Cooking Clubs Make Holiday Baking Simple

Posted by admin on Nov 27, 2010 in Deals | 101 comments

This holiday season, the standard cookie swap is getting a makeover as cooking clubs take to kitchens across the country to bake traditional cookies, candies and sweets together. With families looking to make the most of their holiday budgets, groups of friends in newly-formed cooking clubs are gathering ’round the hearth, aiming to be festive in a new way: baking at home to create delicious handmade gifts.

Nicole Aloni, Sam’s Club member and cookbook author, touts the cooking club concept as a viable method for helping families stretch their holiday dollar. “It is a wonderful way to connect with your friends and save some ‘dough’ — making festive homemade desserts for about twenty-five cents per serving gives you extra to spend on other holiday items,” continued Aloni. “You just can’t beat that.”

While cooking clubs help families save on meal preparation and expense, enthusiasts cite the social connections as equally important. In an effort to help Sam’s Cooking Club participants to connect, the warehouse club demonstrates some holiday recipes on video and has launched www.facebook.com/samscookingclub for cooking club fans to share recipes and tips with others who enjoy cooking with friends.

In addition, Sam’s Club has teamed up with www.cookingwithfriendsclub.com to share tips and ideas about how you can cook with others to tackle mealtime, save money, and build friendships. Read more about them at www.samsclub.com/cookingclub.

Typically, cooking clubs include three to four friends or family members who pool their money to purchase the ingredients for a week’s worth of meals. They then gather at the host’s kitchen and prepare everything in a few hours. Nicole recommends choosing a time for everyone to bake together, then expediting the preparation by assigning a “station” to each friend (i.e., mixing, rolling, cutting, etc.), much the way professional kitchens handle their cooking and baking processes.

The Simple Pleasures: Home-Baked Goods as Gifts

Nicole also suggests that baked goods make a welcome gift basket as well. Pair ribbon, a small canister or wicker basket and one of the recipes below to give a gift that costs less and means more. Visit samsclub.com/cookingclub to watch how Nicole and her cooking club friends make decadent biscotti for less then 25 cents per serving. And, find these festive recipes that are low-cost, high-taste:

Go a little nutty, at under 30 cents each.
Try pairing pecans and coconut to produce the perfect dessert bar – sure to be a family holiday favorite.

Treat them to a truffle or two, for less than 20 cents each.
Go gourmet with these decadent truffles — just don’t tell your guests how incredibly easy they are to make!

Give them a tea party, for less than 12 cents a serving.
This Russian Tea Cake recipe is easy to make and even easier on your wallet

WOMEN’S WEEKLY CREATIVE COOKING ON A BUDGET COOKBOOK

Posted by admin on Nov 15, 2010 in Deals | 33 comments

cooking on a budget eBay auctions you should keep an eye on:

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Laxmi’s Authentic Indian Home Cooking 700 Recipes

Posted by admin on Nov 15, 2010 in Deals | 117 comments

Laxmi’s Authentic Indian Home Cooking 700 Recipes
With Laxmi’s eBook you will cook with recipes that is Genuinely Indian. It is the food that we Indians make in our homes not the food that we eat in 5 Star Restaurants. Laxmi will show you the art of making Indian curry that is Healthy, delicious & tasty.

Gourmet It Up
Chef Kathy Davault wrote Gourmet It Up to give you hope and encouragement that becoming a gourmet cook is not only possible but is quite easy! Eighty-five pages packed with everything you need to know to prepare culinary delights of your own!

Redeeming the Wounded: New Book Features New Vision for Victims’ Justice

Posted by admin on Nov 15, 2010 in Deals | 34 comments

In 2008 approximately 16,262 people were murdered in the U.S., leaving family and friends to grieve the loss. (Source: NCVRW Resource Guide) Many faith-based organizations want to help but do not know how. Due to budget cuts, funding for rehabilitation and educational, faith-based counseling programs for prisoners and crime victims has suffered in almost every locality. A new way to handle these problems is discussed in Redeeming the Wounded by Rev. Dr. B. Bruce Cook (www.xulonpress.com and www.cvaconline.org under “crime victim resources”). Cook’s new vision of victim justice involves a concept of fair and equal treatment for crime victims and prisoners based on principles of restorative justice and restitution.

