In development... watch out for quirks and kinks.
Tuesday
March 2016
by Jen Kwan, on cake, chocolate, almond flour, flourless, baking
As with all mug cakes, a craving hit and off I went to the kitchen to experiment (after getting lost on Pinterest for 20 minutes.) With my trusty kitchen scale set under my mug I dosed in the ingredients one stage at a time combining different methods and techniques often used in baking chocolate cakes. This version involves the use of chocolate chips as well as cocoa powder giving it…
Saturday
November 2014
by Jen Kwan, on crafts
After discovering, researching, and considering the Passion Planner I decided it wasn't going to meet my needs 100%. I really liked where the Passion Planner was headed but there were some existing elements that I didn't need or more importantly, the opposite, it didn't have elements that I did need. Their planner inspired me to create one for myself completely customized to my personal planning. Disclaimer: I am not, by…
Wednesday
October 2014
by Jen Kwan, on tea, cardamom, cinnamon, beverage, chai
It's been a while, And now it's cold. Let's make something hot to drink Before this waiting-for-a-new-post thing gets old. -for marek Several weeks turned into several months. Getting settled into another country wasn't as easy as I wanted it to be. I had plans and drafts for summer recipes but as we are well into fall, I must turn to cold-weather recipes. Nothing warms like spice, multiples of them,…
Tuesday
June 2014
by Jen Kwan, on site news
Hot Lunch Club will be on full-post hiatus for several weeks as we will be making a big move in less than ten days. Stay tuned on Facebook and Instagram for quick posts here and there. Otherwise, please check back in about a month when we are all settled into our new home in Canada.…
Wednesday
June 2014
by Jen Kwan, on chicken, roasted garlic, tomato, italian, sandwich, lunch, salad
Buying whole chickens really makes one innovate as many uses out of the animal as possible. This specimen recieved a crispy oven roast of the wings and thighs served with a maple scotch BBQ pan sauce (homemade of course, it involved tomato paste.) The remainder of the chicken, breasts and carcass, were simmered down into a chicken stock thus leaving me with cooked chicken breast meat again. I'm always trying…
Friday
June 2014
by Jen Kwan, on dinner, friday, donut
Happy National Donut Day! Donuts for dinner and so not kidding about that. I not-so-secretly love donuts. Luckily, I have been away from my beloved Tim Hortons for some time and weirdly, there aren't many donut shops here in Northeastern Wisconsin. Otherwise, donuts of a wide variety would be a weekly indulgence. Current donut consumption is more of a quarterly occurence.…
Wednesday
June 2014
by Jen Kwan, on almond, apricot, granola, breakfast, cranberry, oats
Granola: Delicious. Fully customizable. (Keep your eye out for more versions in the future.) Functions as breakfast, snack, or dessert. Simple to make. This version features dried cranberries, dried apricots, and sliced almonds. Cranberry Apricot Almond Granola Dry Ingredients 3 cups old fashioned rolled oats 1 cup sliced almonds 1/4 cup quinoa flakes 2 Tbsp flax seeds 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp nutmeg 1/4 tsp salt…
Friday
May 2014
by Jen Kwan, on dinner, friday, pizza
Hot Meal Friday, first visit to Polito's Pizza Decided to follow through on the very first Hot Meal Friday post after a long awaited but brief visit to Locktender's House (before their official opening tomorrow); another wonderful injection of tasteful and appropriate coffeehouse culture by The Galt family.…
Friday
May 2014
by Jen Kwan, on friday
"Hot Meal Fridays" is a term unique to all those who attended my elementary school. One Friday each month the students all enjoyed a "Hot Meal" that we purchased through the school. It was generally catered in junk food and we absolutely loved it. Pizza was the main choice, a few times we were given the option of some fried chicken product. Dessert was a frosted donut and we chose…
Friday
May 2014
by Jen Kwan, on sandwich, lunch, salad, chicken
Chicken salad, for me, is one of those catch-all dishes that can be modified for anyone's personal taste, preference, need, or ingredient availability. It's my cold, low-carb fried rice. I love fried rice, but that's another post for another time. I generally don't enjoy chicken unless: it is cooked really moist it has crispy textured skin it is not breast meat it is doused in sauce or any combination of…
Thursday
May 2014
by Jen Kwan, on site news
The name has officially changed to Hot Lunch Club. "hotlunch.club" Yup, cool URL, eh?…
Wednesday
May 2014
by Jen Kwan, on site news
It's a sad day at Hot Dog Club. The domain registration that I had hoped for fell through so I am back to the drawing board for a name. Hot Dog Club was a fun stand in for the time being.…
Sunday
May 2014
by Jen Kwan, on pancake, cake, breakfast
What a bad photo... There will be more photos to come as more pancakes will be eaten. Over the past couple decades of my cooking career I have attempted to make decent pancakes time after time. Many problems always arose; the batter didn't spread, the pancakes didn't rise when flipped, they would burn, they would be lopsided, there would be clumps of flour in the cake, etc. Only recently (like…
