Bake Off

It has been a while since I have baked sugar cookies...actually 6 months since I have baked a sugar cookie. I guess my priorities have changed a little with Little L around.  I haven't even had the desire to bake in fact.
Recently got a few requests for some cookies, and all for good causes. I did some for the YoungLife Cake Auction here in town for a basket with Cabi.   It was so fun to get dough in my hands again. I realized how much I miss doing them. I also realized that having a little one.... they take extra long now too.  I have some baking coming up for some other silent auctions for local fundraisers and it is fun that I get this creative outlet, but get to help some people or students in need at the same time! They aren't big orders, which is nice because I don't want to be in the kitchen all the time while have a little one to hang out with after working all day.
Anyways, here are so pictures of me back at baking :) Of course with my forgetful mind I forgot to take pictures of the final product of the dress cookies. You can check my cookie pictures from past ones... they are the same. 

While I was making cookies for the YoungLife Auction, I had some extra dough, and I wanted to make something special for this couple:

This is my sister-in-law (hate that term because she is like a sister) and her now fiance, Matt. Aren't they cute? It has been SO fun seeing their relationship unfold, grow, and mature to this step.  We are excited about having Matt as a part of our family. Anyways... I could go on and on about these two, but this blog is about cookies, right? Haha. I am sure I will write more at some point about these two.  We have many festivities happening and coming up with them.
So, yes... I wanted to make cookies to celebrate this occasion for them, and this is what I came up with to surprise them.

He Put A Ring On It! These are not perfect by any means, but they sure are fun. It was a great little surprise that was received well. In fact, we are going to make some like this for her to ask her bridal party...so fun, don't you think.

With the little joys of baking, engagements, five month old, and a great family.... I am so blessed and full of joy. God is good in his little blessings, and in the big ones. When I find myself in these "feel good moments," I don't take them for granted...

 

Angry Birds

This week I was asked to do cookies for a birthday party. I have baked cookies for this family before and was excited about becoming a birthday tradition. The two boys planned their own party, and were going for Angry Birds. I have NEVER done this before and they do not even make cookie cutters in the correct shapes. With a little help from the internet, this is what I came up with for the party. I think I did ok!

A Taste of Summer

I was asked to make cookies for a groom's dinner. The theme is beach as they are heading to Mexico for their honeymoon. I went with the colors they had requested, and this is what I came up with for the dinner. I hope they enjoy them and get them in the mood for sand and blue water in Mexico!

Christmas Cookies

As most of you know... I LOVE making sugar cookies and decorating them. I had about 1o dozen to do for Christmas, and here are some of the designs I came up with for the holidays. Well, at least the designs I remembered to take pictures of cookies during baking.

I hope you all had an enjoyable holiday season!

Cabi Cookies

I am back on the cookie baking. It feels like a long time since I have done cookies! I won't be saying that this week though as I have ten dozen Christmas cookies to get done by Thursday! That is ok though... I truly enjoy doing them, and it makes me so excited when people get excited about receiving them.

The cookies above I did for a person I have known for a long time. It was for an open house for her new business venture. She currently sells Cabi. It is a great clothing line, and honestly has something for all body types. If you would like to check it out, see the following link that will take you to the website and Ann's specifically. I hope she was happy about the logo cookies!
www.anndaly.cabionline.com

Yummy!

I just made these little delights to bring to a friend's house tomorrow. They are providing dinner, we are bringing dessert. Well, I wanted chocolate, and so... chocolate cupcakes with chocolate cream cheese frosting it is! Below are the links for the exact recipe. I highly recommend it. Good thing I only made 12 because I could not have these in my house... the magical midnight snack fairy would come and eat them with a tall glass of milk!
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/chocolate-cupcakes/detail.aspx
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/chocolate-cream-cheese-frosting/detail.aspx

Easter

I think we always think of Easter being about bunnies, flowers, and eggs. Well, at least this is the worldly view of it. Who doesn't like candy, and I always love an excuse to make cookies! There is so much more to this weekend than that!

This week in Minnesota has not been pretty. You would think for the end of April that it would at least be sunny and above 50 degrees, but oh no... it is 40 degrees and rainy. We even had several inches of snow this week. I was feeling kind of down about the weather one morning driving to work and then I thought what a good reminder the snow is. God washes us white as snow. God sent his son to die for my sin. Me! You! All of us! I was just in awe with this little reminder of snow that God sent to us Midwesterners this weekend. I think this is more exciting to celebrate than bunnies and candy!

Ok, you know me... I have to show cookiesI did for Easter. Here they are:

Baby Cookies

"Baby" seems to be the theme this month. No, we are not expecting, but everyone else seems to be this month! Here are some cookies I did for a baby shower today!

Tractor

I was asked to do a cookie order for a little guy's birthday for tomorrow. I agreed and was excited to learn it was tractor themed (as I have done many of those). Then, the family asked if I could do cupcakes as well. I have to admit, I have never done cupcakes for some one to order from me, but I agreed to take on the challenge. Well, this is what I came up with for the cookies and cupcakes. I think they turned out well, and I have always wanted to try little cookies on a cupcake! I hope the family is pleased, and I am so flattered that they asked me to be apart of just a milestone in this little guy's life! Happy Birthday!

Birthday Cookies

As I am doing more and more cookies, I have been trying a few new things. I was asked to do cookies for a close friend. It was her boys birthday party. This was the inspiration:

I have to admit... this was something new for me. I have done the footballs, but the soccer and basketballs were a new thing. All I can say is Z was happy because there were finally enough "reject" cookies leftover for him to snack on. Anyways... I think they turned out pretty well. I love trying new things because hopefully it will just make me better! There are more pictures of the cookies on the "cookies" page on the blog. Enjoy!

You want Samoa?

One of my guilty pleasures in life and as a cookie lover is the Samoa cookie by the one and only Girl Scouts! I can only find this cookie once a year.

Well, it is Girl Scout cookie season yet again, but I couldn't come to terms buying a couple of boxes of Samoas for $3.50 a box (even though it would be worth it). Well, I went to Google and I found this recipe for Samoas...Yummy! I know I am not the only lover of the cookies so I will share the resp... I know you will want samoa! Enjoy! (Oh, and by the way... I did by four boxes of cookies, but they are tagalongs and thin mints, my other choice of cookies.)

(I know they are not perfect looking. I was supposed to put a hole through the middle, but I just didn't want to take the time. None the less... they still are Delicious.)

Due to the step by step instructions and well my lack of discriptive terms... here is the link in which I found the recipe:

http://grouprecipes.com/96035/homemade-samoas-girl-scout-cookies.html

Where is the Love?

The love is in the cookies everyone! If you haven't noticed, I love making cookies and I LOVE giving them away. Whether it is for a special occasion or just because I crave for the opportunity to bake for others. I take the opportunity to pray for that person, and who they might be sharing the cookies with as well.

These are some of my favorites that I just did. I know they are simple, but they were Valentine's Day themed, and I LOVE Valentine's Day themed things. I think my girly side comes out for sure! Anyways, these were made for a friend. She had surgery recently and wanted to say "thank you" for the doctors and nurses. Well, I sure hope they felt the LOVE when they ate these!