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Written on September 6, 2010 by Kate

My baby goes back to school this week. I know he’s not a baby anymore, far from it; he’s starting fourth grade. It seems like just yesterday I was dropping him off at preschool with him in tears, and me on the verge.

He has literally grown UP over the summer… at least a couple of inches, and he should pass up his dad and I in a few years. This summer, the boy came to master the art of sarcasm. I’m not sure if this is good or bad, but I think it goes with the 4th grade territory. I’m excited to see what the year has in store for him, and am going to do my best to enjoy my time with him and not get too distracted with the rest of life (my ongoing struggle!).

I did several baby shower cookie orders this summer, and though I didn’t know any of the moms-to-be personally, I found myself thinking about them, as I worked on their orders. When I was pregnant, I was totally overwhelmed with all of the baby stuff I needed, or should I say thought I needed. My mom and I walked into Babies R Us to register for my shower, and both of us were totally overwhelmed by too many options. What bottles to buy? Do I really need that baby monitor? Won’t I hear him crying from the next room? There were so many things I thought I needed, that never were used.

If I could give these new moms any advice, I’d tell them to savor every moment. Even when they haven’t slept or showered, or have spit-up on the clean shirts they finally got around to putting on… enjoy it. In a flash, they’ll be sending their babies off to school, smiling back on those days when it was just the two of them.

I have to add a congratulations to my girlfriend Tammy who just found out that she’s pregnant. Up until now, Tammy had an only kiddo, and didn’t know if she’d have another baby. Her son is also going into 4th grade this year. My plan is to live vicariously through her and hold her baby whenever I need my baby fix. Tammy, I am making these for your shower, and if you’re having a girl (yes, that is a possibility… breathe), these cookies will be totally pinked out!

These onesies made good-sized cookie favors. I don’t have a onesie cookie cutter (they do make them), but I was able to easily make one with the t-shirt jersey cookie cutter that I do have. I liked how big they turned out. I decorated them with polka dots and stripes, and a few other patterns. These are the only pictures I ended up with. The dog ate my data card. I know it sounds like a great excuse, but sadly it’s the truth! I’m planning on making baseball team jersey cookies soon and have a feeling this cookie cutter is going to get a lot of use. The t-shirt jersey cookie cutter can be found here. Below are a couple of pictures showing how I transformed these into onesies.

Have a fabulous week everyone!

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Written on August 3, 2010 by Kate

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These flip flop cookies were so much fun to make. These were favors for the hula birthday party last weekend. I’m told that the girls went crazy for these. I’m glad that they liked them as much as I did. Southern California is probably the flip flop capital of the world. The kids here (and a lot of moms) wear them all year long. Flip flops have become a fashion statement in a place that exemplifies casual living.

When many families start taking down their winter clothes, flip flops still take over our porches. Even on rainy days, the boy will rattle off a list of reasons why he should be able to wear his flip flops. I swear this child came out of the womb negotiating, and he’s never stopped since. It’s exhausting! I tell the boy no, and he presents an argument as to why I should reconsider. I say no again, and without pause, he has another rebuttal. We go back and forth like this for awhile, until I give him “the look”. You know, “the look” that’s universal among moms everywhere. I think most moms don’t even realize they have “the look” until toddlerhood strikes. I believe “The look” is an innate, God-given trait to ensure that mothers survive the child-rearing process alive. There are other times though, when the boy skillfully wears me down. It is often so calculated and well thought out that I don’t even realize I’ve given in, until it’s too late. That’s the God-given child trait that ensures that the moms who survive child-rearing can one day release their kiddos to fly on their own.

Here’s a quick step-by-step on how to make these…

1. You can order the flip flop cookie cutter from Off the Beaten Path. They have a great selection of inexpensive cookie cutters, and are very efficient with shipping. The following gel dyes were used on these cookies ~ Americolor Sky Blue, Americolor Electric Pink, Wilton’s Lemon Yellow, and Wilton’s Leaf Green.

Outline the cookie, let it set, and then flood with another color.

2. & 3. Before the icing sets, use a squeeze bottle to make dots, stripes, or other details onto the flooded cookie. The design will seep into the icing, creating a smooth surface.

