Cookie Memories

My regular readers may have noticed I have been very "off" lately.  I have experienced some losses that nearly wiped me out and baking and blogging on a regular basis have been more than I could handle.  I just worked on putting one foot in front of the other to make it through the last 7 months or so.  As Dory the fish so eloquently said it, I just had to "just keep swimming, just keep swimming".

For the past 3 days I have been baking cookies and decorating them for a Memorial Service for my big sister.  She loved the beach.  Everyone is encouraged to wear coastal attire to the service.  I have my new tropical shirt, my best flip flops, my dolphin necklace, and my mermaid earrings.  I'm almost ready.

In her honor I made cookies for after the service fellowship.  The entire endeavor was a cathartic walk down Memory Lane.  I began with sand dollar cookies - which brought back memories of our regular childhood camping trips to Mustang Island and Port Aransas.  We'd search for shells for hours and, in those days, the sand dollars were the primo find.  Now-a-days we rarely find more than the occasional broken sand dollar.  It's a sad commentary on the state of our oceans!

Sand Dollar cookies with a pearl sheen

I also made "my version" of conch shells.  Big sister loved The Keys.  She had one last chance to try to make it to her beloved Keys in December when I called her back home because our Mom died. She never was well enough again to make the journey...so, conch shell cookies are my offering.  I'm sure she is smiling.



My version of conch shell cookies - a little dry brushed pink
lustre dust gives the edge a little shimmer

She loved bright colors - yellows and oranges and aqua - the colors of the tropics.  So, my version of scallop shells with orange and yellow feathering.

Scallop Shell cookies with orange and yellow feathering.
After drying, embellished with some dots and lines.  I liked this set.

Palm tree cookies - she loved laying on a hammock hanging between two palms.  Reading a book or napping or just swaying to the gentle breeze off the Atlantic Ocean.  My first piping icing wasn't thick enough, so I had to get creative.  I think they turned out okay...but they sure do have a lot of royal icing on those palms!



The rustling sound of palms is one of my favorite sounds
These cookies have coconuts - our palms do not.
I liked the look though, so coconuts they are!

Dolphins - ahhhh, the dolphins.  We used to ride the ferry to Mustang Island and the dolphins danced around the ferry, smiling their happy smiles, delighting the souls of children and adults alike.  When I moved to the South Padre Island area I told her about our tribe.  She told me in January "I want to go see the dolphins with Scarlet...it's on my bucket list".  I knew that wouldn't happen because she would never have been able to make the 7 hour journey.  She entered at-home hospice care in January.  We met in Port Aransas instead, as one of her final wishes, and the dolphins were at the ferry waiting for her.  So, dolphin cookies were a must.  Dolphin Love - it's the best.

A happy pod of dolphin cookies

Flip Flops - we were two true flip flop devotees!  I know I have a LOT of flip flops - but she may have had more.  Flip flop cookies were mandatory!



Flip Flops - piled up like mine are.  I had fun making these.

The last batch of cookies are more about her beautiful grandchildren.  She had a lot of grand kids for a 62 year young woman!  She loved to tickle their tummies when they were little and say the belly button bug was getting them (a ladybug of course).  So, the final batch was my first attempt at lady bug cookies.  I hope they love them.  Unfortunately, I know they will turn their mouths black and red.  I did try the trick of adding cocoa powder to the icing to darken it before adding the black food coloring.  I definitely used less black gel color, but still...I'm anticipating some colorful mouths!  I used a tutorial from O So Sweet Cookies - and it was perfect.  I have had the lady bug cookie cutter for a while and never got to making them.  This was the perfect opportunity.

Lady Bugs - my first attempt...cute!

My cookie dough was in the freezer waiting for me (thank goodness) and I used both my long-time favorite Mather World's Best Sugar Cookie Dough and Lila Loa's Vanilla Variation.  I used Ali's Sweet Tooth's method of making royal icing and not a single bag separated!  Yay!!!

