Trees, Snowflakes, Mittens, and Ornaments

I made this set of mini-cookies for a friend's Kindergarten Christmas party. I have this feeling that they will eat them in approximately 1/100th of the time it took me to make them!

Peppermint Star Disaster

I don't think most cookie bloggers post their mistakes, at least, not mistakes on this level of magnitude. The short story is that out of 3 dozen delicious smelling, chocolate, peppermint star cookies, only six came off the pan without crumbling into pieces. You're looking at six pitiful stars on top of a pile of crumbs. I had to dump the last dozen into the trash because the candy stuck to the paper, and WOULDN'T COME OFF. I had so much hope for these - the picture in my magazine was so beautiful. And mine were too until I tried to take them off the pan. I apparently need more practice melting candy!

PS: I followed directions (mixing, baking, cooling times) TO THE LETTER except for one part - I did not use parchment paper for the first two batches, just had them directly on the pan. For the last batch I used wax paper (what's the difference, anyway?) and had to throw out the whole thing. Maybe that was my problem? Umm,yes, yes it was.
http://www.chow.com/food-news/55408/whats-the-difference-between-parchment-paper-and-waxed-paper/

Chocolate-filled Cream Puffs

This dessert was to celebrate Ben taking his final final. YAHOO! Thesis is still to go, but the end of classes feels pretty good.
I can't believe how well these puffs turned out. They were puffy! And mostly hollow on the inside! And held their shape! Also, I could've eaten the filling alone, so I want to figure out another use for it. Thank you, Better Homes and Gardens Baking book.

Simple Christmas Cookies

I had a great start to December with a book club meeting at my house (we read A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens). So of course, I had to make cookies. Here are a few shots of a sampling of the cookies I made for the event.

The star-shaped cookies with sprinkles were super easy! After allowing the flood layer to dry overnight, I piped the shape in fresh icing, then coated with sprinkles and tapped off the excess. I used large round sprinkles for the red detail.

These snowflake cookies were simple, too, and they were done in one decorating session! After I piped on the design, I coated them with granulated white sugar for a sparkly effect.

The cookies in the back of the plate are a Martha Stewart recipe, called "Glitter Ball Cookies." They don't very closely match up with her picture, but they tasted good at least! The filling is made with ginger, honey, and of course butter and sugar.

Baby Boy Cookies

I am so glad my cousin Heather asked me to do these baby shower cookies! They are for a friend of hers. It was great to revisit the baby papooses, and I LOVED making the onesies. Seriously, what could be cuter than a baby onesie cookie? One note: if you noticed the charming black cat in the big group shot, that was not some kind of weird mistake on my part! This expecting couple loves their cats, so I was asked to include a few along with the babies :)

Live Like You Believe

These cookies are for a girls' event at my church. They will present their school and extra-curricular accomplishments and talk about how they are trying to live values such as faith and integrity. The theme for the evening is "Live Like You Believe," which I love as much as the navy, gray, yellow, and coral color scheme. After looking at combinations of these colors for two days, I'm convinced they're my new favorites!

Court of Honor Cookies

Sorry to any cookie followers for not having a cookie blog in about 2 MONTHS. I have a good reason, I promise. Anyway, here is a sampling of some of the cookies I made for a Court of Honor for a local boy scout troop. Boy did I wish I had a projector when I started working on those darn eagles! Congratulations to those Scouts who made a rank advancement.

Harry Potter Cookies

In tribute to the final HP movie coming out this weekend, I decided to make these cookies. I've seen other Harry Potter cookies, of the three main characters, the HP logo, brooms, etc., but wanted to do something a little different. And for some reason, I couldn't get the four houses at Hogwarts out of my head -even after I found the logos (which are EXTREMELY detailed), and almost gave up entirely. Luckily, I found a simplified version and made it even simpler :)

Happy Birthday Mary!

I love this set of cookies for Mary, a Virginia Tech fan. The simplicity of using just three colors for design compliments the school logo. My favorite, though are the two burgundy cakes I did with the fancy loops. Too bad I didn't start doing that till the last two cookies - I would have probably done them all that way! Happy birthday, Mary!

Baby Papooses

Nora, Nana (Linda) and I went to the library on Saturday, and found this BEAUTIFULLY illustrated book with dozens of baby papooses on the cover. Hats off to Chih-Wei Chang for the inspiration. I am just hoping that someone will have a baby shower soon so I can have another chance to make these sweet little baby bundles again! Next time, I will make the mouths and rosy cheeks a little darker on the pale babies so they show up a little more.

Fourth of July, Part Two

Here are a few more patriotic cookies I made for the fourth. The tiny dots worked well as a flag, I think.

Fourth of July, Part One

Happy Fourth of July! I enjoyed using the new (to me) technique of putting sanding sugar on the outlines of some of the hearts and stars. A word to the wise - it's better to wait until the rest of the cookie is REALLY dry before dumping a bunch of sugar crystals all over it.

Happy Birthday Will!

Happy Birthday to my sweet baby brother, who is not a baby. :( In fact, he is six. I love his impulsive sweetness, his ability to wear Ben out by playing cowboys, army men, knights, or wrestling, and the twinkle in his eye when he REALLY wants you to do something! Happy birthday, little buddy, I love you.

Bandana Cookies

I should credit my inspiration for these cookies from my favorite cookie blog. There are several that I stalk, I mean follow, and these women are so talented! They have all been decorating cookies far longer than me, and one day I hope my skills are comparable! Even though I'm often inspired from others' work, I always put my own spin on the design. For this set, I actually laid a bandana out on the kitchen table beside me and followed the design from there. Wouldn't these be cute to go along with a cowboy themed birthday party?

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day! I am grateful for my dad, and for the patience, advice, and trust he has always given me. I'm also very grateful for my husband, and the wonderful daddy he is to Nora. I hope I can help them to know how special they are on Father's Day, and that I continue to show appreciation for them often!

Cakes and Flowers

Another birthday! I decided to do a flower theme for this one, and was so happy to try something new. I loved the violet-type flowers so much, I made about 30 more with the leftover icing! The birthday cakes would look great as wedding cakes...maybe as favors for a bridal shower or tea.