4. Allow the cookie to dry (at least an hour). Pipe two thick lines for the straps. I used a thin, curved tip (Wilton #97). Place candy detail onto the wet royal icing and let cookie dry.

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Written on July 22, 2010 by Kate

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Here’s a quick peek at what I’ve been up to this week…

300 of these

and 300 of these

and 300 of those little white shells in the photo. Hallelujah! I am finally finished with this massive cookie order! Seven days, fifteen batches of cookie dough, 900 cookies, and 300 bags later, they’re all wrapped up and ready to be picked up later today. I do owe those little starfish an apology. My outburst of naughty language was fueled by a bunch of little arms breaking off of these delicate little guys. All iced with dots and swirly lines, I loved how they turned out. I’d even make more ~ maybe not 300 all at once.

What I’ve learned from this is that I really do have a point in which my craving for sugar goes away. 900 cookies later, I have absolutely no desire for sugar. I got a little nervous wondering what in the heck am I going to do, I have a baking blog and want nothing to do with sugar. Not to worry, I have a feeling that ice cream, brownies, and cookies will be in my near future. The sweet tooth gene is part of my DNA and once these little guys are picked up, it won’t be long before I’m inspired to create something else loaded with sugar.

If you can believe it, I’m off to roll out more cookie dough for a Friday order, twenty cookies for a cheerleading team. Somehow, this seems like no big deal at all! When life settles down in the next few days, I’ll post a quick tutorial on how to make the marbelized design on the large shells. You won’t believe how simple it is to do. I’m off to catch up on my favorite baking blogs and see what everyone has been up to!

Big hugs and thank you’s to Bridget at Bakeat350 and Paula at Vanilla Bean Baker. You are both my cookie inspiration. Thanks for your advice and encouragement! Also, my sanity would not still be intact had it not been for my mom, my baking partner in crime, who tied hundreds of bows, and rolled out cookie dough for hours with me! And Kendall J. it wouldn’t have been nearly as much fun without you too!

So long beachy sugar cookies. I think I’ve earned a day at the beach!

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Written on July 18, 2010 by Kate

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Hope everyone had a great weekend! I’m still in crazy sugar cookie mode, working on a large order. My mom came to my rescue yesterday and helped me roll out 600 sugar cookies. And yes, I know what a great mom I have. I kept saying every twenty minutes, “Aren’t you over this?” (I was) and I cursed at the poor starfish cookies too many times to count. My mom said she wasn’t over it. Even five hours into it, she claimed she was “having fun”. Oh, how I love that woman! Now all 900 cookies have been baked and I’m onto the decorating phase. See that cute little monkey smiling, that’s going to be me on Friday, except I’ll also have a cocktail in hand to toast to the end of the sugar cookie madness, and an end to all starfish!

These monkey cookies were made for Jen at Swank Web Design. She redesigned my site a few months back. If you’re looking for a website designer, she is amazing and super easy to work with. Jen was throwing her son his first birthday party with a jungle theme. Don’t you love first birthday parties? When my son turned one, my mom and I scooted the boy in his highchair outside to hose them both down after he dug into his cake.

Jen decided on monkey and personalized banana cookies for party favors. She’s with me on my “say no to junk” party favor policy. Oh, how I hate all of the crap that my son brings home from parties. In his defense, he absolutely loves it. Jen said that her little boy, Van, enjoyed the cookies, and since he’s too young to know about all of the plasic party loot he missed out on, I think these were a success.

Here’s a quick step-by-step on how I made these, plus a few tips on decorating sugar cookies:

The monkey face and banana cookie cutters came from coppergifts.com. Copper cookie cutters are more expensive… a lot more expensive, but are so much easier to work with. They make clean cuts when cutting the cookie dough and are easier to handle. Most of my cookie cutters are the cheapie kind, but I will say there is a world of difference in quality.

As for the monkeys, I started by outlining the face with Americolor gel in dark brown. When outlining sugar cookies, I usually use Wilton’s tip #2 and squeeze bottles. The royal icing should be the consistency of maple syrup for outlining. It should flow easily out of the squeeze bottle, but not spread when piping.

