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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 29, 2010 by Kate

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Last week, during the Orange County heat wave, I was in my kitchen making these peppermint Christmas cookies. No, I wasn’t delirious from the heat, just excited about this holiday baker’s give-away that Wilton is sponsoring. After these cookies dried, they were packed up and brought to my dad. I could tell he thought it was odd to receive Christmas cookies in August, but the man is smart and he knows better than to question homemade cookies.

There are 116 shopping days or baking days until Christmas, depending on how you want to look at it. I have gone without a paycheck since June, and am officially poor. (It’s not easy being a teacher!) The word “shopping” has been banned from my vocabulary, so I prefer to think in terms of baking days. I know it seems like there’s plenty of time before the holiday madness starts, but it always seems to sneak up on us.

These peppermint candy cookies are festive for the holiday, but you can use any colors to coordinate with your party theme, and they’d make cute cookie favors. I tried two different decorating techniques for two different effects.

The fabulous people at Wilton are letting me give away one of my most used baking items… this 50 Piece Tool Caddy Decorating Set. This kit will keep your baking tools totally organized, so you’re not always searching for what you need. I keep my caddy in a kitchen cabinet right above my Kitchen Aid, and pull it out whenever I’m decorating.

Here’s what’s inside this 50 piece set:

• A bunch of decorating tips organized in a removable tray

• Flower nail

• Disposable bags and a reusable soft touch bag

• Tip brush for cleaning decorating tips

• Couplers

• Spatula

• 4 of the most popular Wilton gel icing colors

• Beginner’s guide to decorating

This kit is perfect for both beginning and advanced bakers. If you already have a baking tool caddy, this would make a fabulous Christmas present, and you’d be able to check someone off your gift-giving list.

But this is a holiday give-away, right? To get you inspired for all of your holiday cookie baking, Wilton is also including a copy of the Wilton book, Cookie Exchange. It is full of original cookie ideas, and step by step photo instructions.

Here’s how to enter*:

You have a total of 4 chances to win:

(Be sure to leave a separate comment for each.)

We have a winner! Random.org selected comment #105, Miss Jillian. Check out her adorable blog if you have a chance www.missjilliandesigns.blogspot.com . Thanks for playing along everyone. Grin and Bake it will be hosting a fall give-away soon, so stay tuned!

1. Leave a comment telling me what your favorite Wilton product is. Here’s the link if you want to shop!

2. Follow Grin and Bake it ~ Join the Grin and Bake it Facebook group, follow me on Twitter, or sign up for the RSS feed. Scroll down on the sidebar and click under “Follow Me”. (If you’re already a follower, let me know in a comment how you follow the blog.)

3. Subscribe to Grin and Bake It and receive emails when new posts are published. To subscribe, scroll down on the sidebar to “subscribe” and enter your email address. I promise this is totally safe! Post a comment letting me know you subscribed.

4. Tweet this give-away “Christmas comes early… Enter to win Wilton’s holiday giveaway @grinandbakeit http://wp.me/pnls6-2O1

Contest ends on Friday, September 3rd at 9 P.M. Pacific Standard Time. The winner will be selected randomly at random.org, and will be posted on this post. I will send the winner an email letting him/her know that he/she has won. The winner will have 24 hours to respond to the email, otherwise, a second winner will be selected.

*This contest is only open to people living in the U.S. (I do apologize to my Canadian blogging friends.)

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Written on August 25, 2010 by Kate

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There are few things I’d ever claim to be an expert on, but when it comes to making teachers happy, I do know a thing or two. I am an elementary teacher, currently out of the classroom overseeing the gifted program in my district. My time is spent supporting teachers and parents, and organizing testing for several thousand kids each year. Teachers like food. I realize this is a generalization, but spend any time in the staff lounge and you’ll see teachers will eat just about anything. You might even get grossed out. Teachers don’t have the luxury of having a lunch hour. By the time they walk their kids to the lunch tables, get stopped by a parent or two, and pee, there’s usually about twenty minutes to cram something into their mouths before it’s back to the kids.

You know what teachers hate? Memos. I think every classroom teacher deserves his or her own secretary. Each morning, the teacher is greeted by a stack of papers ~ memos from the pricipal, messages from parents, assembly schedules, and all of those copies he or she needs ro run for their morning lesson. If you live in California, good luck on the copies, the schools that actually have money aren’t spending it on copy paper.

So here is my advice… when your kids start school, send them with a little treat for the teacher. And at Back to School Night, bring a little treat for the teacher. Don’t feel like it’s bribery. It’s about making someone feel appreciated. My boy is required to find out what his teacher’s drink of choice at Starbucks is by the time he comes home from his first day of school. Surprising the teacher with their favorite coffee, is the ultimate treat.

The cookie memo was inspired by what I know about teachers. It’s the best memo they’ll get of the entire year, guaranteed, and possibly the best memo of their careers.

And since you’re making cookie memos for the teacher, make an extra to give to your kiddo on his or her first day. Stick it in the lunch bag. The other kids will think you’re the coolest mom ever.

Here was my memo to myself yesterday…

I was freaking out a bit, getting totally overwhelmed with what’s ahead. I’m in summer mode ~ no alarm clock, no carpool, no work, pure relaxation. How in the world am I going to do it all in two weeks, and escape a nervous breakdown? I also made one for my girlfriend Laura. She and I work together, and she needed one too.

