Two Showers!

Late this past summer, I was able to do a set of cookies for a baby shower as well as a wedding shower for a friend. Baby Kali needed a set of onsies in pink and brown. I am particularly fond of the onsies with the bunny and bear! My friend Katie's colors for her wedding were pink and orange, with accents in black. I love the idea of a "G" themed shower for her new last name!

Wedding Cookies

I have never decorated wedding cookies before, but these might be my very favorite. The cakes! The hearts! And quite possibly the best color ever - blush. Congratulations and Best Wishes to Taylor and Brittany.

Bag a Bargain

My friend Hayley was the chair of Knoxville Junior League's fundraiser "Bag a Bargain," a huge rummage sale in East Knoxville. I'm so proud of her leadership and organizing skills, as well as the hours she worked to serve the community. When she asked me to make cookies for their evening celebration the night before the sale, of course I agreed!

It's Been Over a Year Now...

My dad reminded me about my cookie blog today. I had almost forgotten I had one and once had some aspirations to make and sell beautiful cookies! After struggling with the humidity of East Tennessee and having several batches of cookies ruined with icing that never set, I gave up on the business almost entirely. I can't handle spending the amount of time it takes to make them only to find out at the end that they are ruined. Especially since I generally wait until late as possible to bake them so that they will be fresh!
However - I have still been decorating sugar cookies from time to time - for family and Nora's preschool class. Here are some casual pictures of a few of the sets I've made over the past year.


This first is an unfortunate example of why I stopped making them - can you see how the icing still has a glossy look, and the polka-dots on the star are polka-craters? All that aside, I am so proud of my stepmom for running for school board and serving our community in such a positive way!

 

Cookies for baby Ryan's shower. I think he's almost a year old now!

 

 

Cookies for a young women's activity at church. I wish I had some pumps in both of these colors!

 

Baptism cookies for Will.

 

 

Nora made these this fall. I LOVE them.

 

Christmas cookies!!

 

The last two are part of the set for Nora's fourth birthday. We had a cookie tower instead of cake for her.

Election Day

I'm really, really not trying to get a political conversation going alongside these cookies (I had to get that off my chest first), and yes, I have both parties represented equally. With this batch, there was both fun and frustration. The Obama logo was HARD! It looked so simple, an "O", half blue, and half stripey. This was a case where I wish I had a kopykake projector, or something like it. I am usually happy with free handing everything, but I had a hard time getting the proportions right. Good thing they're for my sister!! Stay tuned for a local election cookie.

It's Autumn Time

Fall is my favorite time of year. Nora and I made some of these mini-cookies for her preschool teacher, and they looked so cute in a mason jar tied with ribbon. I wish I had included some of the ones she decorated in the photos. They were....abstract. More cookie pictures coming soon! I've been on an upsurge lately.

Clue

Was it Mrs. White in the conservatory with the knife? Or Colonel Mustard in the library with the revolver? A friend of mine asked me to make cookies for her Clue party this weekend, and I really had to think about how to display the game on two dozen small surfaces! My chances of producing anything in the likeness of the characters seemed dismal, at best - my ability to draw realistically is pretty poor - so I opted for the weapons, dice, and pawns. Making this set made me want to play the game again and/or watch the hilarious movie (you know, the one from the 80's with Tim Curry).

Softball

It's softball party time for the Lady Rays! I loved doing the little softballs alongside the jerseys and a scalloped square polka-dot cookie (which you can barely see poking through underneath the softballs and jerseys). This is the first kids sports team I've done - I think there's some definite cookie potential in that area.

*I'm so sad to not have been able to post pictures from a set I made a few weeks ago. My sweet neighbors across the street had a new baby, so I made them a set of baby boy cookies. The photography session was a disaster. I should really learn how to do it on my own...

Fourth of July

I apologize for posting these late (probably everyone is over the 4th a week later). I made these hurriedly the night of the 3rd, and then we left town the morning of the 4th to go visit family. This set is not too different than last year's patriotic set, but hey, sometimes its nice to revisit old faithfuls.

Hang In There

I have two special friends who needed to hear this message this week! I love this color palette, and of course, the pun involved with the clothesline. I am also very excited to have used my new light box and lights to take the photographs. We don't have all the kinks worked out yet, but I think we're on the right track toward better, more consistent pictures.

Happy Father's Day

Happy (early) Father's day to my husband! Nora helped make the cookies and icing (re: licked various spoons and tried to stick her finger into the mixer while it was mixing!!). Charlie kept Daddy company while I decorated. I enjoyed working with this color set and trying out a few new techniques. I'll definitely do the multi-striped look again; I love how it turned out.
I'm so grateful for Ben's hard work at home, being a daddy to our little ones. They love him so!

Spring Flowers

Now that my baby is almost 3 months old, I can feel myself crawling out of the hole of extreme sleep deprivation. It's pretty minimal now, he's only getting up once in the night, thank goodness. I'm happy to be making and decorating cookies again, and made this set for a spring piano recital.

Baby Boy Cookies

My second baby is due any time, so I decided to make cookies for the OB office as a thank you. I was thinking this morning about how they're with you all the way, but most of the staff rarely get to enjoy or see the sweet prize at the end of the race. This is my thank you to them, and a chance to make some cookies with our new son's monogram and name!

Apple Cookies

It is so nice to make something with bright, cheery colors in the doldrums of winter! I made this set of apple cookies for a teacher friend coming back from maternity leave who wanted to thank her interim teacher. I hope the celebration goes well, and that the kids and teachers enjoy their cookies!
*One word about these pictures - I didn't have my usual photographer (usually Ben, at about 10:30 at night when I'm finished decorating), so the quality is considerable less.  Also, my two year old has learned how to push a stool around to reach counter tops, and put two sticky fingers on the lens. YIKES.

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 :)