After outlining the monkey faces, I flooded the ears and top of the head with the dark brown icing. The royal icing for flooding the cookie needs to a much thinner consistency than outlining. It should move a bit when you squeeze it onto the cookie. A toothpick works great to spread the flood icing evenly. The rest of the cookie was flooded with Americolor soft brown. After each area of the cookie is flooded, it is important to look for air bubbles that have formed. Use a toothpick to gently pop the air bubbles before the icing sets. Don’t be obsessive compulsive, just get the ones that you can and move on.

After the flooded cookie dries (at least a few hours or overnight), add any details on top. For the monkeys, I went back and added the eyes, nose, and mouth using Americolor Super Red and Super Black.

I was thrilled with how the bananas turned out. My biggest challenge is always piping letters. I’m a lefty and have never had great handwriting (that’s my excuse, and I’m sticking to it). Practice may not make perfect, but it definitely helps. The Wilton tip#1 is what I use for piping letters and numbers. The hole is very tiny and can easily get clogged with royal icing, but toothpicks work wonders for that.

I added sanding sugar on the outside of the bananas for two reasons. First it added a little sparkly touch (it needed something), and second because one of my girlfriends, who recently helped me reorganize my kitchen, called me a “sprinkle hoarder”. That’s why I love my girlfriends. They aren’t afraid to say it like it is. Anyway, I’ve been banned from buying any type of sprinkles until I use up some of my stash.

To add sanding sugar to cookies, mix a small amount of meringue powder with water. Use a small paintbrush to brush the mixture where you want to add the sugar. Sprinkle sugar onto the cookie and shake off the excess. After it dries, a dry paintbrush works great to brush off any remaining loose sugar on the cookie.

These little guys were bagged up and sent on their way. I’m on my way to decorate another hundred sugar cookies. I promise to refrain from cursing at the starfish!

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Written on July 12, 2010 by Kate

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Some of you saw these random pictures posted on the site a few days ago. I thought it was in my drafts, and only realized it was published when a few of you commented on the post. Thank you for not inquiring about my craziness in the comments, and for acting like it was all done on purpose. I have been a bit crazy (when am I not, I know some of you are thinking). My nine year old boy has become an insomniac this past week. He has not been feeling good and has been up past midnight with stomach aches every night. We’ll get to the bottom of it, but in the meantime no one is sleeping in my house expect for the naughty dachshund. I need sleep. I do crazy things (like post random pictures without any words) when I don’t sleep. To complicate matters, I’m drowning in cookie dough. I took an order for 300 cookie favor bags, 3 cookies in each bag. Yes, I know that’s 900 cookies. See, I told you I was crazy. In the midst of that, I’ve taken several other orders for the next few weeks. When it rains, it pours cookie dough! I’m not complaining. I’m actually excited for the opportunities to work with such great people. I’ve got reinforcements on call too, if I need them!

I’m always amazed to see how God makes all things work together for good. All of that money I lost during the teacher strike, God giveth back in the form of cookie dough.

So let’s try this again… Last week one of my girlfriend’s ordered cookie favors for her daughter’s My Little Pony party. We decided on rainbows to go with the colorful decor. The birthday girl loved how these turned out, and they were simpler than I initially thought.

Sorry for the poor picture quality on these. I used a three and a half inch circle cutter for the rainbow. After pressing the cookie cutter into the dough, I cut the circle in half and baked them. I then made several different bright colors of icing and piped the rainbow colors with a large circle tip (Wilton #7) . The large tip eliminated the need to flood the cookies.

I used a small flower cookie cutter for the clouds. When I piped these, I tried to make them all a little different, so that they’d look like clouds and not like flowers pretending to be clouds. I then attached the clouds to the ends of the rainbow with royal icing acting as the glue. This gave it a fun 3D effect, and also eliminated the need to pipe the ends of the rainbow perfectly, since they’re covered with clouds.

Be back tomorrow! Hopefully, with a little more rest and a lot less crazy!

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Written on June 30, 2010 by Kate

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Do you ever rack your brain trying to come up with an original idea… your very own, never been done, idea? Finally, BOOM! ~ it hits you, something you’ve never heard of… something you’ve never seen… something you’re pretty sure no one else has ever thought of. Before actually claiming ownership of your original idea you Google it, only to find dozens of links to what you can only conclude is your not so original idea. I’m not a psychologist, but I think our psyches were better off pre-Google era. We could easily claim ownership of our original ideas, and spend a lifetime patting ourselves on the back for our brilliance.

