The NO-MIXER required chocolate chip cookie recipe

1/2 cup of butter - equivalent to 1 stick
3/4 cups of regular sugar
3/4 cup of brown sugar
3/4 tsp of baking soda
1 tsp of salt
2 and 1/4 cups of all purpose flour
2 large eggs
1 tbsp of vanilla extract
1 bag of chocolate chip morsels

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Microwave your butter in a microwave-safe dish. Let cool before adding to your mixture. After all, you don’t want scrambled eggs in your cookie dough.

In a large mixing bowl; mix your dry ingredients (sugars, flour, salt, baking soda). I whisk mine a bit to make sure there aren’t any lumps. Add in your wet ingredients (vanilla extract, butter and eggs). Add in your bag of chocolate chips and start folding the mixture until it resembles cookie dough (photo provided lol). I originally started with my whisk before realizing the dough was going to be too think for it. Whatever works best for you.

I used a spoon to scoop out exact portions of cookie dough, which I then rolled in my [clean] palms. I got best results with damp hands. I used a baking spray to grease the foil on my cookie sheet. Place your balled cookie dough onto the cookie sheet, leaving about an inch in between (on each side) each one. Press slightly on the tops of each ball, just to push them down slightly (photo provided).

Bake at 325�F for 8-12 minutes. This will vary depending on your own oven.

Yields: Approximately 3 dozen cookies

MMMM… I hope you enjoy them as much as we did. I plan to make another batch of them on Christmas Eve day, along with homemade sugar cookies, shortbread cookies and tea filled cookies. We’re planning on having a lot of company beginning on Christmas Eve day, so I figured finger foods would be best and cookies will be fresh for a couple of days!

I think almost everyone loves a little comfort food once in awhile. We’ve all been feeling a little blah today. I think it’s because the weather has been keeping us indoors. After dinner tonight I decided to attempt to bake homemade chocolate chip cookies. Much to my surprise, they turned out super yummy! In fact, all 24 cookies are gone now! I was pretty worried about how they’d turn out because like I said, it was my first time baking cookies from scratch. I was really happy to see only crumbs left on the plate.

If you’re interested in the recipe (which is EASY), I will be posting it to my recipe blog tonight. I’ll link it up here when I’ve typed it all up!

Do you have a favorite comfort food? Besides goodies like cookies, I also love potato soup. In fact, potato soup is my absolute favorite comfort food. Now if I can only perfect that dish.. lol.

I haven’t had much of an appetite for the last 3-4 days. I’ve been having chills off and on but that could also be attributed to the colder weather. I really hope that I’m not coming down with that nasty flu bug that the rest of the family has had recently. That’s one thing I know I can do without right now.

I did wake up this morning wanting a nice warm bowl of grits. Unfortunately they don’t sell them here. They do sell cream of wheat but let’s face it, grits and cream of wheat aren’t one in the same. I’m a grits girl. I guess I’ll just have an egg and some toast. My mother in law makes the best strawberry jam and it’s absolutely scrumptious on toast! It’s no warm bowl of grits that’s for sure but it’ll be more than just “satisfying”.

Christmas will be here before we know it and that means it’s time to figure out what I will be giving to my loved ones. One of the people I struggle with on a yearly basis is my grandfather. What do you give an elderly man who really doesn’t need anything and has no real “needs”? My grandfather loves fruit - all of it. I figured, why not sign him up for the Fruit of the Month Club? With his 3 ($30.95 per month), 6 ($29.95 per month) or 12 ($28.95 per month) month membership he will receive delicious, mouthwatering fruit from around the world, from the best growers, free shipping, a personalized gift announcement and best yet - his satisfaction is guaranteed. I cannot think of anything that he would love any more and you know what they say, the best way to a man’s heart is through is stomach!

If you know someone who loves fruit and would appreciate a gift like this for their birthday, Christmas gift or just as a “thinking of you” gift, a Fruit of the Month Club membership from Amazingclubs.com would be a really great idea.

My wonderful friend Helen is getting married next Sunday! It shouldn’t come as a surprise that we’ve done a lot of “wedding talk” in recent months! We’ve talked about gowns, music and even wedding cakes!

Though she’s already made her final decisions on these things, I know many of you are engaged and are where she was about a year ago - just getting the planning underway! Helen has gotten a lot of ideas and did a lot of shopping online. I’m sure this is also something many of you are considering! Did you know you that Wedding cakes can be found online? It’s true! At Cakeamerica.com you can browse through a huge selection of gorgeous wedding cakes! By clicking on the thumbnails, you can access more information about the cake and contact details of the cake’s designer! While I was browsing through their selection of wedding cakes, I stumbled onto one called “Helen” (pictured to your left)! I thought it was adorable, especially since this cake is called “Helen” and my friend “Helen” will be getting married in the near future! I love the polka dots and the mix of green and pink! Helen’s favorite color is green, so if she hadn’t already made arrangements for her cake, this would’ve been an awesome cake for her!

Those of you that are planning your wedding, be sure to check out Cakeamerica.com! Also, if you’re a wedding cake designer, this is a great place for you to post your own wedding cake designs and contact information for potential customers/clients!