Monthly Archives: December 2014

New Year Resolutions

Posted in celebration, cookies, custom cookies, decorated cookies, dessert table, holiday, New Year, New Years Eve by

I belong to a couple of fitness clubs, as I have exercise ADD and adore this instructor over here and that type of class over there… Over the holidays I bring in cookies, including a a bakers box of cookies to one large group. The incredible fitness instructor for this group, April, motivates you to work hard while finding balance and humor in the daily grind; thus, she has a HUGE following.  These exercisers, however, may or may not eat cookies on a regular basis.  So I like to bring in a lot of cookies that are only a bite or two each.  I kinda missed getting it done before Christmas this year so I went for a New Year theme.

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Do you make a resolution for the start of a new year?  If so, do you quantify it (try 3 vegetables you never had before), make them broad and fuzzy (be more patient), or keep it short and sweet (dance in a puddle)? No matter; I just hope you find something in 2015 that puts the fire in your belly to make something positive happen.

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Have a Holly Jolly

Posted in Christmas, cookies, custom cookies, decorated cookies, dessert, dessert table, food by

Hope your Christmas is splendid.  This platter of trees was made to serve many people little bites (because there were lots and lots of different cookies on that dessert table!).  Inspiration was from the 2013 post by Melissa Joy’s Cookies.  Melissa’s creative juices flow in abundance; she is a playful and brilliant cookier!

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Christmas Cookie Place Cards

Posted in Christmas, cookies, custom cookies, decorated cookies, favors, food, table settings by

Now a cookie can put someone in their place!  um.  at the dinner table.  A dear friend has used my cookies for years to personalize her Christmas Eve table scape.  Trees seemed to be my theme for Christmas 2014 and so it was for her place cookies.

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Season’s Greetings 2014

Posted in Christmas, cookies, custom cookies, decorated cookies by

Ho.ho.hope your holidays have been good so far.  It can be a stressful time of year, so allow me to “roll out” (like raw dough) some cookie levity.

Ho Ho Ho (technically, hoho hoho hoho)

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Ginger.bread house.  Too literal?

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Seasons’ Greetings

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Gifts from the Heart

Posted in Christmas, cookies, custom cookies, decorated cookies, gifts by

So I have this wonderful card group that gets together for a rambunctious game of 500 every month. We have gone away on weekend trips together, shared our childrens’ ups and downs, and laughed loudly and gleefully while supporting one another.  This was my last time to host/play (did I tell you that we are moving to Denver?) so I wanted to do something special for these lovely ladies. The cookie was a double play on words, as it was holiday gift giving season (Hanukkah and Christmas for our card clan) and I wanted it to be a gift from my heart.

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They were made by allowing a base coat of white RI to dry overnight and then hand painting the packages with thinned gel (clear vanilla or vodka to thin).  When that was dry, I used an edible ink black pen to outline.  Took a bit of time but these friends are so worth the effort.  Forgot to take a picture of the final presentation but you can see the tag that was attached.

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Inspiration came from a picture I saw when ordering from Fashion and Compassion (helps women overcoming poverty & injustice in the US, South America & Africa). Hope your holiday season is filled with surprisingly pleasant gifts!

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Simple Santa

Posted in Christmas, cookies, custom cookies, decorated cookies, holiday by

I wanted to design some simple but sweet cookies this year involving Santa.  Something geometric but not complicated.  Here is that design!

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These are the steps involved in creating them.  Sorry about the poor quality of the first photos.  One day I will make myself a photo booth…

I first made the “oval face” using a bit of ivory food coloring.  That dried for 4 hours before I added his red hat.

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While the red hat was still wet, I sprinkled on coarse, clear sugar crystals.

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Then I worked on his beard.  A quick coat of RI white with little round white non-pariels and voila!

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I let this all set overnight (isn’t necessary if you are careful) and got to work on his face.  A Q-Tip to add his blush and two simple wide eyes with black royal icing, Santa was complete.

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The finished product!  Ho.ho.hope you like!

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