STICKY Christmas Countdown!

christmas bonus!!!

And 13th month pays are in! Woohoo! Surely, even if you spend a lot during Christmas, all these bonuses from your employer will tide you over til the next payday. Right? RIGHT?? No? Oh well, you can always do cash advance or get a payday loan right? I sure hope so! It won't be cool if you get in debt during Christmas. That's just sad! =( As for me, I'm unemployed in real life but because of blogging, I have more than enough money to celebrate the holidays with style! Hehe! Also, my boyfriend got his Christmas bonus early and we went shopping for gifts. We even finished Christmas shopping for our family first week of December! Anyhoo, I still have gifts to buy -- this time online and of course, it's gonna be FOOD! This is a food blog after all. Hehe! Take a load of these delectable gift goodies from DelightfulDeliveries.com --

Imagine giving a food basket worth more than $100!!! Man, aren't you a big spender?? LOL! But that expensive gift basket contains premium baked stuff, some imported wine, and lots of gorgeous food blings. I certainly wouldn't mind receiving it! But I would certainly mind giving it, hahaha! I'm sure I'd get in debt if I send $100 gift baskets to all my friends I care about =) Still, no worries, there are payday loans to tide me over til next year if ever it will come to that horrible situation. Hehe!

want FREE recipes??

I got one! And it's another cookie recipe, hehe! This time you need to BAKE, so for those averse to cooking, you can scroll down to the bottom where there's more FREE stuff. Promise, it's not a recipe! LOL! =) Anyway, I got this recipe from the Recipe Secrets e-book where they compiled copycat recipes from famous restaurants and food products. The one I'm gonna share today is "Copycat Mrs. Fields Black and White Cookies" ... I love Mrs. Fields' cookies!!! And I miss it already! Ever since Subway closed about 5 years ago, the only place I can eat her cookies is in Manila. Sniff! Anyway, that's gonna change now coz I can bake her cookies with this copycat recipe. Muhahaha! Here goes:

COPYCAT MRS. FIELDS BLACK AND WHITE COOKIES

2 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup Unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon Baking soda
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1 cup Dark brown sugar
packed 3/4 cup White sugar
1 cup Salted butter
soft 3 large Eggs
2 teaspoon Pure vanilla extract
5 1/4 oz Semisweet chocolate bar - chopped coarsely
5 1/4 oz White chocolate bar - chopped coarsely

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
In a medium bowl combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt.
Mix well with a wire whisk. Set aside.
Blend sugars in a large bowl using an electric mixer at medium speed.
Add butter and mix, scraping down the sides of the bowl.
Add eggs and vanilla, and beat at medium speed until smooth.
Add the flour mixture and chocolates, and mix at low speed until just combined. Do not overmix.
Drop by rounded tablespoons onto ungreased cookie sheets, 2 inches apart.
Bake about 25 minutes.
Transfer cookies immediately to a cooling rack.

Yield: 3 dozen (36) cookies.

For those who scrolled down to this part, i.e. those who don't like to cook, here's my freebie tip to you: FREE CHAT if you follow the link! Yes dears, you can yak on the phone for hours with your relatives and girlfriends you won't be seeing this Christmas =) The site that offers this service was made for teen chat and chat lines, but who cares?? You can chat for free so would you pass that up?? Me? I couldn't resist a freebie to save my life! Lol! Enjoy!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

It’s Christmas time again! And in our home, it means it’s time for baking gourmet cookies and making fruitcakes! Mmm good! My mother is the queen of our kitchen, and I expect to eat her yummy baked goodies anytime soon. Actually, I’ve been pestering her many days now to start baking already. Hehe! For those who love to cook, here’s a simple and delicious recipe for Christmas cookies that you can whip up anytime. This is NO BAKE! Enjoy and have fun cooking!

CORNFLAKE WREATH COOKIES

1/2 cup butter
3 cups miniature marshmallows
1/2 tsp almond extract
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp green food color
4 cups corn flakes
red hot candies
silver dragées

Melt butter, add marshmallows, stirring until all marshmallows are melted. Add extracts and food coloring; stir until it is a uniform green color. When mixture is smooth, add corn flakes; mix well but gently so as not to crush the cornflakes. Form into wreath shapes on sheets of waxed paper, decorate with red cinnamon candies and silver dragées. Let cool.

For those who don’t have the time to cook (or don’t have the inclination to do so), you can buy baked goodies online. One of my favorite “bakeshops” is the San Francisco Cookie Company. I love browsing their site, and the moment they’ll ship internationally, I would surely buy their award-winning all natural cookies. They use whole grains, heart healthy oats, and organic dairy in their cookies. The result? This is what they claim: “A cookie beyond the ordinary -- the traditional taste that you've been looking for but haven't found in all of those "other" cookies.” Now, that sounds GOOD! =)