You Say It's Your Birthday? (August 2013)

(Sorry, mom, but in this post, as with your surprise birthday party, your age will be disclosed.)  Since she is a huge Beatles fan, we decided to throw her a surprise 64th birthday party.  Think-"Will you still need me, Will you still feed me, When I'm 64?"  

Singing along yet?

The party itself was a big success.  My mom was very surprised, and everyone brought a Beatles inspired dish to share.  We had "Sergeant Red Pepper Hummus" with "Twist and Shout Pretzels," "Chocolate Covered Strawberry Fields Forever," "Let it Bean Dip," "Revolution" beer, and "Lovely Rita Margaritas" to name a few.  We supplied "Yellow Submarine Sandwiches" and cookies, of course.

See my attempt at an Abbey Road silhouette?  Probably wouldn't have guessed it without the caption, but points for ambition, right?

I used a food coloring marker to write the names of different songs on the "records."  Really fun thinking of all the favorites, for the purposes of these cookies and for the background music.

I made sure to save a few "I heart Paul" cookies for my mom.  When she attended a solo concert of his with my dad a few years ago, I heard she was screaming how much she loved him throughout the entire show.  Fun times...right, Dad?

A fun celebration and a really fun party to plan...gotta love a good theme.  Happy Birthday, Mom!

Who's Caillou? (August 2013)

Our neighbor's daughter was turning two, and I wanted to make a couple cookies to accent her birthday present.  She is supposedly obsessed with a tv show, Caillou.  I had heard of it, but didn't know who/what he/she was, so thanks to Google, I found out!

Luckily, these little guys weren't too tricky.  I didn't have a cookie cutter this shape, but I took a note from a previous Sweet Sugar Belle post, where she talks about ways to add leaves to flower cookie cutter shapes.  I figured I could do the same thing...splice together another shape to a circle cutter and have them bake together to make the bill of his hat.  In all honesty, some of them didn't make it, as they became more fragile, but once I decorated them with frosting, they were plenty strong.

Still haven't actually watched the show....but, now I know.

Happy Birthday!

Pooh Bear and Friends (August 2013)

Hooray, time for another baby shower!  This time, I really stretched myself.  The designs were a bit intricate from the ones I'd done in the past, but I wanted a challenge, and what better occasion than for a fun baby shower?  I got the inspiration from her Winnie the Pooh bedding.  All of the characters seem to be peeking over their paws, and I thought, I could try that.  Well, in the end, I was happy with the platter, but individually, they all have, well, a story.

 

By far, my favorite was Tigger and his tail.  But, for some reason, all of his little pink noses got a crater (what some other cookie-decorators think is due to an air bubble releasing during the drying process)...but on every one?!  I didn't care...he was still so cute!

Then, there was Eeyore and his tail, which was trickier, but ok in the end.

 Pooh Bear, even though a simple character (color/shape wise), because he is so recognizable, somehow none of the bears looked quite enough "pooh-like" for me. 

I had fun with his "HUNNY" pot though.  I used a food-color marker to do the lettering and the buzzing bee since they were such small details.

And, while my printing with icing is always tricky, there were just so many sweet Winnie the Pooh quotes to choose from, I had to attempt a few. 

Oh, yeah, and in case you were wondering, our friend Piglet did not make the platter.  I had hoped to make his cute little belly and face to complete the set, but due to many revisions, Piglet's face kept expanding, creating more of a morbidly-obese Piglet, rather than Pooh's tiny companion.  Therefore, primarily due to my own feelings of embarrassment, he was consumed by my family instead.  

(They didn't seem to mind.)

Overall, the cookies were a hit at the shower, and I was happy I pushed myself to attempt such a big project.

Now, time for something sweet!

Lemons and Limes (August 2013)

These were a delight to make.  Pretty quick and easy, but really happy with how they turned out, especially when all arranged on a platter.  I actually made these little guys twice this summer (thank you to Sweet Sugar Belle for her never-ending inspiration).  They required only a circle cookie cutter and a knife, and three basic colors, with which just a little darkening of the green and yellow colors revealed the perfect shade for the "rinds." 

I loved the idea of creating halves and quarters for the people who can't seem to commit to eating a whole cookie.
 (Hmm...that never seems to be my problem.)

And, these ended up being a perfect platter of cookies to bring to our first attendance at the neighborhood's block party.  We're still the new kids on the block, as we had just moved in about six months earlier, but it was a great way to meet the neighbors and inaugurate us into the group.

