Fall LEAVES (one last time)...Painted

We are a SPECIAL school working with some extraordinary children ... and I think the people I work with are some extra special people, too!  (I am sure you feel the same way about the people you work with, or I hope you do...makes each day a joy)  One of them, our psychometrist, wanted leaf cookies to share with her family.  So, I took out the leaf cutters once more  (as if I do this all the time.........bet my husband thinks so).  But anyway, I got out the cutters and I do believe my previous fall leaf originals cannot be copied....not even by me. As much as I wanted them to...... Anyway, enough talk.  Here they "fall"...

 I'm "going out on a limb" and say this is a maple leaf from my interpretive collection.  My, my that does make it all sound impressive!

A little royal icing here a touch of red there and the golden toothpick!!!

 

~

I SO admire the skills and talents of others.  One I've especially been enamored with lately is  click HERE to be WOWED!   the owner of My Little Bakery :) and she has ...well, it's just perfection in sugar painting.  Please take a moment to enjoy her masterpieces and then don't forget to come back...you know...to see someone's desire to paint with sugar.....If desire would just count! 

These next cookies are my favorite "tasting".  They are covered with "The GLAZE".  Yummy!  And they wouldn't have been included at all, but .... I...I  (sniff, sniff).....I broke two cookies.  I didn't mean to.  And If it wouldn't have been after midnight maybe 8 X 4 really would equal 36.   I always (the few times I do this)  make a few extra of each kind...for those cookies that might fall prey to demise.  They never have...until now. We usually eat the survivors.   And all at a time where I could NOT count.  Imagine that...a teacher who can't multiply.  Anyway, these were intended for family.  But they became redirected.  Oh, well.

One last pictoral that demonstates a wonderful head idea gone bad.....

NO!  NO!   NO!

Just an observation...our Heavenly Father made each leaf unique just as he made you and me.  He gave us His Word, His Son, and then He goes and gives us family and friends, and THEN he goes and gives us butter and sugar and cookie cutters......okay, okay, well maybe that's a bit much, but to my God I am forever thankful for ALL His blessings!  Aren't you my friend?

The Last Punkin Standing

I hear ya!  Halloween is over.  But, wait......it's still FALL.  And pumpkins grow in the fall, right?  But not here too much in the South.  One time when my husband worked near St. Louis my oldest daughter brought 30 or so back.  The boys (my grands) helped us pick them and you can imagine the husband comments we got.  You're going to haul how many pumpkins back to Mississippi?  And what are you going to do with 30 + pumpkins???  Well, that's Momma perogative!  Answer?  Carve and line the driveway.  Ummmmm......Sounded like a good idea anyway.

But back to pumpkins.  Here are some pumpkins for another pre-school party.  The request was from a co-worker-friend-mom and they couldn't have a face, so this is what I did.

 Outline with my favorite glaze.  You must visit Cookie Crazie if you want to see the "queen" of glaze decorating.  Click HERE if you want to see what I mean, but do come back...please?  I will wait for you.

 Glaze takes longer to set and dry than royal icing. 

Doing alternate sections adds some texture, but I still couldn't resist going back to put more detail...

and...

shine.

I added Wilton Orange Sparkling Sugar to the last sections while they were still moist. I did let them dry overnight.

The stems were outlined and flooded with royal icing. 

Yes, you heard me.  I was needing to pick up the pace, so I (gasp) made both icings be friends.  They got along just fine.

A few R.I. vines and a leaf or two and whala...

After EVERYTHING dried, I put in cello bags, tied with a bow and packaged .

My friend said they were enjoyed very much

and

That's really what counts!

(and that makes me happy)

Punkins

I told you quite some time ago, that I'm just a regular gal.  I made some cookies for the end of October and am just now sharing.  But, hey!  Fall is not gone...yet.  I am eying the Christmas cutters, though.  And those blogs!

I know you've seen a thousand pumpkins (sigh), but if you just joined the cookie blogging world, mine may be the first you've seen--not likely, but maybe :)

First, trace with a food writer

and 

Black is dark.  It's hard to get it without tasting like...ummm medicine, maybe?  So...Start coloring with chocolate cocoa, then add your favorite black.  After a little bit, flood the face.  Let it dry...completely, so the black won't bleed.

 Now outline the pumpkin.  Let that dry a bit and flood with orange.

 Almost done!

Go back over your orange with detail. 

Add some dimples...my, he needs an eyeball!

Outline your stem, flood, wait for that to dry and add some vines  If you want, add a leaf or two.

Wrapped and ready to go to a preschool party!  Happy Punkin's!!!

Thank You Leaf Basket

Today is not a how-to it's just a "share" post. 

