Confessions of a Cookie Baker: Games Cookie-Bakers Play...

Confession:  I usually bake extra cookies, to make sure that I have plenty to complete an order, but frankly, by the time I have finished the order, I am often bored of decorating them.











So, when that happens, my girls and I play a little creativity game, common among cookie-bakers... we try to come up with as many ideas for the same cookie cutter as we can. For example, this cookie cutter, which started out as Curious George, ended up as a baby and a London Underground sign.










(Sometimes I don't even fully decorate them, I just use the icing I have on hand, so the colors might not be right, etc., but it is fun to try new things and stretch our imaginations!)







When we don't want to use up the cookies, we just trace the cookie cutter onto paper and design that way.  Here are the ideas that Reader R., my 7 y.o., came up with for this cookie cutter...

I think her ideas are pretty creative!  I think this "Alien Spaceship" with the creature saying "Bye!" is my favorite! ;^)






For some other great examples of how this cookie game is played check out these great blog posts:

• One of my favorite cookie artists, Georgeanne at Lila Loa, created this cookie cutter contest.  Make sure you see the winners, but don't miss the more than 300 ideas for using this cookie cutter.   
• When cookie artists go to Cookie Camp, they play this game too! Check out the amazing things that they can do with a tea cup, a car, a funny Easter chick, a cupcake and a butterfly shape!

And then, when we don't have the perfect cookie cutter, despite having hundreds of them, we just make one up. In this case, the "Yellow Hat" is actually a cowboy hat brim hand-trimmed flat with the handle of a purse baked together to make the smooth top, but that is a different game! ;^)

Callye, at Sweet Sugarbelle is a master at the combining cookie cutters game.  Check out the cute ones she just made for the Olympics with a tie and a circle or my current favorite combining a top hat and a chocolate kiss.

So, now you know what cookiers do when it is too hot to turn on the oven!

Have a great day!
Sarah

Confessions of a Cookie Baker: Food & Photography

My treat for today... A spot of tea and a cookie.

These "Delft" Teapots remind me of my Dutch heritage.

Why, might you ask?  

Well, you know my "big girl" turned two this week.  I thought it would be the perfect time for a photo shoot.  Then I got "brilliant" and thought maybe I should take photos of her eating a "Big Girl" cookie... in her Minnie Mouse costume. Her favorite gift.  Brilliant.  Just brilliant.

Whoa, Nelly, let me tell you, I now understand why photographers give you the evil eye when you walk in with a favorite toy/book/blanket in hand.

After about 15 minutes, two temper tantrums (one from a little-big girl and one from a BIG-big girl), lots of pushing ears back on... and over 200 images later...  this is what I got:

I actually had a really hard time picking just 12 outtake photos to share...

My Sweet Big Girl

I was hoping for the dainty-little-nibble, with the inscription showing, and ears upright.  I got lots of crumbs, falling ears, a wiggly-squirmy little-big girl, black teeth, and "see" food.  I also got, lots of laughs, a big hug (for letting her eat a BIG cookie for a "snack"), some priceless memories, and ONE "good" photo.

So now, I think I might just enjoy my tea cookie and my one good photo, and then go back to taking pictures of cookies.  They sit still. They look good.  They don't chew with their mouth open. ;^)

Cheers,

Sarah

Confessions of a Cookie Baker: Cutter Collection

Here it is...  I have a LOT of cookie cutters (but not as many as some cookie bakers...)  At last count I had just over 300.

I used to keep them in ziploc bags, like Georganne at Lila Loa, who recently challenged cookie bakers everywhere to show her their cookies.  However, thanks to the generosity of my parents, who gave me their old kitchen cabinets for my laundry room, and my good friend Kara, who spent all evening text-coaching me on cookie cutter organization... they now look like this...

My cookie cutters in their happy new home.

In early January, I spent about a week sorting them into different sized piles based on categories, finding just the right containers to maximize the space, my budget, and my needs.  I landed with these containers, because they were clear, flat (so I could see the shapes I have easier), only $1 at the Dollar Tree, and fit on the shelves.  Some of the categories are pretty narrow (hearts), others are pretty broad (animals).  I used some great labels that my friend Dana gave me to make them pretty and itemize what is inside.

At the same time I was grouping them, I took photos with my phone of each group, so now when I see a new cutter, I can check my phone and see if I already own it... no new duplicates!

I love my new system.  I also have a bin where I keep the cutters I am just about to use and the ones I haven't put away yet...  and I take the cutters of the season (Easter, Spring, Flowers) down and keep them in my kitchen.

