#JollyJollyJoyJoy from Jollibee

2014 wasn't a great year for me in general. I took a break from blogging and I didn't care about many things - which made me slightly depressed. I am still trying to cheer myself up, but even during Christmastime, I wasn't as enthusiastic like I was in the previous years.

I am so grateful to have met awesome people this year - especially my bookish sisters, who not only shared their passion for reading, they were also the people who listened to my rants and raves. Like I said, the blogs took a hiatus from time to time during the entire year, but just like the new friends I met, I was also grateful to the people in the blogging community who stuck with me even during my absence. One to mention were the people from Jollibee.



I wasn't as active in attending Jollibee events this year, but this year, I still received awesome blessings from them - be it a free movie passes, or a package of different favorite food from Jollibee. Yesterday (20 December 2014), a package was delivered to our doorstep and I was so surprised because I never expected this. Come to think of it, every Jollibee package came unexpectedly. :) Anyway, this is their Christmas Bucket Treats, which include:


A bucket of Jolly Chickenjoy
This bucket contained six pieces of the langhap-sarap Chickenjoy

A tray of Jolly Spaghetti
Plus points to the packaging - the aluminum tray is perfect as a serving platter, and it came with a sturdy box.

Three regular cups of Buttered Corn
Something I loved from them - it paired well with the Chickenjoy and it wasn't as carbo-loading as eating spaghetti and rice (at least for me).

Three pieces of Peach Mango Pie
This has been a favorite since I was a kid, definite favorite dessert from Jollibee

Three regular cups of drink
Of course, something to chug it all down. :)

The Jollibee Christmas Bucket Treat is perfect for three people, but actually, it is good for maybe six people to share as one piece of Chickenjoy can sometimes be enough for one person. Like what I said on my last post, we still haven't bought ingredients for our Noche Buena... and I was thinking, this could very well be perfect for us since we are (now) a small family of three. Well, we still don't know what to serve for Christmas, but if you wanna save yourself from hassle, you may consider this. Or, you can also gift someone this treat this holiday season.

In their note it said, "Thank you for being one with the Jollibee Family in sharing joy throughout the year." This food package gave me a big surprise, but the note made me teary eyed. Despite my setbacks and personal problems, I am just so so grateful that I am still appreciated. Thank you, Jollibee and to the people behind this gesture. Happy holidays!!!

*** Jenn ***

PS - let me just share a funny story. My sister's camera is dysfunctional, and the camera we borrowed from the neighbor as well as my cell phone was borrowed by my sister. When this was delivered to me, I had problems thinking how to photograph this before it gets eaten. These pictures were actually taken using the built-in camera of the laptop - mom held the lamp to give some light using her one hand, the other held the mouse to capture the image. I held the laptop using both hands, positioning it as best as I could to capture the much needed images. It was sad that we didn't have the good quality camera, but happy that we found a way to capture the image as well share a laugh with my mom.

Recipe | Food for the Gods

Christmas is just around the corner. Do you already have prepared list of food to serve for Noche Buena and Christmas Day? Our small family of three will go a little simple this year - I am thinking of preparing Bruschetta for Noche Buena as we don't really eat a lot during that time. For Christmas lunch, I am thinking of cooking Cabbage Rolls, a pasta recipe, and cupcakes... but we still haven't done our grocery shopping, so all is still not sure as of this time.

Anyway, it is always during Christmastime when I got to eat Food for the Gods, and I consider it quite a favorite - maybe because I don't get to eat it as often as other baked goodies. When we bought the oven early this year, this was something I considered baking, but finding the dates became my biggest challenge.

Thankfully, SM Supermarket now has an aisle for baking ingredients and tools, and they now carry this brand - Dough it All. This brand was such a blessing for home bakers like me as I don't really need that much supplies. I was surprised to see a pack of pitted dates in one of our grocery days, so then I knew the time has come for me to try and baked this awesome holiday delight.



Food for the Gods
{makes 1 pan}

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup butter or margarine
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 cup chopped pitted dates
• 3/4 cup loosely packed brown sugar
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 3 eggs

How to Bake:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• In a bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Sift mixture into another bowl.
• From that mixture, get about 1/2 cup and dredge dates, so the dates won't settle on the bottom of the pan.
• On a separate bowl, cream butter and sugar.
• Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition.
• Stir in flour mixture into the wet mixture using wooden spoon.
• Stir in walnuts and dates, and mix until thoroughly combined.
• Grease baking pan with butter or oil - including the sides.
• Pour in batter into the baking pan and level.
• Bake initially for 10 minutes.
• After 10 minutes, lower oven's temperature to 300 degrees and bake further for about 15 minutes.
• Cool down the pan completely and cut according to your liking.
• Wrap the pieces into aluminum foil and cellophane wrapper.

As you can see, I didn't wrap my baked Food for the Gods anymore as it would be just three girls who would eat this, and it turned out to be delicious. One thing I would change should I bake this again was to finely chop the walnuts and dates, as I wanted the gritty feel to my Food for the Gods and not chunky the way this turned out.

This can be a good Christmas giveaway, or a good baked goodie to serve your family for Christmas. If you want to see the full video tutorial on how to bake this, please check Pinay Cooking Lessons video on YouTube.

*** Jenn ***