Happy Valentine’s Day 2015

Hope this day is all that you would hope it to be- whether you are in it for love, hate, or simply the massive quantities of candy.  Sorry for the late posting.  I realize that it is almost

ValenTIME…  This is FOURm me TWO you.

DSC_0026

Our daughters are amazing young ladies; they are the BALM diggity! Here’s how I let them know.

ur the balm DSC_0020

Okay, I am not KITTEN around anymore. These were for my cat loving friend.  My take on the retro ‘smitten kitten.’

DSC_0015 DSC_0019

But first, COFFEE!

Um.  Essential to life.  Right?  What’s not to love about coffee?  As I paid homage to tea, I felt it necessary to compliment my other hot beverage of choice.  The word “coffee” entered the English language in 1582 via the Dutch koffie, borrowed from the Turkish kahve, in turn borrowed from the Arabic qahwa, a truncation of qahhwat al-bun ‘wine of the bean’.

Here’s how the cookies for my caffeine-addicted friend turned out.

DSC_0014 DSC_0021

Not all cookies make the grade. To prove the point, here are some ideas that I played around with that did not turn out as I had hoped.  Whomp whomp.  Please try to remember only the ones that made the grade. 🙂

DSC_0027

Have a Holly Jolly

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!

DSC_0001

Christmas Cookie Place Cards

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.

DSC_0017 DSC_0004 DSC_0020 DSC_0009

Gifts from the Heart

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.

DSC_0154

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.

DSC_0138

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!

DSC_0144

ACORNucopia

Signed by George Washington on October 3, 1789 and entitled “General Thanksgiving,” the national decree by the fledgling government appointed a day “to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God.”  Later, on October 3, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation calling for the observance of the fourth Tuesday of November as a national holiday. In 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt moved the holiday to the third Thursday of November (to extend the Christmas shopping season and boost the economy). After a storm of protest, Roosevelt changed the holiday again in 1941 to the fourth Thursday in November, where it stands today (taken from earlyamerica.com).

Here is the cornucopia of cookies I am taking to our celebration.  There are a lot of people coming, and with the pies and other desserts also being served,  I felt like bite sized cookies were most appropriate.  Hope yours is happy, fulFILLING, and nap worthy.

DSC_0022

The cornucopia was big a** cookie!

DSC_0007

Acorns with personality.

DSC_0024

All the leaves are brown and the acorns are (not) grey (cue Mamas and the Papas)!

DSC_0013

Thanksgiving Gratitude (with Attitude?)

My favorite holiday.  Family, friends, food, and a long couch on which to take a nap.  Oh, um, and a little odd sense of humor 😉

DSC_0009

Trekkie turkey.  Live long and prosper?

DSC_0006

T.Hanks.giving thanks.  (so sorry Tom Hanks.  your acting and name are perfect.)

DSC_0016

Decree of thanks to all who follow this blog.  Especially thankful for our 2 daughters (without whom I wouldn’t be creating cookies or have learned how to blog.)

DSC_0011

Lastly, I’d like to serve up some gratitude:

DSC_0008

All You Need is Love

The City of Brotherly Love’s (Philadelphia’s) perhaps best-known landmark is LOVE itself — the Robert Indiana sculpture is in John F. Kennedy Plaza, not far from City Hall.  As an odd side bar, LOVE was installed in 1976 but briefly snatched away in 1978; popular demand brought it back to where it stands today.

Since the wedding was in Philly (even though ordered and picked up in Buffalo), all was right in the karma world.

DSC_0041 DSC_0030 DSC_0044

Walking Dead

I had never seen the show when I got this birthday party platter order.  Several episodes and some research later, I did my best not to be too gore.and.gross without losing the excitement and anticipation of the apocalyptic zombie world (really unbelievable makeup artists and effects).

DSC_0023

So my favorite crazy thing on the shows I watched (amongst a LOT of crazy things) was that the mother never knew where her kid was with zombie death lying around every corner.  This resulted in my ‘missing poster’ child friendly milk carton.  For personalization, I added the birthday boy’s name and his birth date in the UPC symbol.  It’s all about the details, baby.

DSC_0009

Zombie road sign.

DSC_0017

Some clever person thought of this wordplay on the Subway motto.  Not me though I wish it was.  Perfect in any case.

DSC_0039

Michonne was Sean’s favorite character so I had to paint her in warrior stance.  This and the barbed wire are examples of ‘watercolor and ink’- my favorite medium only using thinned down food gel and edible ink pens!

DSC_0011 DSC_0021

Just remember…DON’T GIT BIT!

DSC_0047

“Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” bouquets

The high school play was “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” and all 3 of the triplets were part of the cast.  Tradition might suggest flowers for the final night performance but I beg to differ.  Cookie bouquets are unique and so delicious (even if they don’t last as long as blooms! yum. yum.).  I do believe Willy Wonka and the Oompa Loompas would approve.

DSC_0571 DSC_0578 DSC_0586 DSC_0599