So all that said... the one bit of Kara's advice that I wish I hadn't ignored... was to make sure I had room for growth.  Since my re-org, I have purchased almost 30 cookie cutters.  Uggh.  Plus, they have been rather unique ones... the state of Kansas, a fleur-de-lis, a windmill, etc. and I pretty much don't have a category or a box for them.  I am not quite sure what I'll do about that... I guess I might just have to stop buying cookie cutters... not likely.

Have a great weekend!
Sarah

Confessions of a Cookie Baker: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Making of the Rainbow Treats!

Hi Friends,

Yesterday, I shared baby K's special rainbow 1st Birthday Party!    As promised, today, I am going to share a few photos of what it takes to make 3 dozen rainbow cookies and more than 18 dozen rainbow mints. 



My copy of the "inspiration" cookie!



First, a huge shout out goes to Callye at The Adventures of Sweet Sugarbelle for teaching me how to make these rainbow cookies!  Her blog gives detailed, step-by-step instructions on how to make this cookie (and many others).  (I also love how she is willing to share her "mistakes" so that we do not have to make them!!)  Callye, you and the other cookie mentors, are a HUGE blessing to those of us who are just getting started, stretching our imaginations and helping us to believe that we really can create cookies as cute as the ones we, and our customers, see online.  Thank you!!! 

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

My dear friend, and dream-customer, Kara contacted me in OCTOBER, to just chat about what we could do for her baby's 1st Birthday party in JANUARY!  (LOVE THAT!)  She sent me some photos of cookie ideas she had seen online, including Callye's rainbow... and we went from there.


So, when I get a cookie order, after we have finalized the details, I book it on my cookie calendar, and send a confirmation e-mail, with a copy of a detailed invoice, just to make sure that everyone is on the same page.  (Don't want your cookies to be delivered on the wrong day or have your child's name spelled incorrectly!)

Then, I work out my baking schedule.  Because I am a wife first, mom second..., and cookie-baker about fourteenth, I slot out small bits of time, over several days, to make your cookies.   I save four or five sessions, between an hour and two hours each, for:

1. Mixing cookie dough, 
2. Rolling, cutting & baking, 
3. Making frosting/icing/flood, 
4. Decorating & drying time,
5. Photos & packaging.

Unfortunately, I didn't think of this "behind-the-scenes" idea, while I was working on the project, or I would have a lot more photos to show you... like the 14 lbs. of powdered sugar I used, or the huge pile of dishes I washed, several times... ;^) but here are the fun picture I do have that I thought I would share...

When I purchased 18 squeeze-bottles for Royal Icing flood icing, I thought I was CRAZY, that I would never use that many... but this is what it took to make my rainbows (and two dozen+ Legos).



Rainbows and Legos Drying



I decorate my cookies on these trays, so that I can move them back and forth from the kitchen to my dining room where they dry.  (I put the chairs up around the room, so that my kids can't get too close!)

(I am also really glad that I don't have a photo of me standing on my dining room chair trying to take this photo...not pretty.)

Time for the "How many cookies can I squeeze in the box?" Game.

Photographing and packaging the cookies are fun too!  I usually take a LOT of photos of my cookie creations. 


(It doesn't help that I usually finish them in the middle of the night, so the lighting isn't the best.  I need to make a light box!  Also, I have promised myself to learn how to take better photos of my cookies and learn how to edit them better too, but I have been too busy baking to take the time, which is really a good problem to have. ;^))

All boxed up and ready to go!  

This is what the packaged box looks like.  I tie it with silver curling ribbon and add my business card.  I usually try to include a special "Thank You" cookie package too!

(I finally got smart (and a little bit of capital ;^) and purchased a bunch of boxes, so now I don't have to go to the store and buy a box for each order.)

For this special 1st birthday order, I wanted to do a rainbow onesie for my special "Thank You" cookie.  "Thank You" cookies are extra fun for me, because there are no expectations (which makes them easy to exceed...).  It gives me a chance to try new ideas and cookie designs in a "no fail" environment.  For example, I wanted to try a tie-dyed onesie, for this uber-cool family, but it didn't turn out the way that I expected, so I also tried a simple heart and then a cute rainbow.  

(I made this one because rainbows always remind me of God's covenant love for His people. In this case, it reminded me of how Baby K is surrounded by the love of her family.)

The rainbow turned out adorable... so I added these little rainbow hearts too.  Then I put the baby's name on the onesie and her family's names on each of the hearts.  It turned out so cute!  And a really fun surprise for everyone!  

