Extraordinary Life's Cookie Recipe Collection 2012

Cake Mix Cookies: 

For the EASY Baker

Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

Gooey Butter Cake Cookies

Soft Cake Like Sugar Cookies

Paleo/Primal Cookies: 

For the PALEO Baker

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Snickerdoodles

Made from Scratch: 

For the From Scratch Baker

Drop Cookies

Chewy Oatmeal Cookies

Peanut Butter Blossoms

Wedding Balls or Snowball Cookies

Molasses Cookies

Cookie Press Butter Cookies

Italian Almond Cookies

Cowboy Cookies

Roll Out Cookies

Roll Out Butter Cookies

Gingerbread Men Cookies

Roll Out Shortbread Cookies

Chocolate Chip Rollout Cookies

* * * * *

Thinking about getting a head start on your holiday baking?  How you store your made ahead cookies for the holiday is probably a matter of experience.  I have read a few different methods over the years.  I personally like to make the cookie dough up ahead of time and freeze until baking day .  In my opinion, a fresh baked cookie ROCKS!  I will either shape the dough into disks for roll out cookies and freeze, drop cookies onto a baking sheet, freeze and bag, or just roll dough out into a tube to slice and bake later.  Make sure to wrap your dough well.  Defrost in the refrigerator overnight.  Follow recipe according to directions for that particular cookie.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Celebrating Sister's 22nd Birthday

Gerry's Grill - SM City Fairview
LGF, SM City Fairview
Quirino Highway cor. Regalado Avenue, Quezon City
+ 63 (02)935-2133 / +63 (02)935-1779


Gerry's Grill is one of my sister's favorite places to eat whenever she's with a special someone, so it was no surprise when she chose this as the place where we will celebrate her birthday. I have dined there, but mom and brother haven't yet, so even if I prefer for us to eat elsewhere, I figured I'd give the place another chance.


I have always liked how the place looks like inside, however, despite the many lights, it still looked dark, making it difficult for me to take pictures of the food. I guess the warm tone in the lighting provide a certain feel while dining, and I guess I am fine with that.


Ginataang Kuhol. This is sister's favorite Gerry's Grill dish; she always orders this one whenever she dine there, so even if us three (mom, bro, and I) still haven't browsed the menu, sister already ordered this for us to eat as an appetizer.

This would be my first time to eat snails at a restaurant (I do eat it at home, though), and this didn't disappoint me. The sauce wasn't too thick yet it was creamy; the alamang (shrimp paste) provided the right amount of seasoning, and the snails are cooked perfectly. We were provided with several color-coded toothpicks to help take out the meat inside the shells, and all of us had a fun time doing so.


Pancit Bihon. Noodles for long life, of course! We only gave this a taste as it was too salty, we just opted to take it home so we could add more noodles to balance the saltiness.


Seafood Rice. Sister chose this; it was quite mushy for my taste, but the flavor was okay. It had shrimps and squid rings, which was cooked fine.


Beef Kare-Kare. It didn't look good, but this tasted really, really good! The ox tail was tender, the vegetables were crunchy, and the sauce was rich.


Fried Chicken. My mom's not really into fried chicken, but she ordered this. It was a little dry, but the taste was just okay. Just like the pancit, we took home most of the chicken pieces.


Grilled Tuna Belly. Brother's choice. Another awesome dish, I must say. No need for dipping sauce, it tasted great as is.


Tuna Sashimi. While we were saying our orders, the wait staff asked us if we wanted to avail their dining card, which allows users to have 1 free dish every time they dine. It was only 100 pesos, so sister availed for it - after all, it can be used in any Gerry's Grill branch. For her free food item, she chose the Tuna Sashimi, which she and brother shared. Well, I don't eat sashimi, so no comment from me.


Drinks. Mom had Sago't Gulaman, which was too sweet (she added more water to it), sister had Buko Shake, which she loved; and I had the Mango Sago, which had the right amount of sweetness to it. Brother went for the bottomless Iced Tea.


Desserts. Two desserts for us four to share - Sans Rival, which was okay, (I still believe the one at Sizzling Plate Baguio tasted the best for me), and Ice Cream, which was a good way to end an awesome celebration.

Sister will be celebrating another birthday next month (yeah, this took so long before I could share it), I wonder where will we celebrate it?

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Royal Tru Lemon

When I arrived in Manila from La Union, a poster of Royal Tru Lemon on the wall of 7-11 caught my attention. At that time, it was only available at the said store, but since I was carrying two heavy bags and there was no 7-11 branch near our house, I didn't get to buy it within the same week.

While shopping for things needed for a dinner the family is hosting last week, I was surprised to see that the supermarket located just outside our neighborhood now sells the same fizzy drink.



