Halloween Platter

 A Halloween platter I made for my fellow teachers .

Birthday Cookies

I haven't done any decorated cookies in quite a while and I'm anxious to get back to it. Every three months at school, we have a birthday celebration for those whose birthday fell in the past three months. Each time a different group of teachers is responsible for the food and can choose any theme they want. This time it's our turn, the elementary teachers, and we decided to throw a real "kids" birthday party( elementary school, get it?!)

I'll be making marshmallow creme-filled cupcakes as well as these simple, but colorful, fun cookies. I actually had the round cookies frozen and was waiting for some opportunity to use them- this was the perfect excuse!

                                                All set up and ready to go

                                                dots and squiggly lines- fun to do!

                                         happy faces- frosting was a bit runny but they're still happy!

                                                  Hope the teachers like them!

The joy of my life

Almost the whole summer has passed without a post. I spent my entire summer with this gorgeous creature above! Who has time for cookies and cakes when that little girl is so delicious to kiss and hug!?
Ronny is 3 months old now , summer is over and school is back in session. How nice for me that my daughter lives so close to school- I can just drop in for my daily "fix" on the way home from work!
Actually, I've been fairly busy lately with some baking in the few "spare" hours I have between schoolwork , Ronny , husband and other children!

A colleague at school wanted a cake to celebrate a niece's entrance into first grade. I have been wanting to make a cupcake cake for a while now and this seemed like the perfect opportunity. The cake is made in the shape of an "alef"- the equivalent of "A" and also "first grade" in Hebrew. There were 30 chocolate cupcakes with a yellow tinted cheese buttercream frosting. The writing is cutout fondant letters.  It was a hit at the party (she requested two more(!) for other parties)  and I had lots of fun making it.Hopefully there will be more to come.

Happy 4th of July!!

These are the cookies I made for a large order for a 4th of July party. The customer wanted 50 stars and 50 flags. I usually bag the cookies and tie a ribbon on to close them ,but this time I thought I'd try something different ( especially since the thought of tying 100 bags was not very enticing!). I started looking around for alternatives and found the idea of bag toppers. Just fold them over and either staple or punch holes at the top and run ribbons through to tie. I opted for the easier method. After a lot of web searching, I got to the job of designing on Publisher. It looked fine on the screen, but then I had terrible problems with the printing. Finally transferred it over to Word and it was fine, although the whole process took HOURS! I 'm positive there is an easier way with some program that is already out there and I know I will eventually find it! For now, I am pleased with the results and more important- the customer loved them!!

Happy 4th to all!

Peanut Butter Creme- Filled Devil's Food Cupcakes

I haven't baked in a long time, except of course for sugar cookies to decorate, but for some reason, that's different. The cookies are so easy to make and they are , for me, a means to the enjoyment of the decorating part.

I tend to bake less in the summer for obvious reasons- hot, sticky,less desire to eat baked goods ( thank goodness for that ), but every once in a while, I sit down and leaf through my cookbooks and huge three-ring notebooks with recipes I have accumulated and vow to make someday. Last night I got the urge and just went with it. After finding a recipe which I had all the ingredients for, I jumped right in, at 10 o'clock at night.(I'm on vacation- I can sleep in!)
The combination of chocolate and peanut butter is one of my favorites and this recipe by Bobby Flay is one I have had on my list for a long time. I used the recipe as is , except for the gananche frosting. I had some chocolate buttercream frosting on hand so of course I used that instead. I piped it on using a medium sized flower tip.

They are as delicious as I had expected them to be, so I sent them with my daughter when she went back to the army this morning. Otherwise I would have finished off the whole bunch and the two new pairs of pants I bought would not have liked that at all!

Amazing Giveaways!

If you like decorating cookies or even just looking at them, then you have to visit Glory's blog "Glorious Treats. She does some of the most amazing work I 've ever seen and her blog is lots of fun to read. This week she is having three ( yes 3!!) incredible giveaways for cookie cutters from three of the best cookie cutter sources there are.

The first is from Foose Cookie Cutters, the second is from Copper Gifts and last but certainly not least is from a truly amazing site called Ecrandal. Even if you are not into decorating cookies yourself, it's lots of fun just to see the interesting shapes they make.

These amazing designs are from Ecrandal.

            These are from CooperGifts.

                                            These fun ones are from Foose.

                                                                                             

                                                                 .

So take a jump over to Glorious Treats - feast your eyes and join in the fun! Who knows? Maybe you'll even win!

She's here!

She's finally arrived!

Wednesday, June 16, 2010 2:32 a.m.

Baby girl ( no name yet!)

8lbs. 1oz.

and just the most gorgeous thing ever created ( that's the "grandma " in me talking- did you expect something else!?)




I'm participating in Tidymom's I'm Lovin' It Fridays - Have a look!

Practicing baby cookies

We are still waiting ( somewhat impatiently!) for my eldest daughter to give birth. To help pass the time I am baking and decorating baby theme cookies. She will  probably have a party when the baby is about a month old and I am planning on setting up a dessert table for the event. These are just practice ( they've already been eaten!) Hopefully, next time I post there will be some exciting news!

onsies

                            bottles

                                                                                   rattles

                                     bibs

                                                                      duckies

Flowers for a Friend

A friend of mine had some surgery last week and I thought I would brighten her day with a flower bouquet- one she can enjoy looking at AND eat at the same time!

                              
                                              

More Summer Fun

Here are a few more cookies I made for friends at school to wish them a happy summer vacation.

I am still working hard on perfecting the icing- not sure if I like the corn syrup glaze , royal icing, a combination of both, or maybe someting I haven't even tried yet. Well, now's my chance to experiment! I have all summer to work on it!

 sunglasses

 sailboats( just in case you couldn't figure that out!)

wrapped candy

 ( I 've seen these on other blogs and just love them- didn't have a cookie cutter so I found a picture and made a template.)