Now, after this I hope life will return to the more gentle pace I grew accustomed to when we moved to the coast.  I need the peace and tranquility of the waves lapping, the gulls calling, the pelicans soaring, and the sand between my toes.  I know, then, I will be able to feel the previous joy I felt for baking and blogging and sharing my meandering thoughts with my blog readers.  Thanks for hanging with me during this really icky time of my life.  I'm hoping this will be the final melancholy post you will have to endure from me!

Bon Appetit, Y'all!!! 

UPDATE: 4/29/2013:  At the reception in Fellowship Hall,
the tables were decorated with leis, coastal ornaments, and
my cookies!  Everyone seemed very appreciative.
It was a lovely ceremony, filled with spirituality and
love and caring.  Happy Trails my dear sister!

Beach Cookies

The Beach Cookie created following
tutorial from Marlyn of Montreal Confections

I know it is February and many folks North of the equator are having a nippy week...but where I live, it's pretty nice weather!  I live on the Gulf Coast ...right on the water... and this week-end, I'm driving up the coast a few hours to spend time...at the coast.  Yep, weirdly enough, it's true.  My flip flops are happy to be in the sand, wherever the sand may be.

So, cookies were requested by the traveling companions ...apple butter cookies specifically.  Ask and ye shall receive!  I made 30 cookies and got them all decorated in one day via carefully scheduled fan drying of layers and starting early in the day.  I used a different method for making royal icing this time...from the wonderful Jaci at Ali's Sweet Tooth.  We both live in a land of great humidity.  Her method worked beautifully.  Not a bit of separation all day long...and a good thick base to work from with my handy dandy spray bottle. Yay!

My favorite cookies were a "beach" with waves I meticulously created using the YouTube tutorial from Marlyn at Montreal Confections.  I am slightly addicted to her tutorials...she is such a good teacher.  I saw it earlier last year and knew I would eventually get around to trying it out.  Today was the day!  Mine doesn't look as sharp as hers... but I'm pleased with the result for a first effort.  I didn't make fondant sea shells, I used some white and milk chocolate instead in a Wilton silicon mold I bought from Amazon.  I'm not fond of fondant...but I surely do love chocolate.  They came out sort of cute, so I'm glad I took that turn.

I didn't have the cool sanding sugar Marlyn used.
I used turbinado sugar instead.

I also used, for the first time, my air brush.  I carefully covered my table and used a 3-part science poster board to protect over spray as recommended by the talented Melissa at The Baked Equation .  I was so joyful to spray the shades of blue and then pearl the waves.  I am laughing myself silly now, though.  Guess what I didn't protect?  The inside of my nose!  I blew blue icky stuff this evening (OK - blue boogers - I'll just say it).  Good grief!  I'm thinking a mask may be in order next time.  Now that I see how cool the airbrush is, I know I'm going to try to find ways to add more depth to future cookies.

Since I didn't take photos during the process (and you can see Marlyn's online tutorial here) I'll just post these photos of the finished products.  Dolphins, sand dollars, star fish, and some scallop shells add to the beach theme.  The teen informed me "uh, those shells look a little different", in reference to the colors of the scallops.  Heck, I needed to use up some of the blue and peach icing from other cookies...so we have "different" scallop shells.  Leave it to the teen to point out the obvious!

Happy dolphins, funky scallops...it's all good when it gets in the belly!

The sand dollars are much better than my last attempt!  Still
a few issues to work out.  Still, better!
 

Slowly but surely, I'm trying to get back to enthusiasm for baking.  I have some more stencils I want to use as well as quite a few new cookie cutters.  I need to start sketching out some ideas.  I'll keep you posted!

Bon Appetit, Y'all!!!