Perhaps I should have also made some Corona-shaped cookies to go with them?

Stars and Stripes (July 2013)

So, the cool thing about this new blogging idea is that each year I can look back at previous cookie creations in either admiration or embarrassment or both, I guess.  Well, this year I decided to try an idea inspired by a Sweet Sugar Belle design.  She used some fancy equipment, but I managed to create some ok knock-offs with my amateur tools.  

For the red and white striped cookies, she had used a KopyKake projector.  It's basically like an old-school overhead projector (like the ones we used to use in grade school) that allows a design to be illuminated on the undecorated cookie, helping to ensure that your font/straight/curvy lines get traced in icing exactly how they appear on the paper design.  A very helpful tool if this is your professional job.  However, since the base model retails at around $200-300, and since I really only splurge on ingredients, food color, and decorative accents, I was ok with my wobbly lines on the striped cookie.

 For the navy star cookies, she used a plastic stencil.  Now that, I would be ok "splurging" on...only trouble was that I didn't know where or how to find one on short notice, so, I improvised.  I used an exact-o knife and cardstock to create a little template, and then I used my Wilton color mist silver spray right over it.  Of course, the cardstock became wet pretty quick and could not be re-used, but it served its purpose.

 

And, just for fun, I had my daughter help me create "fireworks" just like last year, since we had such fun decorating together.  I put the red and blue icing on the wet white icing, and she used the toothpick to create the explosions. 

 

All together, we thought it was a pretty patriotic platter.

Backyard Bliss (June 2013)

For years, my husband and I have been looking forward to cutting our own grass, snowblowing our own driveway, and planting in our own garden.  Are we crazy to be dreaming about manual labor?  It's just now that we've moved into our actual home...meaning the home we hope to live in forever (and never move again!), we can't wait to make our house feel like our home.  I'm sure after hours of planting in the sun or snowblowing in the middle of winter, the townhome association's convenience will seem very appealing, but, for now, we are just where we've always wanted to be.  

So, to celebrate Father's Day (and all the manual labor that is in store for hubby), I designed these little guys.  I actually had a shovel and watering can cookie cutter, but the grass cookies started out as a princess crown.

The lawn mower design was simple, but I added a few green sprinkles as lawn clippings.

These flower pots came in the same set from Wilton as the shovel and watering can, but I thought they'd be a nice addition to our end-of-the-year teacher gifts.

Enjoying the start of summer around here!

Barnyard Birthday (May 2013)

I cannot even believe our little guy is one year old already!  Where did the time go?  He is such a little man now...moving around more steadily each day and talking more and more.  Since his favorite song right now is Old MacDonald, and he can say several of the animal noises, we thought it would be fun to throw a Barnyard Birthday for his first birthday celebration.  We had him dressed in overalls, of course, and when it came time for cake, we kept the overalls on, but removed his shirt...partly for practical reasons, but partly for farm authenticity.

But enough about the cake, it's the cookies we care about...

I saw this design somewhere on the internet, and I cannot find the source.  I designed the barns, but really, the rest of this platter was someone else's creation, and I cannot find it.  Who are you, oh fabulous cookie artist?  In any case, at first, it seemed daunting to create so many different animals, but then, since the backgrounds were all white and filled, the actual decorating didn't end up being as scary as I had thought.

Not to play favorites, but I especially love the cows.  You know when you look at a familiar word for awhile and the spelling starts to look all wrong?  Well, when I was decorating the cows, (and maybe this is a result of inhaling too much powdered sugar or being up way too late decorating), but they started to look like they had toupees or fancy hair-dos.  Can you see it?  No?  Ok, forget it.

What an amazing first year it's been...Happy Birthday, little guy!

What I Do Best! (April 2013)

Every other year at the hospital we put on a Talent Show for our kids with different abilities to really demonstrate their unique talents and what they have been working on in therapy.  This year's theme, "What I Do Best" was modeled after a children's book of the same name written by Allia Nolan and Miki Sakamoto.  A lovely book for children of any ability level, I highly recommend it.  You can probably find it in local bookstores or also here on Amazon.

Notice the shine?  That's thanks to my favorite Wilton gold and silver color mist.  The shooting star cookie cutter I snatched for 25 cents in a random bin at the Long Grove Confectionery Outlet.  I just knew it would come in handy sometime!  And, the trophy cups?  No, didn't have a cookie cutter for those...with some quick thinking, I used a Hanukkah menorah and cut off the candles on top. 

