Snow Days

These cookies were also made for the memorial service. I thought the granddaughters of the gentleman that passed might appreciate some pastel colored winter themed cookies. The pink and blue color scheme was inspired by Glory from Glorious Treats. Her work is amazing and she's always sweet to include tutorials.

You're in Our Thoughts and Prayers

Last week I was asked to make cookies for a memorial service. This was a first for me, cookies for a funeral. I wanted the cookies to be as tasteful (no pun intended) and respectful as possible. I was only given a few details about the gentlemen that had passed away. One detail was that he and his wife were raising their twin granddaughters and the cookies were mainly for the two young girls. I hope the cookies bought a few smiles on what was otherwise a sad day.

Thanks Judy for ordering the cookies!

And thanks to the ladies on the Cookies R Us forum who suggested I make flowers, doves and crosses.

Happy Birthday Tara!

Meet Tara

Tara is one of my dearest friends from college. It's true what they say about your college friends being your life long friends. Tara and I were roommates for three years. She was a year ahead of me and looking back I was blessed to be placed with her that first year together.

What I love about Tara and our years together

She's in all my best college memories

Her laugh, which is sometimes kind of like a crazy person's laugh and very infectious

She's intense, but in a good way

I don't know anyone else that would be brave enough to move Germany for work (and not know a lick of German)

In college having someone to share the "joy" of studying all night every night

That her favorite day of the year is Kentucky Derby Day

Renting usually awful movies together at the local Giant Eagle

Being the person that introduced me to the Dutch Blitz card game

My list could go on and on, but I'm so grateful we had each other to count on as we grew into the sometimes silly, sometimes serious ladies we are today.
Love you Tara!

Tara's birthday is in January and I wanted to make her a set of Favorite Things cookies.

In our last year living together in college one of our roommates declared that we actually had birthday weeks, not just birthdays. I think this is appropriate bithday week appareal.

Tara is the ultimate soccer player. She's currently playing in Germany and was featured in her local paper. We all knew she was a soccer rockstar and now Germany is learning the same thing.

Tara is a huge dog lover and the dog in her pack is Shammy, a dog who is as spunky as her owner.

Over the summer Tara went to the Royal Ascot with some friends. These hat cookies aren't as flashy as the ones at the Ascot, but you get the idea.

Tara loves all things Steelers, but then again it's like a pre-requisite if you live near Pittsburgh.

Mixer Mishap: Part 2

Well in the last post you read that I was without a mixer and still had more cookies to make before Christmas. As much as I loved KAs, I was a little afraid to buy another one. I admit that I may be hard on a mixer, but after reading many (many many many) reviews from KA users, I realized that the product may not be as good as everyone believes. I once thought KA was something that would last forever, but according to my research, the integrity of the current generation KAs is lacking. If you have your grandmother's KA, you probably will be able to use it forever. But if you buy one today, it's lifespan may not be as long as you'd hoped. Please note these are just one blogger's opinions.

I had heard good things about Cuisinart Stand Mixers so I did some homework and decided to go with the Cuisinart 5 1/2 Qt Stand Mixer. As of now, I have all good things to say about it. The splash guard shield is fantastic and there is a slow startup when you first turn it on. So far, I've made a batch of Peanut Butter Blossoms and a double batch of cutout cookies. The mixer handled the 6 cups of flour in the cutout cookies very well. It's a 10 (or maybe 12) cup flour capacity, but I'm a little skeptical. However if it mixes 6 cups at once well, I'll be a happy camper.

Mixer Mishap: Part 1

Let me preface this by saying I have nothing against KitchenAid (KA) Stand Mixers.

Unfortunately, I didn't have a very good experience with mine. Our relationship started off strong. If you bake or cook frequently you build up a relationship with your stand mixer. I had high hopes and thought we'd be BFFs. Afterall when you score a KA at a super low price due to a misprint in the Lowes weekly ad, you think the honeymoon will last forever. Nope! Not long after I got it the KA started making bumping noises and moving all over the counter when it mixed anything more than cream. I thought it was just temperamental. It wasn't until my real BFF Racy Tracy (my cookie partner in crime) witnessed the KA making those noises that I realized there might be a problem. Still I lived in denial and hoped my KA would eventually start behaving like the perfect appliance I knew it could be.

Fast forward three years. My KA was still acting up. In October, the paddle blade was hitting too close to the bottom the mixing bowl causing the blade's coating to come off. Chris, my husband/cookie consultant was able to adjust the height of the blade and it seemed a little better. Unfortunately, it was a short lived recovery. On December 22, 2010 my KA stopped working. The top of the mixer was warm and had a burnt smell. Naturally I had more cookies to bake before Christmas and a bowl full of icing that still needed mixed. My KA handmixer had died before Thanksgiving. It's 3 year warrenty had just expired. So what's a baker to do without a mixer? The amount of icing I had prepared was way too much to mix by hand.

So....when you need more power you use power tools.

My husband had the brillant idea of attaching one of my handmixer's blades to his Black and Decker Hammer Drill. It worked pretty well. Who knew power tools could be a baker's best friend.

Rest in Peace KA Stand Mixer. You looked so beautiful on my kitchen counter and we made beautiful cookies together. I thought we'd be together forever, but alas we only had three years.

You've come a long way...

The picture quality is awful, but it's from my phone camera. My husband is probably cringing if he reads this blog post. These cookies are from last year (Christmas 2009) and it's probably hard for you to tell, but my technique is pretty amateaur compared to my current work. I wasn't using piping bags and tips last year. I hadn't found Cookies R Us, cookie forum yet. I didn't even know there was an alternative to Wilton icing coloring called Americolor. I was so unaware back then. These cookies look especially crummy compared to my cookie heros (those in my Favorite Blog list). I can't believe I thought they looked good. Oh well, I guess ignorance is bliss. It's amazing what difference a year makes.

Bad Blogger

Hanging my head in shame

I fell off the blogging wagon.

But.... I'm back!

Santa Claus brought a lap top and hopefully (fingers crossed) it will make blogging a little easier.