Ever since the first day of school, I have been at a certain building a couple of hours a day.  And even though I'm itinerant and travel...a  lot... I had a problem finding places to work with each hearing impaired student.    So you can see my dilimma.  Now, I KNOW others work under worse conditions.  And I am thankful for having PLACES to work...but it's not ideal.  SOoOoOo....a really kind resource officer let me come into his room and work...most of the time.  All the while, they were planning to give me a space of my own.  I'm not there all the time, so I could only hope to have a "closet".

Time passed, then I heard the plan...the resource officer's former office....  Whoo Hoo!   So, I baked a few fall leaves...nothing extravagant, to give to my kind person just for letting me "borrow" his office several hours a day even sometimes when he could have used it I'm sure. 

Well, here is his "thank-you" cookie basket:

 Uhhh...that bow's gotta move down...

 Better....All wrapped up and ready to go :)

This is what you call  ultimate "cookie exchange"  !!!!

Logo-ing with Fondant...Will it Work?

In the past month or so I have attempted to make cookies for a few football fans. After the first agonizing trial, I Googled Kopykakes and then got out the tissue, wiped a few tears and stretched my bestest arm and proceeded with 38 cookies for some special people at LSU.  But, let's backtrack a bit.  Come see my first attempts to reflect school spirit.

First, I thought it would be neat if I mailed some Duke cookies to my son in law who is a big fan.....okay, I know...this in not the Blue Devil color.  The smaller ones (not in this picture) are more like it.  But he enjoyed them all and ate the "rivals".

Then my husband said, "So, you're making Duke cookies, but not MGCCC for me?   He got cookies!

 Then, I somehow got this notion that the people I work with might like some.  The area I work in is BIG into Alabama and Auburn.  So I made two samples.
But no one wanted them...if they wouldn't be so challenging I might feel sad...so that's the kind of thing I count as my schooling...practice.  It's good for the soul.

And then I just went crazy and made some for the coaching staff at my Alma Mater....and since we were going to the game...and since we knew someone connected to the athletic department who thought they would be much appreciated...what else could I do?  Just how hard can those letters be?  Yeah, right...   How much are those Kopykakes???

So, I copied (gasp) a logo and when I couldn't do it by visual reference, out popped the scissors and the food pen.

And I discovered...again...I am not a machine.  It's called artistic license, right?

Cookies minus a few "samples" = 38

We only had one catastrophic

THEN...

One of our daughter's friends wanted some cookies to give her son...

it was at that time I had an "aha" moment.  Didn't know if it was crazy or not.  But I wondered if I could flood the cookie (with my fav glaze)  

trace the logo on fondant, cut if out and outline....HMMMmmm...

Well, you can!

 (Now just why did I take a picture of the shaggy one--they actually cut out cleanly with scissors if you're patient)  Let everything dry for 24 hours, before outlining...

BUT...the outline is a whole lot easier if you you RI (sigh)...so...

I did.

~

I will leave you with this thought, because I feel a responsibility...Logos are registered trademarks.  Did you know that?  This can be a kind of  gray area, because most schools have at least one logo that is mostly font and fonts are...well...just letters. It makes for some interesting thinking.

If you plan to make profit off your font-type logo cookies, you might want to check into this more carefully and find out the policy connected to their logos.

Some are a little more vague than others...when it comes to "their" letters.

Candy Corn Journey

First Journey

You really need to see This Candy Corn Cookie "How To" (by SweetSugarbelle..)

Now that I've looked again at her blog, I realize that I didn't EXACTLY follow directions ... I was trying out my memory. Like, THAT was a good idea!

I made Candy Corn on steroids. Silly me!!! I'm going to try it again with the bite-size cookies. I didn't burn my Wilton candy melts, but I did learn a lesson or two. I added a little oil to make the candy more spreadable. It said I could... on the bag. But I wouldn't know otherwise. I would say dip-able; but you would have had to have been here...trying to dip 4-5 inch cookies. Not a pretty picture. Definitely go smaller. But they are just SO cute at any size.

Candy Corn Goes

On a Diet

Don't you think this was necessary?  I mean my first candy corn cookie just had NO  self-control....any time a cookie recipe only produces 8 cookies.....what can I say, except that we might just need to pare down the size

SO

We looked at the "How TO" one more time and since I did have a little bit of dough left and I do mean "little" I tried again.

This time I didn't have enough to put in the loaf pan.

But I did take out my handy dandy digital scale and divided the remaining dough, added more Ameri-Color Orange to one, then made little slabs of dough, stacked them and put in the refrigerator...like I should have done the first time.

When chilled, I pulled it out, cut four slices and then cut out the little corn shapes from them.   The rest is the same...just a much smaller version.

AND

Dipping the cookies in the candy melts?

Easy as pie.

Now why didn't I do all that the first time?

More Fall Leaves in the Kitchen

The LEAVES may still be green outside my window, but not in my kitchen.

