Bo's Place Girls' Night Out

Bo’s Place is hosting the Fourth Annual Girls’ Night Out: Champagne and Cherry Blossoms on March 25, 2010 from 6-10 pm at Warehouse Live along with Guys’ Night Out: Betting on Bo’s Place in the other half of the venue.

Two Events, One Roof, One Cause! For the Girls, it will be an evening of bubbles, baubles, browsing and bites chaired by Lynn Russell, Kelly Russell McWherter and Whitney Bruegel Russell.

There are 30 wonderful merchants (including Michael's Cookie Jar) who will be displaying the hottest trends for Spring. Our goal for the girls is to raise $156,000 to go towards the ongoing, free grief support services for children and adults, pregnancy loss programs, and general operating expenses.

New Bakery Renovations Continue

We're really excited that the city approved the renovation plans for Michael's Cookie Jar at 5330 Weslayan! Construction is underway with an estimated opening this summer. We'll keep you updated via this blog and Twitter. The bakery is to the left of "Vee's Tailor and Alterations." How convenient! And the Post Office is to the left of the flag pole.

The former "Village Table" had a fir down and built-in counter that was beautiful but it was not configured to our needs.

The removal of the counter led to a dilemma because now there were tiles missing from the wall and floor. Luckily, we found extra tiles and grout above the walk-in cooler. We were still short some floor tile. Since this tile was no longer available, the contractor found one with a similar pattern and cut it to size.

It matches pretty good!

In the back area, there was a large, empty area near the pot washing sink that was perfect for the ovens.

The hood and back splash are now installed and we'll have the oven delivered soon! The next big project is to convert the walk-in cooler to a freezer.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! We had a great holiday season at Michael’s Cookie Jar and hope you did too!

We have chosen to feature weddings in January for several reasons. Firstly, there's a statistic that says more engagements take place over the Christmas holiday than any other time of the year. So, naturally, these young couples start their planning in January, which leads to the second reason.

January and February are flush with bridal events in Houston. This year, Michael's Cookie Jar is participating in the Dream Weddings Bridal Show in the Woodlands. This fantastic event takes place on January 30 & 31 at the Woodlands Waterway Marriott Hotel & Convention Center. Get your tickets on-line and save $5.00 (at the Dream Weddings link above) or get a free ticket from me if you schedule a cookie consultation before January 30! Tickets purchased at the door are $15.00.

But, I think the most important reason for featuring weddings in January is that the New Year is a time of new beginnings and renewed hope. Your engagement is a wonderful begining to a lifetime of sharing and happiness. All the best to you!

Cookie Cake photograph by Adam Nyholt photographer

Bellaire Art Festival

It's that time of year again! Join the Southwest Chamber and Houston Civic Arts Association this Saturday, October 17th as we present the Bellaire Fall Art Festival on Paseo Park. Bring the whole family and enjoy great art from local and regional artists, entertainment, food, face painting and what is supposed to be some great weather! Michael's Cookie Jar will be there with Halloween cookies, soft-baked Americana cookies, brownies and more!

When: Saturday, October 17, 9am - 5pm

(RAIN DATE on Sunday, October 18)

Where: Paseo Park - in the Bellaire Blvd. esplanade (@ S. Rice Ave.)

MCJ Secures New Location

For the past three years, Michael's Cookie Jar has been sharing a commercial kitchen with the Bavarian Cakery. While being "baking roommates" has been very beneficial for the past three years, the time has come for us to move into our own kitchen and open up a retail bakery.

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After an 18 month search, a great location has been found! Formerly "The Village Table," this location in West U (a city within the Houston city limits) comes virtually ready to move in!
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It comes ready with a walk-in freezer, pot sink, dishwasher, mop sink, hand sinks, tile floors and ADA compliant bathrooms. While these are not terribly "sexy" things, they are required for a commericial kitchen. We'll add a hood for the oven and then our equipment and, of course, a display case.

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A move-in date has not been set yet, but it could be as early as Thanksgiving, but not later than the first week of January. We'll have a "grand opening" sometime in the first few months of 2010.

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In the meantime, some electrical work will be done, as well as making sure everything is up to code for the health department.

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Check back periodically to see new updates! There is a way to set your computer to automatically notify you when updates are made, but I don't know how to do that. The photos here show the space as it is today. I'll have exterior photos on the next post.

Halloween Creativity

Autumn lends itself well to cookies! The colors and flavors of the fall season naturally conjures up colorful images and sweet flavors. For this year, I've enlisted the talents of my sister, Leigh Hannan. She is a Illustrator and specializes in colorful pen and ink drawings for "surface treatments." Surface treatments are things like napkins, coffee cups, plates, stationary, stamps, embroidery and so on. I encourage you to visit her website to see all her designs! I also encourage you to visit Michael's Cookie Jar to see all our delicious buttery cookies for Halloween.

This autumn we begin the "decorated cookie season" with a Michael's Cookie Jar exclusive! A quick drawing on the back of an old production sheet became the inspiration for a new cookie design! Our creative culinarians transformed the drawing into a one-of-a-kind cutter and voila! We have our whimsical scarecrow looking for ways to charm you! Click here to see our complete Autumn Collection.