Oh, and if you’re married, I think the cookie memo could possibly save your marriage. “Pick up your shoes.”, “Put the seat down.”, “Do you think the dishes are going to wash themselves?”. In cookie form, how can he argue? It’s not nagging if it’s written on a cookie.

The markers are made to go onto icing, and are completely safe. Let’s not use Sharpies on these. Here’s a link for the markers. You can also find them in the baking section at Michael’s, or your local craft store.

Here’s a quick how-to…

What would you write on a cookie memo? Any great ideas?

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Written on August 16, 2010 by Kate

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Other than the Naughty One, the only other pets we have are fish. My dad and my son are in charge of tank maintenance, fish funerals, and any replacements. The boy and the pup seem to enjoy the tank. At least a couple of times a week, the pup barks incessantly at the fish tank, until she is picked up to get a closer view. It’s not a predator-prey sort of thing. I think she really believes these are her own pets.

As far as other pets go, I won’t do hamsters or any little rodents like that. I’ve never even picked up a hamster before… ever. Frogs involve crickets, so even if I could entertain the thought of a frog (which I can’t), I could never do the live cricket feedings. I don’t like cats, unless it’s the rare cat-dog, like my neighbor’s cat, who behaves more like a dog than a cat. And please don’t suggest we bring any birds into the house. I have a serious phobia of birds. I’m not sure if it was the movie The Birds when the phobia started, or the time when I was young, eating at a friend’s house, while her bird walked around on the table the entire meal. Needless to say, that friendship wasn’t long-lasting.

These little fishbowl cookies served no other purpose, but for fun. I’ve been busy with orders the past few weeks, and finally had a little extra dough and a little time to do something out of the ordinary. I looked in my candy stash and was inspired by the rock candy and fishies, and when I saw the little Wilton pearls, I had a cookie vision. I was happy with how they turned out. I added the rock candy, fish, and pearls before the icing set. The rock candy took on sort of a mosaic look, and the fish and pearls gave it a 3D effect.

Here’s a quick how-to for these fishbowl cookie treats:

*If you don’t have fishies or pearls, you can pipe them with frosting. Nerd candies can be substituted for the rocks.

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Written on August 9, 2010 by Kate

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Yes, this dessert can’t decide whether it wants to be a cake, ice cream, or a sandwich. That’s pretty much the story of my life… completely indecisive. I struggle with little decisions like… Should I go to the gym or just eat dessert? Should I buy the purse or pay the phone bill this month? Big decisions are even worse. Divorce? Employment? Place of dwelling? It doesn’t matter, big or small, I will think way too deeply about it.

Looking back, my entire existence has been spent analyzing my life, and for the record, I hate multiple choice tests. Here’s what I think is smart, the student who can come up with a justification for more than one multiple choice option, and have it make total sense. Some of you know that my job is the gifted and talented coordinator of a large school district (that’s what pays the mortgage, blogging and baking are for fun). When I’ve come across kids who do this and demonstrate reasoning skills way above the norm, the bells go off indicating… I think we have a gifted kiddo here.

This cake batter ice cream was a bit over-analyzed to begin with, and the first batch did not turn out well. I caught myself googling “cake batter ice cream”, comparing all of the different ingredients and proportions, and finally had to put an end to my madness. I got out a bowl, added the key ingredients in the proportions that sounded about right, and skipped the heating on the stove process altogether. I know that the heating process helps infuse the flavors, but having spent too much energy over-analyzing it, I just wanted a little cake batter ice cream. To my pleasant surprise, I loved it! I loved it so much, I decided it deserved to become an ice cream sugar cookie sandwich, which made it even better.

My sister and her husband are cake batter ice cream connoisseurs, and I miss the days b.c. (before children) that I would stop by Cold Stone Creamery and pick up cake batter ice cream for us. I’ve asked the experts to make this, and they are going to let me know if the recipe needs tweaking. Let me know if you make it and create your own version because the over-analyzer in me will continue to wonder if it gets better than this.

Printable Recipe

Cake Batter Ice Cream

3/4 cup white cake mix

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 cups whole milk

1 cup cream

2 egg yolks

1/2 tsp. vanilla

Combine the cake mix and sugar in a bowl and mix. Add the remaining ingredients and stir it well until the cake mix has dissolved. Place in a container and put in the refrigerator to chill (at least 4 hours is recommended). Once chilled, pour the ice cream mixture into your ice cream maker, and follow the directions according to the manufacturer.

To make the ice cream sandwiches, I bought the Pillsbury tube of sugar cookie dough. Feel free to use your own recipe, but I thought the texture and the sweetness of these would be perfect (and they were). Before baking, I sprinkled the dough with rainbow nonpareils. Once the cookies cooled and the ice cream had firmed up, I put the sandwiches together, and finished them off by sprinkling rainbow jimmies on the ice cream. Then I refroze them, until I was ready to devour them. And if anyone’s wondering, I didn’t go to the gym… I ate these instead!

*This recipe made 5 ice cream sandwiches. You may want to double the ice cream and cookies if you need more.

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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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Baking my way through the trials and triumphs of life!

Category Archives: cookies