These cookies were inspired by our patients, but eaten by the therapists as motivation to continue our many hours of volunteering in order to put on another great show.  Most importantly, the show was a huge success and something I am so very proud to be a part of.

A Jolly Holiday (March 2013)

Once again, I was getting excited about the idea of hosting a birthday party for my daughter, and even more thrilled with this year's theme, based off her most favorite movie, Mary Poppins.  A classic, and one of my all-time favorites as well.  She knows all the songs, making up lyrics for the words she doesn't know (even putting in an accidental Cockney accent here and there...love it!).  

I knew I wanted to make cookies that highlighted the "best" part of the movie...you know, the Jolly Holiday when they jump through the chalk drawing.  I wanted the platter to be colorful, but not too busy.  So, I decided I'd make pink parasols, a fun design for Bert's suit that I found on Flour De Lis's blog, and some penguins.  They were all united by their use of the bow/bow tie. 

I made a ton!  Enough for a family and friends party and plenty to spare.  Good thing too...those parasols were quite fragile!  We had many that ended up looking like tutus and canes when they broke off during transport...ah well.

Now, I know this blog is really focusing on the cookies, but I was just so darn proud of my creation for the rest of the dessert table.  I had the idea to create a carousel, like the one in the movie, as sort of a centerpiece/way to serve some of the cupcakes.  I used my lazy susan (usually holding my spices/herbs), and my husband, the handy engineer, helped to saw some dowel rods to the rights lengths.  We super-glued them to pieces of foam board, covered them with scrapbook paper, and we had an actual, rotating carousel!  

When my daughter saw it, although she was excited, I think she was hoping the horses might actually jump off and start racing.  That's what imaginations are for, right?

The party was a big hit, despite having many guests (mostly little boys) who had never even heard of Mary Poppins. 
Happy Birthday to my little 3-year-old!

Pitter Patter of Little Feet (March 2013)

One of my mom's co-workers and close family friends was having a baby shower for her first grandchild, a little girl to be named, Izzy.  I had seen these cookies on Sweet Sugar Belle's website, and I wanted to give them a try, with a few additions of my own. 

There is just something about baby feet that makes me want to kiss them.  They're just so sweet and soft and little and...stop, baby fever coming on.

Wish I had thought to take a picture of the actual platter...not the same effect on my stackable drying racks, right?  Ah well, use your imagination. :)

Sweet Hearts (February 2013)

 I think Valentine's Day and Halloween are in a dead heat for which holiday celebrates dessert consumption more (and that's fine for me, as a cookie baker!).  This year, I baked for celebrations at school and also with friends.  There was no real template for these little hearts...just whatever design came to mind.  And with only 3 colors to mix, the actual process wasn't as time consuming as I had thought.

Notice the red hearts and pink hearts with white polka dots and white heart borders?  That's the "wet on wet" technique, where you put flood icing on top of more wet, flood icing.  The end result dries as if applied in one layer, creating a simple, and clean effect.  For more information, Bake at 350 has a great explanation and tutorial on her website.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Winter Wonderland (January 2013)

Winter in Chicago always seems to surprise us when it arrives.  Like, do we still have leftover salt to throw down from last year?  Or, oh yeah, I guess the kids' feet continued to grow since the time they wore those boots last winter!  Not like we don't know it's coming...we know it's coming, but it just seems to take us all off-guard.  This winter, like all the others, there was plenty of snow.  We made snowmen, drank cocoa, and our daughter and even tried sledding for the first time (down a real hill and not just our driveway!).

So, addicted to the idea of a platter, I set out to create some wintery treats.  I had just gotten some new cookie cutters for the holidays, namely the penguin and the igloo, and I couldn't wait to start decorating.  

Most of the decorating for these cookies was pretty straight-forward, but I did get some inspiration from some other bakers, like the makers of these little snow globes.

I also made some snowflakes and mitten cookies.  These snowflake cookies, part of my "Year of Cookie Cutters" from  Crate and Barrel and the mitten cookie cutters ended up making huge cookies!  Like, the size of my face huge!  So, I didn't end up with as big a yield of cookies with this batch, but I liked playing around with the colors and different techniques.  Again, fast-forward to 2013, and I prefer my snowflakes the second time around.  Either way, a yummy treat to warm us up during the when we can no longer feel our toes.