This drink reminds me of Mountain Dew, but very light on the lemon flavor, and slightly sweeter as well. One thing I liked is that it wasn't as strong as the other fizzy drinks out there, and it is a good pair when eating lunch or snacks. However, I try my best to stay away from sugary drinks, so as much as I liked this, I won't really drink it everyday, or even 3x a week for that matter. Maybe during special occasions, I will.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Roll Out Butter Cookies

These are more than your ordinary roll out cookie!  The magical combination of ingredients make this buttery good with an incredible texture.  It is now my GO TO cookie for any occasion.  They keep their shape nicely.  Not too kept tho, as I have found that cookies with sharp edges are too dry.  Not these cookies!  You can both see what you cut out as well as enjoy the buttery goodness.

1 cup (2 sticks) Butter, Room Temperature
1 cup Sugar
1 Egg
1 tablespoon Vanilla
1/2 teaspoon Almond Extract
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon Cream of Tartar
1 teaspoon Xanthan Gum
1-1/2 cups Brown Rice Flour (Superfine)
3/4's cup Arrowroot (or Potato Starch)
3/4's cup Tapioca Starch (also called Tapioca flour)
2 Tablespoons Vanilla Flavored Instant Pudding

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

• Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. This is an important step, don't rush it!
• Add egg, vanilla, almond extract. Mix until fully incorporated. 
• Add dry ingredients (salt, tartar, gum, flour, pudding) to a small bowl off to the side and mix well. 
• Add to wet ingredents and mix until dought JUST starts to putt together.  If you squeeze dough together with your hands, it will hold onto its shape. 
• Spilt batter into two balls. Roll out batter between two parchment papers to a 1/4's inch thickness.  alternatively I will sometimes cut my shapes out first and then chill the cookies on the sheet.
• Chill batter for 10 minutes
• Take batter out from fridge and cut into shapes.  
• Promptly put into preheated oven and bake for 10 to 12 minutes.
• Allow to rest on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

Bake for 8 to 9 minutes.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Home Cooked Meals by Sandy Daza at the Maya Kitchen

Last Saturday, I attended the Home Cooked Meals class by chef Sandy Daza at the Maya Kitchen. After years of watching him on television, I finally was able to watch him cook in person! Just like the previous class I attended at the Maya Kitchen, his class was informal - meaning, anybody in class can ask questions related to the dish being prepared or any questions about food or the chef's career. The way I put it.. it wasn't really being in a class; it was like having a friend prepare food for us.

His ways of teaching reflects the many years he has been in the food industry. Me at the front row, it felt like I was just watching another episode of his show, only difference was that I could smell it, too! :)

He prepared six dishes for us to feast on:


Shepherd's Pie. Chef Sandy admitted that there might be too much mashed potato for this dish, but because the meat filling was very flavorful and that the mashed potato was equally tasty, it turned out to be just fine. For the filling, he used two kinds of meat - beef and pork, as lamb might be too expensive for typical Filipino homes. I still haven't tasted authentic Shepherd's Pie, so I am in no position to compare this, but for sure, this was delicious!


Shrimp Putanesca. While the chef was cooking this, I was sort of worried it might be too salty because it had 8 anchovy fillets, 2 bouillon cubes, capers, and other seasonings (liquid seasoning and salt). However, when we were served the pasta, it turned out be just perfect! If there's one thing I didn't like about this dish, it would have to be the cheese.


Spam Fried Rice. Now this is truly comfort food - at least for me!


Crispy Fish in Garlic Sauce. The fish was crispy, the sauce was simple, but very tasty. Too bad there weren't much for us to share.


Coq Au Vin. A lot of the people in the class loved this dish, but I am not a wine drinker and this still had the wine taste to it (tangy, bitter taste), so among the dishes, this was my least favorite. I know, it wouldn't be called Coq au Vin without the wine... I'm sure you get what I meant when I said I am not a wine drinker, so I sort of didn't like this.


Bread Pudding. The bread was moist and soft (unlike the many bread pudding I have tasted in the past), and the sauce wasn't too sweet. It was a good ending to a wonderful food journey.

All the dishes chef Sandy prepared were so simple, all of us can actually do one or two dishes at home (well, we don't have an oven, so I can't bake the pudding). The ingredients are all easy to find and wouldn't require that much cooking time, and I am already thinking of cooking and serving the fish and pasta dishes for Christmas.

The Maya Kitchen gave us printed copies of the recipes, but because I hope to serve some of the dishes for Christmas, I will try to re-create them first, then I'd share the recipes. :)

Last year, I got to meet chef Sandy personally. This year, I got to taste his cooking. Next year, I will surely make it a point to dine at his restaurant. Happy new week, fellow foodies!

reade more... Résuméabuiyad