what you've been missing

There is so much I've done, and so little I've posted for you.  Here's a speed round, and a heap of apologies for keeping you waiting:

Prettiest first, these were from a bridal show last summer.  

 

Also from last summer, ice cream...

...and patriotic pinwheel stars.

 

a Minion birthday...

 

...and a Scooby-Doo birthday (H is for Hannah).

 

my sister-in-law, Kristi's birthday

 

this poor little guy I found on my phone from late 2013!

 

 

Battle of the Books at the library.  (b.o.b for apples, eh?)

 

for the kiddo's Halloween fun fair at school

 

more Halloween fun, with airbrushing and plastic bugs

 

and a Clifford the Big Red Dog themed "Paws to Read" event at the library.  Those bone sprinkles did double duty in graveyard pudding dirt cups for Halloween.

Not far behind, I've got last summer's Fringe Fest where yours truly was the only food artist.  And coming up, a Midsummer Nights Dream, a vintage clothing show, barista aprons, and everything I've been taking pictures of at work with the work phone--just gotta email the darn pics to my computer and I'll be good to go!  I hope you all have a splendid week, and may stay warm!  Now I gotta run to OfficeMax...

 

 

brain freeze!

back in spring (i finally got the pictures off the memory card!), Brenda once again ordered thank-you cookies for her kids’ teachers.  “something summery” has been her yearly request, and this year i did ice cream in wafer and waffle cones, double-stick popsicles, and my new favorite, mini sno-cones. bright sugar was the “sno,” edible markers made nice stripes on the paper cups. thanks again Brenda!

and now updates: if you’ve received my card, resume, or someone’s advice to hire me, i am volunteering to work gosh-forsaken hours in a hairnet for you. and i can make more than cookies, it’s just that pretty and/or pictures is so much fun.  full time is swell, part time is doable too.  {radiant honor-student go-getter smile}

second, in the closing of Trinity Lutheran School and the parting of it’s lingering craft supplies, teacher and hubby Jeff’s Aunt Dahlas has bestowed to me enough cookie cutters to keep me busy for about 11 years.  i don’t just have a cornucopia of cookie cutters, i have a cornucopia-shaped cookie cutter.  i have officially lost count of my collection. the zip lock bags i store them in don’t close, nor do the drawers holding the bags.  thank you, oh thank you, Aunt Dahlas.  :)

third, there will be many pictures.  i’ve had a busy summer and despite a lack of job, computer and 2nd car, i’m not yet beat… sometimes flopping petulantly on the floor in frustration, but i’ve managed to get lots of baking done. i haven’t, though, been able to get the pictures off the camera till now, but you’re in for some nice cookie viewing—as many as 9 posts on the way, including pirates!  Now you know you gotta come back…

ice cream, u scream.

i use a royal icing recipe that's a little less awesome in humid weather. for comparison, and probably a better looking cookie when shipped, i tried meringue powder again and misread "tsp" as "tbs" and then i didnt fix it correctly, so i had to start over. finally, i made my neice Taylor her birthday cookies.
she turned 12. i don't remember being 12 with any sort of fondness, and 13 was worse. and in thinking about jr high, and its suckiness, i tried to think of some delightful childhood image for Tay's last hurrah before being a (gulp... i'm old...) teenager. we have pictures somewhere of her 2nd birthday, with ice cream from the ice cream man all over her Blues Clues pajamas. that i do remember fondly, so i grabbed my truck cookie cutter.
you may notice that if these were real trucks, driving on American streets, the window is on the street side. oops. the tinier piped details got a little blobbish, my new food writing markers were so-so... but i like the little "popsicle" pictures.

then Dad's birthday is 6 days after, so he got ice cream too. things i like: the "cherry" on top and the color of the "chocolate" ice cream. things i don't: the "cherry" is cinnamon flavored, the humidity still effected how neat my lines were, and i wish i used a different sprinkle to accentuate the contours of the "whipped cream" on top. i piped it in in sections, letting them dry in between for a piled-up look, but the patriotic jimmies kind of hid that. next time, nonpareils.

in either case, i hear they didn't last long. now, does that mean they were too delicious not to eat, or not too pretty to eat? (grin, doesn't matter.) happy birthday Taylor and Dad!

coming soon, an army convoy, a my-little-phonies unicorn edition, some better results with markers, dinos, and a luau.

i scream, you scream...

heather had the grown-ups over for andrew and grace's summer birthdays, so i made a shape for kids of all ages. who doesn't love an ice cream cone :)