I've been looking at all your beautiful posts.  Those variegated colors and all that exquisite embroidery-painting.  They were so inspiring!  Check out this one HERE (Sweet Sugarbelle) or HERE (Lili Lola) or HERE (Karen's Cookies)

(these are a few of my favorites)

And then you'll want to see this neat painted embroidery technique HERE (Cakes etc. by Dana)  and enjoy some music while you look :)

Take a peek at what you've done to me...

See...you made me, twisted my arm, gave me an ultimatum.

HaHa...yeah, right

So I HAD to try a few; but of course...my way.

You know those accidents that just surprise you?

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed coming to my "Fall" kitchen. I am glad you came!

Do Leaves Really Turn Colors in the South?

That question poses a serious question. I used to think (after visiting Wisconsin one October) that we had absolutely NO COLOR in the fall. But seriously, we do, if you look diligently, have a little color change. It's the middle of September here...let me look..................................okay, green and maybe a touch of brown.

But not in my kitchen. I have made my own fall. And since I have a "day" job, I'm doing it in shifts. But here are my first FALL LEAVES

See, there is color in the South!

I tried to do the painting technique.  Maybe it was the fact that this is NOT royal icing.  I'm not really sure, but I began to give up.  Then the lightbulb went off.  Hmmm.  I wonder what would happen if I just wet the brush and "slurred" the color on the stem.  And then I thought, hey, why don't I just dilute the stem color and brush that on the leaves...one time near the center...and (I only had ONE other leaf) I tried the "water" color on the edges.  Anyway.  I sort of liked the result.  Error to the rescue.  I'd still like to do that painting.  Another day...another icing....another batch of cookies.  But that's really ok.

I have been enjoying everyone's posts.  All those leaves, and pumpkins and you know, AUTUMN.

I have a few coming of my own.  No tutorial, just the results of looking at all of yours...if you're readin'

"Grand Cookies"

Every once in a while opportunities cross our paths that, if we we are not very careful, will go  virtually unnoticed.  I told you I'm just a regular person, who just happens to LOVE to bake.

Well, our middle daughter was going to bring "Princess" and "John Deere" over to bake cookies today (which equates to she's bringing them and going to help me clean up).  But we are having a little tropical storm right now.  His name is Lee and he's not been very nice. 

They didn't come, until just a couple of hours ago and didn't stay long.  "Mimi, can we decorate cookies?  Can we sew?  Can we feed the fish?  Can we get on the computer?"  Phew they wore me out...and that was only the first few steps inside the house! I just cleaned the kitchen.  I don't have any icing prepped.   My answer.....well....well...um...OK go wash your hands. 

This is Princess Mia with her "Grand" cookie 

"Mimi, I want pink...and maybe some blue (my jar is soOo near empty."

 This is "John Deere" Jax with his Grand creation

Mimi...I want blue (he got the last of the jar)...and some green.

 Well....The decorator was not quite finished.  "Mimi, it needs a heart"

And hearts HAVE to be RED

I know you can't tell, but BC green...blue...and yep RI red.

Definitely not "correct".

But it's his cookie, right?

Which explains the tips in the mouth. 

Where is that camera when you need it?

No more questions, no more "look Mimi", no more, you know....interruptions...just the sink

which,

 of course

 gets done! 

I wonder, how many times

I have missed the real treasures

Not the perfect cookie, or piping technique, or detail

But

the kind of treasure

that only comes

when we are least expecting it, and the kitchen is already clean, and I'm tired and I would rather just sit and visit....

You know...the Gifts from God

Thank you Lord!

Team Spirit...

Let me just begin by saying, I LOVE my husband. I am not too proud to show you, my cookie friends, that love.  "Yes, dear, these cookies are for you."  Now, back to you, my cookie friends,  I'm warning you...this was only my seond session with royal icing and my first to try such tiny piping.  Okay...ready for a peek?

Sure?

Now that you've seen my feeble attempt to be like you, you feel sorry for me, right?  You are going to personally give me lessons, right?  One good thing about not being on the top is that the only direction to go is up...so here I come....it just may be on a walker.

NOTE:  You know, we can't wait to see some of the blogs out there. Their work is perfection, brilliant, to die for.

But my posts are the pictures of what it looks like before you have "arrived". Maybe you are offended by my baby attempts, but I'll just bet that even the really good ones had to begin somewhere. At the very least I can give the encouragement that someone, (me), is less than perfect...and it's really okay.

My "doll" ready to receive his trophy.  He is my bestest encourager! and my love.

Apple Cookies Delivered

It is always such a pleasure to see others enjoy things that you make with your hands.  Don't you think?   Here are the "royal" cookies all boxed up and delivered. 

You know pictures can either enhance beauty or hide a multitude of errors.  The only thing I want to say is those who received "the box" appeared very pleased and I will definitely be more patient with handling cookies before they dry.  (and I just might try this royal thing again)

And...OBTW...that red tip?  As you can see from one post to the other 24 hours really DOES make a difference.  It works!  Imagine that!!!!  Check out the previous post for the link to "red".  I'm still smiling :)