7th annual cookie party

it is hard to believe we have been doing this for 7 years!  today i hosted my annual cookie bake n take and we ended up with lots of treats - mostly with nuts but that is okay because most were taken home by those that attended.
activities for the kids this year included decorating sugar cookies, making festive headbands, and a few foam crafts.

flavors made included coconut-chocolate-almond macaroons, peanut butter-filled chocolate, chewy molasses, & m&m kiss pretzels. 

i sent everyone home with a box of my decorated sugar cookies....

...and of course, a sampling of the cookies i have been making & storing in the freezer since mid-november.

andes mint chocolate

snickerdoodles

chocolate mint snow-top

peppermint kisses

pecan sandies

oatmeal scotchies

chewy molasses

graduation cookies

last friday i was asked to make 2 dozen graduation cookies by a friend for her daughter's upcoming graduation.   she sent me this inspiration image:

i felt pretty good having a week's notice to get them done.  my first task was to find cookie cutters.  then while waiting for them to be delivered i made the dough and sketched out the design.  i decided on 6 cutters, 4 cookies each.

* graduation hat with tassel
* graduation gown
* plaque with corner hat (learned how to "frankenstein" 2 cutters together to make this shape)
* plaques for name and "class of 2021"
* diploma

of course, i made 1 extra of each shape just in case, which is a good thing since i ended up breaking a gown in half taking if off the cookie sheet and i also broke off a tassel and botched the icing on one of the plaques.  but those are just he cookies i get to snack on....

nothing left now but to start icing!

i think they turned out pretty close to the original plan.  i realized it is so much easier to have a pattern to follow than just winging it....

i am most proud of myself for nailing the green color and for finally getting some good-looking stencil work done on the "UNT" - the key is thick icing!!!  i used an icing with corn syrup and was finally able to get a shiny dried result.

first scrimmage

little sister tried out at the end of november and earned a spot of the jv soccer team.  tonight was her first scrimmage.  they have just two scrimmages this month with games starting early in the new year.  way to go, #11!!

christmas cookies

in addition to the usual drop cookies i bake every year around the holidays, i've decided to make some decorated sugar cookies - working on them a little bit at a time.  it really is a relaxing hobby....for the most part....

on nov 23, i baked lots of christmas cookie shapes, using cutters i have had in my collection for years.

by dec 1, i had icing made and was layering on the designs.  i stored them on cookie sheets in the oven when not working on them.

little by little, the designs came together.  by dec 9, i had them all completed.  so pretty!!

soccer cookies

i originally baked these cookies in late august, but just as i was starting to ice them, the client cancelled her order because the tournament got cancelled.  i told her i could freeze them until she needed them.  well, her daughter has another soccer tournament this week and these cookies finally made it to the team.  this is the same cookie design i made for this client in may, except this time i used a stencil for the team name.  with 40 cookies to customize - the stencil really saved me!

busy weekend

 things just kept getting added to this weekend.

first on saturday, little sister took the opportunity to earn some money by refereeing two soccer games at 8am & 9:15am, before she played in the 11am (game one) of a three-game soccer tournament.  all the games were in the same location, so that made things easier.

they won 7-1.

next, we ate lunch in the car and drove across town to the band all-region auditions.  her call time was 1:30pm with the audition starting at 2pm.

by the time her audition ended and the percussion equipment was loaded, it was too late to make it back to the 3pm (game two) of the soccer tournament.  instead, we headed back to the high school to get her ready for the town's christmas parade.  big sister was already there as she had driven herself.

this is the last time wearing the band uniform for senior big sister!!

at 5:15pm, the band loaded buses and headed to the park.  i went home, grabbed a bite to eat, and then daddy & i gathered along the parade route with the rest of the town to enjoy the festivities.

we spent so long waiting and the band goes by really quickly!

what a nice way to kick of the holiday season in our little town.

on sunday, the final (game three) of the tournament was at 10am, but little sister decided to go instead to a friend's dad's wedding at 11am.  but her soccer team won and became u17 female tournament of champions winners for the second year in a row.  too bad she could not be in two places at once!

congrats, le fusion!!