SO MANY COOKIES TO DECORATE!



Hearts of all sizes - waiting to be "dressed up"

 Just a quick note to let you know what I'm working on.  Yesterday, despite feeling slightly under-the-weather, I baked a batch of sugar cookies - all different sizes of hearts for Valentine's Day.  Today, I'll be decorating them.

I watched a DVR'd Martha Stewart show this week and saw a great tutorial from the owner of a couture cookie making business, Sweet Dani B's, on making and decorating with royal icing...using squeeze bottles.  So, today, that's what I plan to do.  Keep an eye out for my results.  I'll share the good the bad and the ugly...and hopefully a few pretty ones as well. 

I've always used piping bags and tips for decorating...but I do have a supply of plastic bottles from a cookie-decorating activity with my son's friends...aka The Deaf Club.  When we lived in Austin I hosted a big Christmas party each year for the group, and, as a result, the kids have been decorating cookies since they were in Kindergarten!  I made some royal icing one year, and decided piping bags were a little too advanced for young hands, so I bought a tub of squeeze bottles and filled them with tinted royal icing.  Much easier for them to squeeze and control the flow.  It was a bit challenging FILLING the squeeze bottles if memory serves me...but I'm going to give it another try.

While you are waiting - link on the Sweet Dani B website - which further links you to a video of the segment and take a look at the cute owls she and Martha made on the show.  They are precious!

If you want to bake sugar cookies, too - the recipe I use for sugar cookies is located here.

I have always used the royal icing recipe I learned in my cooking class at Central Market...but today, I'll use the one from the show segment.  It basically uses the same amount of meringue powder but twice the amount of water and powdered sugar.  I'm interested in seeing what the difference is when I get down to decorating!

Boy am I glad I went back and watched that episode again...WRONG...same recipe I always use.  I can only say "I was sick and out of my mind!".  So, onward...and thank goodness for editting abilities!
The weather is nasty outside AGAIN in our beautiful tropical location.  An excellent day to stay inside and decorate cookies.  I better get off the computer and get busy!

Minus the few the teen ate - one batch of my dough made this many hearts!

 Bon Appetit, Y'all!