As I was brainstorming more easy kid-friendly treats for the Fourth of July, it came to me… “Firecracker Krispies”. It seems only fitting with their “Snap, Crackel, Pop!” slogan. Could it be, I just invented “Rice Krispie Firecrackers”? I bravely typed “Firecracker Rice Krispies” into the search engine and pushed enter. A few links came up, but not what I envisioned. Hmm… I did a few more Google searches, and checked the Kellog’s Rice Krispie website. Nada. Nothing. Zilch!

So without further ado, I present to you my original Firecracker Krispie. Google never lies, but if by chance there is someone out there who has already done this, please I beg you, don’t burst my bubble… at least for a day.

These are really easy to make, and kids with clean hands can join in. You can try substituting pop rocks for sprinkles. Need a 4th of July favor? Put these in cellophane bags, and add a ribbon.

Here’s what you’ll need:

Festive Fourth of July paper
Waxed paper
Non-stick cooking spray (optional)
Chocolate wafers
Sprinkles
Licorice
Star wire
6 cups Rice Krispies cereal
4 cups mini marshmallows
3 tbsp. butter

Whip up a batch of Rice Krispie treats (recipe on the cereal box, or click here). Scoop the Rice Krispie/Marshmallow mixture onto a piece of waxed paper.
Take another piece of waxed paper and place it on top. Use your hands to smooth it out into a square shape. If you need to get in there with just your hands, forgo the waxed paper and spray a little bit of non-stick spray on your hands.
Once you’ve made a square-ish shape (no need for perfection), cut 1 ½” strips of the Rice Krispie mixture. Depending on how large you decide to make them, you may want to then cut the strip in half.
Use waxed paper and shape strip into a cylinder. You want to make sure that it stands up, so the bottom needs to be flat. Continue making these Rice Krispie cylinders until you’ve used up your mixture. I made 12 out of one batch (diameter approx. 1 ¼”, 4” tall)
Use a paring knife to hollow out a little hole in the top. This is where the licorice wick will go after you’ve dipped the firecrackers in chocolate. Melt chocolate in the microwave at thirty second intervals, stirring in between. Dip the top of the rice krispie treats into the chocolate, coating well, and shaking off any excess. Add sprinkles before the chocolate dries. Stand them up to set.
While the chocolate is setting, take the licorice piece and gently push it into the top into the hole that you made. As the chocolate hardens, it will help secure the licorice into place.
To finish these off, cut a strip of festive paper 1 ½” wide, wrap it around the circumference and use double-sided tape to adhere. Inside the licorice piece, put a few pieces of colorful, star wire.

Voila… my quite possibly, but I would never swear on it, original Firecracker Krispies. During my Google search, I discovered that Kellog’s was actually having a contest for a July recipe. The deadline was Tuesday. Thanks for bursting my bubble Google!

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Written on March 10, 2010 by Kate

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After six days of a fever and nasty cough, the doctor’s prognosis for my boy is pneumonia ~poor thing! We caught it before its become severe, and hopefully the medicine will now knock it out quick. I love him dearly, feel bad for him, wish him well, but we are now going on day 6 under this roof. No sympathy, but you can probably understand that a mom in a house with a sick boy and naughty dachshund can make one a little stir crazy.

Enough whining… I’ve been on a roll with sugar cookie lollipops lately and wanted to post a few pics. These are great for birthday favors and for team events, and they look pretty cute all wrapped up. Sometimes fancy sugar cookies look great, but taste bad. The sugar cookie recipe I use is from Susan at On Becoming Doughmesstic. This sugar cookie recipe has gotten great reviews every time I make a batch. The dough is soft, which may make it a little more challenging rolling it out, but it is worth it. The dash of lemon extract is the best part. These stay fresh for a long time, which allow you to make them several days ahead of time. I usually do them in stages. The first night I make the dough and royal icing. The second day I roll out the cookies, and decorate on the third day. It breaks it up so it doesn’t seem like that much work.

