trips to other Pinoy restaurants after, Tastebuds is now the restaurant-of-the-moment for me.

For starters, they have lechon! Yes, lechon! It is served only on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, but ordering lechon by the pound is one surefire way to attract customers. Having been to Tastebuds on a Friday, a Saturday, and a Sunday, I have to admit that Friday lechon is the best. The skin (the best part of the lechon hands down) is golden and crispy, the meat is succulent and moist. Perhaps on Fridays, the lechon is newly cooked and come Sunday, Mr. Piggy has been under the lamp too long? The sarsa (lechon dipping sauce) is made from scratch--how else can one appreciate the lechon? Sorry, Mang Tomas.

Ordering lechon is by the pound. At $12 a pound, it's quite worth it. Left-over lechon is made into paksiw available at all times from the menu. Most of the other items on the menu don't disappoint. We had fish steamed in banana leaf (Pinasingawang Isda) and that tasted like it lacked patis (Filipino fish sauce) or asin (salt). Otherwise, we go to Tastebuds mainly for the lechon.

Tastebuds also does catering and private parties--none of which I have tried. For those needs, I find it best to just cook at home. In summary, Tastebuds is affordable, has great lechon, and is clean. No greasy spoons here!

Tastebuds is located 582 San Bruno Ave WSan Bruno, CA 94066(650) 544-4408
http://www.tastebudscuisine.com/

Crunchy, Sweet, Goodness... SNICKERDOODLES - cookie recipe

Christmas is in two days! Today is the second day in a row I suffered a "sugar crash" mid-morning. My co-worker, Lynda, has brought in snickerdoodles to work since last week. I tried one and now I'm addicted. Lynda brought more in yesterday; I must have had 6 cookies! These sumptuous cookies are loaded with sugar! They're perfect with hot coffee on cold mornings. In the meantime, my sister also baked up a batch of sugar cookies, so I have been eating those, too! No wonder for the sugar crash!

Here's Lynda's snickerdoodles recipe:

1/2 c butter

1/2 c shortening

1 1/2 c sugar

2 eggs

2 3/4 c flour

2 tsp cream of tartar

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

Cream together butter, shortening, sugar, and eggs. Blend in dry ingredients. Shape into balls and roll in 2 tbsp sugar & 2 tsp cinammon (you might need a bit more, though, to cover all cookies). Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet (or parchment paper). Bake for 8 to 10 minutes at 400 degrees. Enjoy & don't crash! LOL!!