Friday
May 2014
by Jen Kwan, on lunch, one pot, sauce, cheese
Macaroni and Cheese is one of my guilty pleasures. It's one of my emotional eating dishes. That first spoonful of hot, creamy, cheesey, noodley goodness is euphoric. What makes me feel more guilty is shelling out five bucks for a box of the Creamy Deluxe Annie's Mac which is less guilt-inducing than buying that blue box. (In doing research for this post I learned that the fact that I was…
Friday
April 2014
by Jen Kwan, on molassses, ingredients, brown sugar
Ever wonder what to do with all that molasses you have leftover from one batch of gingerbread you made last fall? Make brown sugar! I've been doing it for a few years now, it's one less item to forget to buy at the grocery store. That's enough reason for me. Ever encounter a dried out block of brown sugar due to improper storage? Make your own brown sugar! That's another…
Monday
April 2014
by Jen Kwan, on cake, baking, carrot, cupcake
I'm not going to write about how delightful it is to trick yourself into eating vegetables in your dessert. I love carrots and will eat them any way, so there will be no trickery involved here. They look like carrot cupcakes don't they? Well, they are, they're just a bit different. I wouldn't call this a twist, just different. First, I was in search of a simple carrot cupcake and…
Wednesday
April 2014
by Jen Kwan, on café, summer, beverage, chai
It may not be the warmest of April's so far. I'm looking out the window and there is still snow on the ground fresh from a light blizzard that blew through yesterday. Yet, after an extremely cold winter any temperature above freezing is considered balmy. Time to pull out the cold drinks. Here is a trick I learned from my days at Luna. Cold Frothed Lattes TOOLS / INGREDIENTS: a french…
Sunday
March 2014
by Jen Kwan, on sewing, learning
I have a new addiction and I want it to change my life. Craftsy offers many classes (paid or free) in varying topics from sewing to cake decorating. From what I've experienced since my discovery a day ago it looks like an amazing concept excecuted attractively, jam-packed with experienced knowledge, and on a platform completely tailored for learning spirits these days. SEWING My paternal grandfather was a tailor by profession,…
Thursday
March 2014
by Jen Kwan, on bar, fruit, cookie, oats, baking
In preparation for things to come, my boyfriend and I are attempting to empty our pantry out item by item. Today's special two items: blackberry preserves rolled oats The blackberry preserves in question had been sitting in our fridge untouched since the first taste because it was over-sweetened. Attempting to balance it out with some oats didn't really cut it. The bars would work out well with any preserve/jam/…
Thursday
February 2014
by Jen Kwan, on muffin, breakfast, orange, cranberry, baking
Cranberry + orange is one of my favourite flavour combinations especially when baked into breakfast sweets such as muffins, scones, and quickbreads. These are modified from this recipe using ingredients that I had on hand. Since I did not have oranges or orange juice, I substituted in seasonal mandarin oranges. After the oranges were zested I peeled them, blended the flesh, and "juiced" them through a fine sieve. It seemed like…
Tuesday
February 2014
by Jen Kwan, on chocolate chips, coconut, oats, baking, cookies
These cookies were recommended to me by a coworker. They are sweet, crunchy, and chewy with just a touch of chocolate. I halved this recipe from the King Arthur Flour archives. There are a few deviations dependant on ingredient availability in my kitchen and personal preferences. The essential crisp rice cereal is not pictured but we can all imagine that iconic blue box standing in the back right row there.…
Saturday
February 2014
by Jen Kwan, on chicken, dutch oven, stock, soup
Homemade Chicken Stock TOOLS 5 1/2 quart enameled cast iron dutch oven spider mixing bowl ladle fat separator fine mesh sieve 2 quart food container INGREDIENTS 1 whole organic chicken 4 medium carrots 1/2 large onion 1 tsp whole peppercorns 1/2 tsp dried rosemary 1 bay leaf METHOD Removed chicken from it's packaging, fed the gizzards to the cats. Popped out chicken legs at the hip joint…
Sunday
February 2014
by Jen Kwan
... Jen is FINALLY starting a web log. It has been suggested to me on multiple occcasions. "Why don't you start a food blog!?" Well, here it is folks. The beginning. Me sharing my loves, one of which just happens to be the endlessly evolving, ever popular, incredibly edible, food. Life without food is scientifically impossible and vice versa (blah, blah, blah) thus this record will not remain singular to what…
I'm Jen and this is where I post words you might enjoy reading accompanied by photos that may entice you. There is a definite focus on edible topics here so please do indulge in taking a peek into my kitchen.
The site is still in its infancy so please bear with me as I learn to build my very own food blog (from scratch as much as possible, just like my food.) -J