Cake Journal has a great tutorial with pictures on making these cookie pops. I’ll give a brief run-down.

The first cookie pops were for my best girlfriend’s girls’ birthdays. They had their joint party at an old-fashioned candy store. The kids decorated cupcakes and went on a candy scavenger hunt in the store ~ so much fun! These lollipops were pretty easy to make. After flooding the cookie, while it was still a bit wet, I piped a swirl on it, which seeped right in, making it look lollipop-ish. I had fun playing with all of the color combos.

The soccer ball and baseball cookie pops were for team parties. I made the little flags on the baseball cookies to show off the team name. They were for my son’s team. The season is now in full swing (no pun intended)!

Here’s what you need…

sugar cookie dough
royal icing
gel colorings
lollipop sticks from a craft store
squeeze bottle (or piping bag, but squeeze bottle works better)
cellophane bags & ribbon

Here’s what to do… Once the cookies are rolled out, place them upside down on the cookie sheet (see photo above). Then, add a stick by gently pressing into the middle of the cookie. Next, take a small piece of dough and shape it into a flat rectangular-ish shape and cover the stick. Press down gently. This extra piece of dough gives it more support, so that the cookie stays on the stick. Finally carefully turn the cookie over so that the stick is on the bottom and bake as directed.

Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies (Recipe from On Becoming Doughmesstic)

makes about 5 dozen

1 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup cream cheese, softened
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon Lemon Extract
5 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

In mixer, cream together butter, cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add in eggs, vanilla, and lemon extract beating until smooth. Mix in the flour, baking powder, and salt until incorporated. Coverand chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight) to make rolling out simpler.
Preheat oven to 390 degrees F. Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter or by hand. Place cookies 1 inch apart on cookie sheets lined with parchment or a Silpat.
Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Allow to cool completely.

Decorate with Royal Icing, if desired.

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Written on February 8, 2010 by Kate

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Each February I go in search of a clever valentine for my son to make for his friends. It has to be something that reflects whatever he’s into that year. Third grade is somewhat of a transition year from what’s cute to what’s cool. Cutesy valentines aren’t going to fly this year. We needed something that would earn cool status.

And you know what’s cool… the wii! The boy loves video games. Lucky for him, he was born the son of the Atari Frogger champion from the 80’s. I mastered that game! And whenever I see an old Ms. Pac Man game, I can’t resist the urge to play.

I don’t think video games are evil, as some parents do. And I don’t think they will negatively impact this generation of kids. It’s all about balance. As long as there is still plenty of outdoor play with friends and other activities going on, I have no problem with a little Wii. In fact, if you stop by unannounced, you may just catch me playing Guitar Hero or singing into the microphone for Simon on the American Idol Wii game.

Last month, I went in search of a Wii valentine, but couldn’t find anything. I remembered reading about a bowling Wii tournament party on Hostess With the Mostess, so I went back for some inspiration. It is full of great Wii themed ideas. I, then, found a template online to make a paper, Wii-mote. This served as the envelope for the valentine. It is a pdf file and perfectly to scale. I printed one on my printer and ran the rest on the copier. The quality was still great. These would make perfect party favors too. Take my advice, use a glue gun to put these together, regular glue will make you a crazy person. There is a little cutting and folding involved, but it’s a great excuse to catch up on Tivo.

If you’re familiar with the Wii, one of the first tasks you do is to create a Mii (pronounced “me”), a graphic version of yourself. There are a few sites on the web that allow you to create and print your own Mii’s, just for fun, including MakeWee and My Avatar Editor. For the valentine, I had the boy go on the site and make his mii. I then cut and pasted it into Photoshop and created a valentine note to stick into the Wii-mote. The boy is one of three other Blake’s in his class and is referred to as Blake R. I’m hoping that doesn’t stick. To finish these off, we filled the Wii motes with AirHeads and other smaller candies. The boy can’t wait to share them later this week.

One of Blake’s best friends made Ipod Valentines this year, using small conversation heart boxes. The Ipod valentines are complete with peanut butter cup headphones attached. I love this idea! Family Fun shows all of the directions on how to make them.

Do you have any other great ideas for valentines, do share!

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Baking my way through the trials and triumphs of life!

Category Archives: Favors