Local Heroes, Inc. Fundraiser

I had the honor and privilege to make a cookie basket for a fundraiser that supports our local heroes. The event was a huge success and tons of fun. Check out my Flickr page for more images. I would like to thank all of the servicemen and women who continuously risk their lives for our freedom, we are forever in your debt.

Holidays

Now that all of the craziness of the holidays is over I finally have a few moments to post some of my latest images. First up, Thanksgiving. I have to thank one of my wonderful co-workers for challenging me to make a 3-D centerpiece for her family. I love how this turkey came together. Although, next time I might try to make the entire piece edible. This one has a Styrofoam body and only the feathers and head are edible cookies. It's still pretty darn cute!




Next, Christmas. This is always my craziest holiday, especially since my husband and I try travel to see everyone on each side of our families within 2 days. Every year I like to make something tasty to bring to each house, and this year was no exception. Unfortunately I only had enough time to take pictures of some of my sugar cookie treats because I only budgeted one day to bake! All of my creations were placed in baskets. Along side the cookies you see here were my family's famous Italian anise cookies and some most delicious Oreo cookie balls. Each package was wrapped up and tied off with a bow. I have to give a shout out to 2 of my Secret Santas from work whose gifts are showcased below. One provided me with the adorable ornament cookie cutters (love them!) and the other gave me some new decorating tools. For these cookies I used edible cake tattoos (the stripes and dots). It was easy and they looked awesome! All in all, it was a very yummy holiday season!

Lots of Babies!

November has been filled with baby cookies. I have to thank Amy Garmer Huff from Ohio for her ideas about the techniques for the Very Hungry Caterpillar cookies. I don't usually use Royal icing, so that was a challenge, but fun to try!
Enjoy!

Wedding Bells

This was my greatest accomplishment yet! Wedded bliss was in the near future for my best friend, Chrissy. I was overly excited when she asked me to be part of the wedding, but I was even happier when she agreed to let me make her favors! While teaching full-time, and working part-time at the after school program I managed to successfully bake and decorate 150 cookies in my single-oven kitchen. At one point I thought for sure I would lose the motor on my kitchenAid! In the end, the favors looked fantastic and the wedding was an even bigger success.

Congratulations to Chrissy & Jay and thank you for letting me (and my little hobby of a business) take part in such a special time of your lives!

Check out some more pics of the cookies on my Flickr page. I have also posted some belated images of some baskets I made to brighten a few co-worker's days! My next projects include another baby shower, a baby's first birthday, and a charity basket to be raffled off.

P.S. I'm taking suggestions on what theme to use for the charity basket!

Birthday Party!

I am very proud of my latest creations, mostly because they were quite last minute. My niece just turned 3 and, of course, the theme for her party was Disney Princesses! My original intention was to make her a bunch of fairy princess wands (stars on a stick!) and possibly some princess crowns. However, when I mentioned wanting to make cookies for the party to my sister she asked if I would make Tinker Bell cookies. My gut reaction was "how the heck am I going to recreate such a recognizable face when I can barely draw a decent stick figure?" I finally created a stencil that was pretty accurate. While the process was time consuming and a bit tedious (I actually repeatedly chanted: "I love my niece, I love my niece"), I am thrilled with the results. Fortunately the birthday princess and her guests agreed and the cookies were a hit!

Next up: Get well cookies, more baby cookies (this time it's a girl!), and monogrammed wedding favors. Stay tuned!

Bridal Shower

I had the distinct pleasure of making the favors/centerpieces for my friend's bridal shower this weekend. The party was fantastic and the cookies looked adorable! All of us bridesmaids had fun planning the event. However, I am not disappointed that it is all over!

Congratulations to Chrissy and Jay, I can't wait to celebrate your big day!

Click the Flickr link to the right to see the new pics!

Family Traditions

Every family has at least one sacred recipe that has been passed down from generation to generation. Being Italian, my family has many recipes that have been carried on. I have been given the coveted recipe for Nana's Italian Cookies. Actually, it was given to me over a year ago as a Christmas gift from my aunt who, in my opinion, is the guardian of all our families most delicious, and 'secret' recipes. I'm not sure exactly why it has taken me so long to make these cookies. I think part of me was afraid to make them. Yes, I was afraid to make cookies. I feared my cookies would not taste as good as I know they should; and then there is the fact (yes, fact) that if this recipe was to be exposed to anyone outside of 'The Family' I would be haunted forever by my relatives who have since passed on and be banished from my existing family. Ok, that may seem a little extreme, but I did mention that I came from an Italian family!

Well people, I was able to push my fears aside, and make the cookies. My father's suggestion of posting about more than just sugar cookies also helped me to get passed the fears I had and the end product was just as delicious as I can remember. Now, if I can only get my hands on more of those family recipes...are you reading Auntie Gemma?