Cook is an ordained Methodist minister, a career correctional professional and a crime victims’ advocate, who worked “both sides of the street” in prison and in the community with crime victims. He was a county jail chaplain, federal prison chaplain and a chaplain for crime victims. He worked in four Department of Justice agencies for a total of 24 years: Law Enforcement Assistance Administration, Office of Audit and Investigation, U.S. Parole Commission and Bureau of Prisons. He directed the Georgia Department of Correction’s Impact Therapeutic Program in two halfway Houses.

Cook’s call to action includes:
A national cadre of 2,500 trained chaplains who could minister and respond to crime victims in their individual communities as well as to any national emergency involving mass terrorism.
More emphasis on restitution and community service for all criminal offenses, which is the heart and cornerstone of restorative justice.
Improvements to protocols for collecting restitution.
The use of support groups in faith-based organizations for victims of stalking, domestic violence, homicide and DUI fatalities, rape and violent offenses.
Crime victims’ rights in each state, including some form or remedy if the rights are violated by the state.
Expanded use of diversion strategies for non-violent offender programs that include sentencing circles, victim-offender mediation and dialogue as an alternative to incarceration, allowing the use of scarce prison space for more violent predators.

“It is a tremendous inequity to minister to prisoners and their families and not to crime victims and their families,” Cook said. Readers can learn direct, effective ways to help crime victims and prisoners. While there are books on prison ministry, very few books focus on ministry to crime victims. Also included are nine riveting true stories from crime survivors.

Say it with a Gift Voucher this Christmas and Avoid Last Minute Panic Shopping

Posted by admin on Nov 15, 2010 in Deals | 10 comments

The Gift Certificate and Gift Voucher Directory (http://www.giftcertificate.co.uk/), launching today, provides a comprehensive guide to the gift certificate and voucher options offered by over 500 UK retailers.

The directory breaks down the vouchers into numerous shopping categories such as activities and experiences, arts and crafts, clothing, DIY, food and drink, gadgets, gardening, health and beauty, hobbies, toys, travel, and more.

So, there’s bound to be a gift certificate or voucher to suit even the most challenging friend or family member, regardless of their tastes – whether these run to musical instruments, model helicopters, memory cards or a stay in a luxury hotel.

The Gift Certificate and Gift Voucher Directory also provides details of which companies offer paper gift certificates, which send instant

vouchers by email, and what voucher denominations are available.

Edwin Hayward, founder, says: “With shipping deadlines looming, the directory is a life-saver for anyone who’s panicking about what to get their friends and family this Christmas. You can send your gift at the very last minute, long after online stores have stopped shipping for Christmas.

“You can also give courses, experiences, beauty treatments, holidays, and other well-chosen gifts you simply can’t wrap.”

How to get a SAG voucher (Getting into the Actors Union)

Posted by admin on Nov 15, 2010 in Deals | 116 comments

After being asked several times, I explain once and for all HOW to obtain the three SAG vouchers needed to get into the actors union (Screen Actors Guild). Please pass along to all those who might be interested.

While the Israeli government claims it is ‘easing’ the illegal siege of Gaza, which has now entered its fourth year, the 1.5 million Palestinians living in the coastal enclave remain more impoverished than ever. Around 80% of them are dependent on some form of food aid according to UNRWA, as unemployment keeps soaring. Oxfam GB together with local partner Ma’an Centre for Development and World Food Programme funding have been providing food vouchers in the Gaza Strip in a bid to help some of the most vulnerable families maintain a nutritious diet on a daily basis while supporting small shops.