I airbrushed pearl on the center starfish and used sugar pearls to accent.
The rest of the starfish were just piped dots and no pearl.
I think I like the pearl best...and I like the dots better than the sugar pearls.
Next time :-)

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Seahorsies and Starfish Cookies

I received an order from Karen's Cookies this week and could barely wait to tear into the package....felt like a little kid at Christmas.  I sliced open the box and carefully took out each item, admiring it and thinking of how and when I would use the different products.  I had most of these items in my online basket for over a month...I just kept thinking and changing my mind - adding stuff - tossing it out.  These are luxury items - Momma's toys.  I wanted to make sure I spent my money wisely.  I'm much more impulsive in a walk-in retailer.  When it's online, I'm a bit more careful.  Returns require too much work, so I want to make sure it's just right!  I scored - it was perfect.

I got some new cookie cutters, some sugar pearls in colors I can't find locally, disco dust of various colors, some booboo sticks (those are wonderful), some pixie dust shakers (another marvelous invention),  and some small 2 oz. squeeze bottles with tip couplers for detail work.

For my first play time with the new toys, I went for the starfish and seahorse cookie cutters.  I had cookie dough left from my last round with tropical themed cookies so that saved time.  I always try to make extra and keep in the fridge or freezer.  Baked off a couple of dozen - ended up with two different seahorses - so I tried them both.

Next day, it was time to start the decoration process.  I wanted to try Karen's Meringue Powder Buttercream Frosting recipe.  She said she's used it for a lot of years and likes the texture and flavor for decorating.  I watched her tutorials something like three times to make sure I got it right.  It seems counter intuitive to add fat to a meringue but I forged ahead, following her steps with precision.  It turned out beautifully!  It tastes delicious with a bit of almond extract and vanilla extract.  The taste is vastly superior to regular royal icing.  It takes a LOT longer to dry...and it doesn't dry as hard as royal icing so I did mark a few, even after they crusted.  You have to handle them a lot more carefully...a LOT more carefully!  However, this morning, after drying under a fan overnight and part of yesterday, they are safe to handle and package with no oopsies.  I've yet to see how the packaging and stacking goes.

I also learned my lesson last week - you really can't outline and flood in assembly line fashion.  The outline will dry and you can't nudge the flood into the edge - you will always see an outline.  I really noticed it on my dolphin cookies last week so this week, one cookie at a time.

I've linked Karen's frosting recipe above - she has several video tutorials on her web site.  I also like the tutorials for icing consistency from Ali Bee.  I LOVE video tutorials - I'm definitely a person who likes to see how to do things in action!  I found her method of thinning with a spray bottle of water to be so much more controlled and better and getting a good consistency than any other way I've done it.  I didn't use the squirt bottle of water for the batch of frosting for the starfish...and I got it a bit too runny - overflows!  I learned my lesson and got the squirt bottle for everything else.  Soooo much easier to control.  I also find working in small bowls in small batches to be the best way to get good icing consistency. I never think I'm going to have enough...and I almost always have too much! The small squeeze bottles were superb for decorating the details. 

I'm on a roll here - and I have more new cutters I haven't used.  You'll likely see more and more cookies from me.  I hope my friends and neighbors are hungry!  I am loyal to the sugar cookie recipe obtained from the Central Market Cooking School class with Laurie Mather.  It is just so easy to make and to work with.

First I baked
Then I piped and filled
Then they dried for 10 hours
Then I decorated
Then they dried...for about 12 hours

I so enjoyed this little project and trying out my new tools and products.  I finished the seahorses with a baby yellow disco dust for a bit of sparkle.  When using disco dust be sure to put some wax paper under the cookie or cookie rack.  It is very expensive and you can add the dust that falls onto the wax paper back into the tiny jar very easily.  I love, love, LOVE the pixie dust shakers.  They are the tiniest little shaker and they distribute just the right amount.  I've never found anything that works as efficiently.

So, as you can see, I'm a huge fan of Karen's Cookies web site.  A great online store, wonderful recipes, and awesome tutorials.  Now I'll be looking at more cookie cutters and I wonder how long it will take to complete the purchase this time?

Spring Break starts today for the teen - I sent some of these cookies to his teacher and his note-taker.  Hope they enjoy the treats as much as I enjoyed making them :-)

Bon Appetit, Y'all!

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