Triple-Peanut and Chocolate Chip Cookies

I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks the following...  This is the best time of year because you have such a great excuse to bake dozens and dozens of cookies.  Seriously!  You bring a batch of cookies to the office in June and people are all "Cookies?  Were you bored this weekend?"  Even holiday-themed cookies through the year (heart cookies in February, pumpkin cookies in October) raise an eyebrow of some people. 

It's in December that I can freely bake to my hearts desire without question from my coworkers.  No, I'm not trying to slowly poison you/make you fat.  It's the holidays!  You're supposed to eat lots of cookies.  Although, I think that if I feed my coworkers lots of cookies, I will eventually look thinner in comparison... 

I was very happy to take part in the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap again this year.  It gave me yet another reason to bake cookies... and raise money for charity!  Be sure to head over to Love and Olive Oil or The Little Kitchen and check out the whole group of cookie swappers!

For the cookie swap, I decided to make use my favorite flavor combination - chocolate and peanut butter!  Happy Holidays everyone and I hope you eat lots of cookies!

Acorn Squash and Sausage Bake

The holiday gift giving season is in full swing and I'm sure you're out there, trying to think of what to get that special someone.  Or perhaps you don't know what your sister-in-law could possibly need?  Maybe you've got a boss who has everything?  I thought I'd toss out a few ideas for fun (and sometimes totally useless) gift ideas for everyone.

How about an updated locket necklace from Kate Spade.  What girl wouldn't love to wear this around their neck?  You can fill it with pictures of their kiddos, puppies, kitties or special someone.

A little tough, a little sweet, this cuff is just the statement piece your best friend has been looking for!  Check it out at Wanderlust and Co.

You don't have to be a New Yorker to love this NYC subway map iPhone case!  Personally, I want it so that I don't have to keep opening up my app when I need to know where to transfer!  The NYC Transit Museum has a ton of fun transit related gifts, for city dwellers and suburbanites alike!

Do you know someone who always has a dead phone?  This handy (and adorable) gadget will charge your phone away from home.  Check out this (and a ton of other fun things) at Uncommon Goods!

Apparently featured in Oprahs magazine, I think any foodie worth their salt (HA!) would love this collection of gourmet salts.  If anything, they are super pretty and would make a great piece for their kitchen counter.  Find this set, or a smaller set of four, at The Spice Lab.

If you are all out of ideas, then you can always resort to making your friend, family member or coworker and nice homemade meal.  I suggest the following...

It's a simple, one baking sheet meal.  Perfect for days you just want to throw together a meal.  Acorn squash is the perfect gourd to go with because it doesn't require peeling.  Just de-seed and slice the squash and it's ready to go in the oven!  Sweetened up with some red onion and dried cherries, this meal will make a great dinner gift for anyone.

Or just head to Fab.com, I want to buy everything I see on that website.  It's totally unhealthy.

Apricot-garlic Pork Tenderloin and Potatoes and Fennel

Top Ten Ways

To Avoid Illness while Riding NYC Public Transit

1. Purchase a Hazmat suit.  Paint it to look like it isn't a Hazmat suit, as the NYC police might find you a little suspicious wearing a Hazmat suit on the subway.  Paint your Hazmat suit to look like a nice Italian three piece, wear at all times when riding transit.

2. Avoid licking the hand rails.  Seriously people, those are dirty.  Do you know how many thousands of people ride the subway everyday?

3. Listen before you sit down.  Hear any hacking coughs, snuffly noses or loud sneezers?  Don't sit next to those people, they want to share their virus with you.

4. Don't ride NYC public transit.  Walking is good for you, especially if you have to go fifty blocks and it's below freezing.  Think of how many calories you're burning!

5. Invest in face masks.  If anyone looks at you strange, just start speaking Japanese.  They'll realize you are from Japan, where face masks are totally normal.

6. Don't touch anything!  Don't even lean against the wall.  Just stand in the middle of the train car and maintain perfect balance until your stop.  This is especially easy when you are riding with a friend.  Let them hold the bar, you just grab tight! 

7. Keep your gloves on.  Make sure they are those big fuzzy ones.  You'll be less likely to itch your eyeball while wearing big fuzzy gloves.  Think muppet-like.

8. Get a train car all to yourself.  I've seen this technique done only once.  I'm going to warn you, it involves not showering for a long, long time.  Maybe this should be a "last resort" kind of suggestion.

9. Bring your own air supply.  This will most likely take the form of a scuba diving system.  Wearing a wetsuit is just optional, a fabulous option!

10.  Get a flu shot.  Don't tell anyone you got a flu shot as they will inevitably try to punch you in the arm.

If only I had this all figured out two weeks ago, when I contracted some form of NYC cold virus.  If I was going to be sick, I wasn't going to do it by myself.  I managed to get BF sick too!  The Wilde kitchen has been quiet and the Wilde household got extremely dirty.  Nobody wants to do laundry/dishes/pick up anything while sick, right?

We are both finally on the mend and I made us some dinner last night.  This was so delicious and simple, I might even make something similar to it for Christmas dinner.  It was so easy, I was actually able to get everything cooked and ready at the same time.  Give one recipe a try, or try all three!