Now, the cookies were done and it was time to start the mints...

The mints were an extra special touch for this order.  Kara's girls had my mints at an American Heritage Girls awards ceremony.  (If you haven't heard of AHG, check it out!  It is an amazing organization for training young ladies!)  Anyway, Kara's girls loved my mints, and so she ordered sets of rainbow-colored mints for party favors.  6 mints X 36 party favors = a LOT of mints!


I dried them on my trays in stripes to make it easier to package them.  Only a bit slap-happy, this is what they looked like on my "drying room table."

Whether I am baking cookies or mints, I always make extras.  I have a fear that I am going to drop a whole tray and have to start over from step one.  Someday I will.  Until then, my friends and family will have to eat the extras. ;^)  

When I party-favor wrap my treats, I always put my label on the back of the package.  That way, whomever ends up with the treat knows where they came from and can contact me for the ingredients and allergy information, just in case. 

Thanks for following the steps I go through to complete a cookie order.  Now, you can see how much love I bake into every batch!

Have a great day!
Sarah







Confessions of a Cookie Baker: Food Coloring

If you have been following me for a while, you might know that I am a very "Type-A" in certain areas of my life.  I find it a little odd that I am upset when the washcloths are not folded correctly, but will let my desk stack up with junk until it looks like Mount Everest.  "Interesting" is how my Grandma Schalekamp would describe it. She always said things were "Interesting" when she could not find something nice to say about them.

So here it is.. one of my "cookie idols" Georganne at LilaLoa, just posted a fascinating post about her food coloring collection.

Georganne's Food Color Collection

It made me realize that my collection is a lot like me, colorful, mostly organized, and little stuffy. 

My "Interesting" Food Color Collection

I have two Ziploc boxes (because they fit, stacked on my upper cabinet shelf and they hold the colors standing upright, so I can quickly find the ones I want.)... one for my "Good" food coloring and edible markers, and one for everything else.  (I am too frugal to toss the old food dyes, even though I will probably never use them.  I feel the same way, about the huge bottle of green food coloring that I inherited from my grandmother who passed away more than a decade ago.)  The boxes are different colors, so I know exactly which one I am getting.  I keep a copy of Sugarbelle's color mixing chart in my "Good" box, so I don't have to look it up every time I need to make a funny new color like "Avocado."  And although, you probably can't tell from the photo, the Wilton colors are organized by shade, with the oldest (needing to be used first) on top, and the Americolor are organized by sets, the student set, the baby color set, etc. in the order that I purchased them, which means nothing to anyone except me. (And probably explains why my husband has a hard time putting my spatula collection in the correct places... hmmm.)

It made me wonder if Georganne's cookies are so amazing, because she really is an artist.  Her colors look like artist's colors.  My colors look like maybe I should have been a grocery store stocker or worked at a library (with a really complex catgorizing system that doesn't make sense to anyone).

So there you have it.

Food Coloring... who knew you were so "interesting."

Sarah

Confessions of a Cookie Baker: Laura's Pocket "Cookie-d"

So, now, its time for another edition of Confessions of a Cookie Baker, with the Happy Homemaker (the part of the blog where Sarah comes out and confesses something silly about her cookie company adventure).

"Once you start 'seriously' baking cookies,
you may never look at the world quite the same way again." 

Do you remember the Tootsie Roll commercial*:

The world looks mighty good to me, because Tootsie Rolls are all I see...
Whatever it is I think I see becomes a Tootsie Roll to me!

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaXk6PVXqJE&feature=related)

Well, that is kind of how it is with me and cookies right now.  Everywhere I turn, I see something that would make a cute cookie... For instance, the other day at Bible Study, my sweet friend Laura had on this very cute top, and I thought "Wow! That would make a super cute cookie!"  So, being the dork that I am, I asked if I could take a photo of her pocket.

This is Laura's Birthday Week, (yes, she celebrates all week), so tomorrow (Lord willing), I planning to surprise her with this:

Happy Birthday, Laura! 

(Thanks for letting me take a picture of your pocket!)

I am afraid that is is only the beginning of my "cookie-d" crafting.  Since the pocket, I have seen dozen of things that would make adorable cookies... so, the lesson is, if you have an idea, take a picture, tear it out of the magazine, e-mail me a link, just tell me about it.  I would love to give it a try! ;^)   Watch out world, tomorrow, I am planning on trying to "cookie" my house!

 * For the record, I was was only two when this commercial came out. ;^) 

Why I remember it so vividly, "the world will never know." ;^)