Cookies galore!

I didn't go to the RH House to bake on Wednesday due to car issues, so I decided to bake up a storm on Saturday. FUN! While baking I watched myself some movies, drank myself some coffee (you know how that makes me happy... in fact I'm drinking some coffee right at this moment... a happy girl....), and decided it was time to begin again teaching myself how to decorate sugar cookies. And I mean more than just spreading frosting on a cookie. So I took a 'baby step' and decided to bake up some pink hearts. Nice, easy, sweet hearts. Heck, it's close to Valentine's Day. I had a small heart shaped cookie cutter that was just perfect. What ya think? How cute are they?

So I whipped up a batch of royal frosting and piped it around the edges. Notice how there aren't any pictures of this effort? I sucked at it. But I kept on going, and I told myself that practice, practice, practice would do the trick. I reminded myself that this was one of my first attempts, and that it is going to take a while. I told myself that I should just relax and enjoy the ride. After that long talk with my self I began to have fun doing it, and I have to admit by the end of the process I was doing a bit better. There's hope for me yet, and I've decided that I'm going to bake up a batch of cookies and just practice on them. You can practice pipping on a cookie sheet, but I think I need to practice on actual cookies. I have an amazing cookie decorating book with lots of ideas, and one of my goals is to create some Elvis cookies just like in the book.

Okay, so I have the feeling my Elvis cookies may be the Elvis at the end of his life, when he was a bit 'worse for wear', but I'm not going to let that stop me. No sirree. A bad Elvis is still Elvis.

And there's a cute bee cookie: I think I'll have to work on that one for a certain young lady I know. Ah, I remember the days when I was a girl of forty........

The cookies looked pretty good, and the folks that were at the House when I delivered them raved about them. One couple was taking dinner to their daughter in the hospital and we got there just in time for them to take a couple to her. I hope she liked them.

I found some strawberry cake mix and frosting and thought I'd give them a try. The cake mix had pudding in it so I couldn't do the buttermilk trick I do with other cake mixes. The cakes were moist, but very light, and I think too light for cupcakes. I probably won't do a pudding cake mix cupcake in the future. But they looked pretty darn good, and I think the chocolate heart on them hits the right note.

Does this not say 'Happy Valentine's Day' to you?

Last, but certainly not least, I made some chocolate marshmallow cookies. I'd been eying these puppies for a while, and since I had everything in the house (man I love when that happens) I figured I'd add some chocolate cookies to the list. I LOVED THEM.

The chocolate cookie base was not too sweet, the marshmallow was a light touch, and the chocolate frosting: hey, it's hard to go wrong with chocolate frosting! They were very easy, very good, and I now have a new cookie to make at the house. I'm putting together a pretty good selection.

And now that I think about it, it's been a while since I've baked up a batch of black and white cookies. Hmmm.

Gotta go.