So Cheesy

A dear friend works as a “cheese guru” for Wegmans (utterly fantastic grocery store, for those who do not live in the northeast).  As she was approaching a milestone birthday, I wanted to send her something to lighten the mood.  You know, to encourage her to BRIE all that she could BRIE.  Go a little CRACKERS on her big day….

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Mother Lode

So Denver had 70 degree sunny days in January and, here it is, Mother’s day in mid-May, and we are expecting thunder snow.  That Mother Nature has a few tricks up her sleeve.  Moving on to other tricks, I included some word play and pictograms in this first playful Mother’s day set. See if you can figure them out (answers at the end of the blog. wink. wink.).

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In the second set, I overloaded in the gushy and the sentimental.  The aim was to make a story board in cookie form…along with writing a poem to my children. (It is our second-born that is the wordsmith so take my musings with a grain of salt).  My kids are anything and everything for which a mom could ever hope. Thanks to them, we’re celebrating me on Mother’s day.  Oh, and, thank you Hallmark.

Then I thought of my mother. My mom was a quiet role model of strength and perseverance. I never heard her complain, even though life threw a full arsenal of difficulties her way.  My dad died suddenly and unexpectedly when I was 3. In a time that it was uncommon, she went to university (graduated top of her class), converted the second floor of the house into an apartment as well as sold my dad’s cameras (he was a professional photographer)/anything else of value to help pay bills, took in my grandmother (after my grandfather died), sewed/made the clothes on our backs, took us on every.other.year camping vacations (the only way she could afford) to show us the wonders of the USA, and robbed.Peter.to.pay.Paul to put me through an expensive engineering school.  Such incredible people in my life.  Sometimes, you just get lucky as all get-out.

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(one in a million, the whole nine yards, fantastic)

Party Animal

I have a confession. Our eldest turned 25 this week.  Holy time passage!  Look away for a moment and our babies are adults!  Tori has found that lovely balance between working hard and keeping things playful and in perspective.  But, um, the girl does know how to rock a celebration.  With that in mind, I give you her ‘party animal’ birthday set. Hope all your birthday wishes come true, Tori!

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Very Oh-MINION-ated

A million more minions. OK.  Not a million.  But many.  Party apparel and blue-green dresses were requested for this young lady’s birthday party.  Packaged as favors (see previous Minion posts for bag and tag look), these girls held their thanks close to their hearts.

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Hi(gh) from Colorado

No longer in the “empire state of mind”, we’ve adjusted in to a different “state of being,” our Rocky Mountain high…  truly, it makes a difference being a mile (plus) above sea level.  It has taken me 3 solid months before I could hike the mountains without huffing and puffing.  And I don’t mean THAT kind of puffing.  But hey, altitude or attitude- you pick.

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I have seen quite a few new “stores” that I did not find in New York.  Some of them inspired the cookies below.  My Colorado cookie recipe has remained the same; no new ingredients have been added.  I feel like folks here having the munchies is good enough for my business…. 😉

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Rustic Rabbits

I really liked the shape of these cookies.  A cross between folk art and primitive design, I wanted their shape and texture to stand out.  I drew the bunny outlines on card stock and then hand cut them out of dough by tracing the shape with a sharp knife. The color was a mix of Americolor warm brown and black. I flooded the whole cookie with 15-20 second royal icing, waited a minute, and then stippled the whole surface with scrunched saran wrap to achieve the texture look.  While the base icing was still wet, I stuck in the whiskers (shredded wafer paper). Once that had dried completely, a black dot for the eyes was added and I shaded with watered down dark brown and a paint brush. The last addition was the painted pink blush for the ears and “cheeks.”

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I had a few spare blank cookies left from another order so I added a different perspective rabbit and a carrot for this last pic.

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Take a PEEP at this EGGStravaganza!

Who said you can’t play with your food?  Apparently, even religious holidays are not “sacred”???  And so it goes for Easter 2015.  First an EGGStreme play on that Easter staple: the simple egg.  Next I am YOLK-ing around with those wondrous little marshmallow fluffs they call Peeps.  Sometimes our ‘peeps just steal the show!?

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Peep Show (a 5×5″ double layer cookie!):

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The Best Day for Pi

Happy Pi day my fellow geeks!  Twice today, the calendar/time will read 3.14.15 9:26 (am or pm)! A perfect Pi day!! As always, my take on this “epic” Pi day is from a slightly different angle; hope these goes down as easy as pi(e).  Oh, and have a relatively happy birthday Albert Einstein.

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50 Shades of Hay

I confess, I have not read the books nor seen the movie.  But the word play from just the TRAILERS alone was enough to CORRAL me into this cookie set.  Just HORSIN’ around.  Hope I haven’t offended anyone who loves the topic- Shades of Grey or equine…

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Leprechauns 2015

I sat staring at the shamrock cookie cutter in my hand, hoping for a different IRSIHistible design to magically pop into my head. Gratefully, I flashed back to Patti Paige’s/Baked Ideas‘ many clever and sensational out.of.the.box cookies (MUST buy her book “Can’t Judge a Cookie by its Cutter!”).  Okay, look, some flashbacks are a positive thing. At least I hope YOU think so….  Here is my simple and funky wee leprechaun (and a little ‘how to’):

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