Water Polo Cookies!

Have you ever played water polo?

I haven't. I've tried to do that 'underwater-egg-beater-thing' they do to tread water.


Almost drowned.



These were for my cousin Carley's water polo team.

They can totally do that egg-beater thing forever...without drowning.



And Carley?

She's the CIF MVP.





She rocks.

(Congrats to the whole team!!!)

Take-A-Peek Tuesday! Easy Woodgrain Cookie Tutorial!

Did you happen to see those little signs I made for the Easter tushies this year?

Yup, those are the ones. 

At the time I didn't really think of them as woodgrain.  

I was going for a dirty, grubby sort of look, like Mr. MacGregor's garden.

So, when I started getting questions about how to make woodgrain on cookies, I was stumped.

"I don't know how to do that?

How the heck would I even begin to know how to do that?

oooooooh...maybe I did do that. 

Hmmmmm."

They're super easy to do.  Especially if you think of them as 'dirty' instead of 'wood'.

'Cause, how can you mess up something that's just supposed to be dirty?!

I cut rectangles and lightly pressed a skinny wooden stick onto the front before it baked. To make it look more like a garden stake,  I extended it out the top and made it crooked. (really, I meant to do that...)
Flood with white or ivory and let it dry.


Gather up all your supplies...

Some clear water or vodka, plastic paint palette with ivory and brown food coloring, clean foam brush or sponge, and a dry paper towel.

Dip the foam brush in water, then the color and smush it around in the middle of the palette. (looks like I got a little red in there to by mistake)
Try it out on the towel to see if you like the color...

...and wipe it all over the cookie.

Let that dry just a bit, maybe a minute or two. I liked it a bit drippy and messy...
For the first pass, use just a little bit of color.

For the darker bits, dry your sponge almost all the way, then dip the corner into the color.
Paying special attention to the edges, lightly paint streaks back-and-forth.

Keep adding streaks until its dark enough for you.

Don't forget the edges....

And that's that!
Dirty ole wood signs for your garden...




....or old poison labels for Halloween!

I hope you try it out!

(and show us lots of pictures when you do!)

Puzzle Heart Cookies!

Did you know that April is Autism Awareness Month?
I didn't either until Kim from the Cookie Puzzle  asked me to participate in this month of awareness on her blog!
I also got the extra-special honor guest-posting on her son's actual birthday!
Happy Birthday Collin!

Hooray!!!
I made Puzzle Hearts....'cause we want to surround these extra-special people with love!!!
Every family I've met that has a munchkin with autism,  holds these kiddos close to their heart every single minute of every single day.
Head over to the Cookie Puzzle today to read my guest post!
It has lots of links to learn about Autism, and even more links to blogs written by these parents.
I'm so amazed at how they deal with the challenges they're faced with and manage to find the bright-side to every situation with a dose of humor!

Take-A-Peek Tuesday! Dehydrators!

I mentioned to Joe that I was thinking of buying a dehydrator.
A lot of cookiers use them to speed-dry their cookies and keep craters at bay.
I use a fan to dry my cookies now, but I always like a new tool.

This was NOT what I meant!

Noooooooooooooo!
(darn water heater hose sprung a leak...into the wall, under the laundry room floor, over the laundry room floor, through the living room wall, under the bookcases and under the living room floor.   Oh, and the bathroom too.)

Know how long it takes 2 professional restoration men to rip up a floor?
About 5 minutes.
Know how many loud appliances they leave behind?
14 industrial blowers and 2 dehumidifiers that are taller than Jack.




Forget cookies,
I need a cocktail.

Take-A-Peek Tuesday! The Drawer of Many Colors!

My Dad has a saying...
"If one is good...more must be better!"
I seem to have taken this to heart. Whether it's cookie cutters, spatulas or sprinkles,  as long as it has a purpose...I keep buying them.

Which is why I have a drawer that looks like this...

As long as it closes its all good, right?




Let me show you where to find it in case you come over one day to bake.

It's directly across from my 'icing mixing spot'.  
Remember how I told you I organize because I can be a bit lazy?
I pull the drawer open when I start to mix and just reach down behind me for the colors I need.
Spatulas are on the counter above the drawer, just grab a clean one each time I change colors.
I'm right next to the sink, which has a bowl of hot soapy water to drop messy spatulas into.
The trash can (for toothpicks with food coloring or used saran wrap) is in the  drawer directly under the counter

Basically...I look like a crazy basketball player pivoting on one foot  trying to make a shot saying "does this blue look like the sky to you?"
Oh my.




Here are my favorite things in the drawer...

1. Wilton food color paste.   2.  Americolor food color gel.
For coloring royal icing I prefer Americolor over Wilton, mostly because of the squeeze bottle. No matter how careful I am, scooping color out of those  tiny Wilton pots with a toothpick makes a mess.
However, Arty McGoo says that Wilton works best for painting on cookies. And y'know, when Arty McGoo talks.....;)
So, that little palette that I use for painting on cookies ONLY has Wilton on it.
There are a few colors of Wilton's that I love, golden yellow, moss green and juniper green. Americolor makes the best green in the whole wide world-electric green!

3.  These are mostly extras.    Some petal dust, unopened disco dust, I see a coupler that popped over the edge  and a plastic tip that came with a squeeze bottle which I can't bear to throw away.
4.  Wilton couplers that I keep for emergencies, large tip covers and  silicone cupcake liners that I've never used.
5.  Disco dust!!!  
 I had to have it!  
AND I had to have the little baby shaker bottles to put it in. (no...haven't used these either)

6.  Measuring spoons!
This drawer is below the mixer, so I keep a few spoons in here to grab  when I'm adding corn syrup or vanilla to royal icing.
The tubes are ck food coloring gels.   Not my favorites.  I seem to need an awful lot to get a deep color.
That's dry red and black food coloring powder in the upper left of the section (also unopened-I'm starting to notice a pattern).
7.  Ateco Couplers!
Sugarbelle says they're the best and she's absolutely right!!!
What else....extra food markers and a candy dipping tool and oh!  An extra boo-boo stick! I've been looking for that!
8.  Offset spatulas of all sizes! Great for everything. Looks like a couple of measuring cups and extra toothpicks too.
And that's it!
But that's a lot!!!

Just about everything in this drawer can be found at either Karen's Cookies or Sweet Art Country Kitchen
...except the drawer divider. That came from Target 6 or 7 years ago.
I did spot a similar one at Amazon...

                                      Totally Bamboo Expandable Utility Drawer Organizer

I'll be spending the munchkin's spring break watching them run around and editing a jillion photos!

Lots and lots of cookie pics to come!