Isn't it Romantic?

What is more romantic than champagne and chocolate covered strawberries? 

Probably lots of things, but this Valentine's Day, these cookies fit the cookie-jar : ) 

Or gift box... whatever... you know what I mean!

With the addition of some cocoa powder to my icing, these strawberries can truly be called chocolate covered.  (Sorry, nothing fancy in the champagne : )

*****

On another note, with talk of LilaLoa's February Sketch It! Challenge, I agree it's a good idea to sketch your cookies designs before you decorate. 

 

(Ok, my sketch doesn't count - this is an app-generated sketch.  My real sketches were really too embarrassing to share online - I obviously ice better than I draw : )

*****



 

Oh, and gotta give a little shout-out to DH - I love you C-Dog!



 

*****

 

Happy Valentine's Day!

 

Spring Cleaning Winners...

 

Thanks to all who encouraged me to keep up with my

Spring Cleaning! 

 

By random draw, the winners are...

 

Catrinkas

*

Kris from So Cute Cookies

*

Michele from Cookies by Michele

*

Debbie from Sweet Creations by Debbie

 

Please send me your addresses ASAP & I will

get these out to you in the next few days!

 

Congrats & thanks for helping me clean!

 



Spring Cleaning!

Typically, "normal" people do this in, well, Spring.  But cookiers seem to work a season ahead at all times - Christmas cookies by Thanksgiving, Valentine's right after Christmas, 4th of July right around Memorial Day... if you are a die-hard cookier, you know it's true!  And since I was a little late on starting Christmas cookies, I'm all off kilter.  The holiday season, and all that comes with it, including everyone being home for almost 3 weeks (with sick kids to boot), Christmas decorations needing to be placed and then packed away, and school not starting until the second week of January, I have fallen way behind.  On everything.  And I can't work in a cluttered environment - I get my groove on when there are no distractions.  So I figured I would jump ahead a little bit and start my Spring cleaning now, so that I'm ready when Spring actually does arrive.  We're talking full-on assault: tear-the-house-apart, room-by-room (including kiddo room makeovers), closet-by-closet, cabinet-by-cabinet, fridge, freezer, baking supplies...  yep, even my baking supplies are getting the once-over.  With that said, I came across some brand new cute stuff that I want to give to some of you.  They are Valentine's themed, so just in time!  I didn't mention "giveaway" in the title 'cause it's a test to see who actually reads my blog they're nothing major, but they are majorly cute!

Just post a comment - say hi, wish me luck on my cleaning, tell me to get my butt in gear & post some cookies...whatever you like!  (don't get me wrong - I've done a bunch of cookies this month, just nothing particularly blog-worthy : )  But that's going to change as soon as I'm done, so help me out & take these cuties out of my house!)

There are 2 oven mitt & towel sets, a double pack of kitchen towels, and a set of 4 placemats.  Aren't they cute?  I just love cupcake-themed stuff : ). So 4 items to give away - just post a comment - winners will be chosen at random & posted on February 4th so I have enough time to get these to the winners in time for Valentine's Day : )

Good luck, & happy baking! 

(or cleaning... whatever makes you happy!)

Happy Holidays!

I know I've been a little light on posts lately - been busy with cookies most of the month...

...lots of cookie platters...

 

 

...and cookie gift boxes...

 

 

...and cookie favors...

 

 

...and other cookies like Snickerdoodles, Merengues, Pecan Tassies, Chocolate Chip, Peanut Butter Kisses, Gingerbread, Gingerbread Houses, and even Pumpkin Treats for the dog (her fave)...

 

...and braving the grocery store for Christmas dinner fixins...

 

...and finding time to squeeze in some Christmas shopping here and there...

 

...and in the midst of all the running around this time of year, it's time for some quality family time...

 

...and to send a prayer for those whose year may have held sadness through loss or tragedy...

 

...and to count our own blessings...

 

Wishing you Peace and Happiness during the Holidays and throughout the New Year!

 

 

A Moment of Silence in Honor of Newtown, CT

this sentiment shared by so many bloggers today... thank you

 

God Bless...



Stamp of Approval?

 

A long, long time ago (ok, about 2 years ago) I was a stamper.  Making cards.  Lots of them.  With the bajillion stamp sets I had accumulated over time.  I love making cards, always have.  But a million paper cuts later I decided that I didn't want to do it in volume anymore, and I found a sweeter hobby - baking.  To make room for all of my new baking toys (yes, I said it!) I knew that I had to scale down the stamps.  A lot.  Almost all of it.  Some of it left home via garage sale, some via cookie friends (Anita...Jackie...) and most of the rest are sadly sitting on eBay right now.  But some are sitting with my baking toys... clear stamps that have been said to be ok for use on food...(brand new, never been used ones, of course...)

 

I just happened to have some white-iced cookies laying around, you know the ones... they are so old you wouldn't consider them food anymore, but they are perfect for playing & trying new things... and with food coloring as the paint I was ready to go play!

 

I didn't have any luck getting regular Amerigel to work but I have read about others using airbrush colors on stamp pads to get the job done.  Well, for all of my stamp supplies, I did not have a new, uninked stamp pad laying around so I just painted the color on new, unused clear stamps with a paintbrush.  First I stamped it on some paper to a) make sure it worked, and b) to get the excess color off.  Then, I stamped the cookie - not too shabby!  The clear stamps are nice, because you can see exactly where it is going on your cookie.  (You can see I had to fit the stamp to the cookie, since I didn't make the cookie to fit the stamp... and being able to see where you are stamping is a tremendous benefit!)

 

Then for fun, I used icing to go over the stamped images and add accents.  My 15 year old daughter prefers the stamp-only-vintage look (the one at the top pf the post) but I kinda like them with icing too.

 

 

I tried some other stamps but apparently not all are created equal - on some the color just pooled around the stamp.  One of these days I will play around some more & see if I can figure it out.

 

 

 

So, does cookie stamping get my stamp of approval?  Maybe... the jury is still out on that one...

 

 

Before I go, I must send a shout-out to Barbara (lov2bake)

I thought of you the whole time I was doing these!

 

Happy Stamping!