thankful cookies

i did about 4 dozen Thanksgiving themed cookies for The Meet Market.  fall-colored stripes, sunflowers, 2-toned airbrushed apples, metallic indian corn, and handprint turkeys.  lets hope they sell out, i have about 5 more designs i want to try!  come on in and pick up a few--share with your friends and tell 'em thanks.  in addition, if you fill out the tag attached to each bag with your name and contact information, you'll be entered to win one of 3 dozen holiday cookies in December.  lucky winners will be drawn at the annual Community Thanksgiving Dinner in Elgin.  (can't wait!)
stick around for zombies and little birdies, and then we're on to Christmas...

... and a learner's permit soon...

Mychal is 5!  mommy Monica had us all over to play at Legoland, and though the kiddo and i had to leave before the candles and cake, we wouldn't have shown up without a plate of cookies.  the cake featured Lightning McQueen, so i went with silver, with bold Ms and 5s, and a ring of black and white that (hopefully) reminded one of checkered flags.  Happy Birthday Mychal!

great pumpkins

boss Candice has a younger sister Sandra who requested pumpkin cookies for her kiddos’ Halloween parties at school.  i have about 14 different pumpkin shapes, but these 2 are my new favorites.

i’ve become unsatisfied with just flat orange pumpkins, and even flat orange with lines suggesting the vertical segments, so when i ice pumpkins i fill in every other segment, and when they’re dry, i go back and fill in the rest, and you get those nice wedges.  my other neat trick was adding black to my leftover orange to get brown for the stems, then adding the leftover brown to the green making a mossy hue for the leaves.  nothing wasted.  green edible ink markers finished off the details, and each got a little favor bag.  

 thank you Sandra, and happy Halloween to all!  coming next week, Michael’s 5th birthday, and not long after, i’m thinking about mustaches.  yeah.

*boneless recipe

happy Halloween early!  this week at the Meet Market, pick up some spooky skulls and chocolate chip cookies with your soup'n'sammiches.  and stay tuned for some fat lil' pumpkins.

boo!

...and more leaves...

so this is probably the first time i posted pictures on facebook, then waited a few hours to write about them here.  gotta get the word out!  on sale now at The Meet Market, cute little trees, and matching brownie pops.  and my spidey sense says there will be chocolate chip cookies later this week.  so come on in for lunch!
and later this month, definitely pumpkins, and i'm thinking some skulls too.

furry friends

the Greater Chicago Ferret Association held its 25th annual "Greatest Ferret Show on Earth" last week, and i was asked by hubby's cousin, ferret enthusiast, and all-around animal-lover Jessica to provide some cookies for the event.  as i don't have a ferret cookie cutter (about 800 and no ferret!) i took one of my (Disney) Pocahontas cutters and lopped off the top of her head just over the ear, then added the little rectangle and like magic, it provided the outline of one of our furry honorees peering over a little sign noting the anniversary.  a good start, and Karin who took delivery of them said they were lovely, but i had a variety of icing problems with this batch.  i'll let it be, and go with her good opinion... :) 
i was talking about this order at work and the response was "ferret cookies?"  yup.  you just never know who's going to throw a party.  so don't be shy about needing something odd.  being odd myself, i'll always be up for it.
coming soon, an as-yet-undecided batch for the restaurant.  ghosts?  pumpkins?  hmm....

beautiful day In The Neighborhood

and here it is.  a quick little project stuck into a week busy with catering, made in less space than my hobbit kitchen because there's a whole restaurant happening around me.  i'm tickled pink.  after much searching, i've found a little place that's only 12 minutes away (or an hour if i take the bike path on a warm day), that was looking for a baker of interesting treats. 
In The Neighborhood "Meet Market" is a darling little place in E. Dundee, IL serving deli sandwiches, homemade soups and salads, and cookies (and more things to come) from yours truly.  it's the sister location to the deli in Elgin, and the cafe at the library.  beyond the restaurant, In The Neighborhood caters (with more than sandwiches), and twice a year they organize a community dinner in Elgin.  all the sandwiches are named after local landmarks, and served on vintage mismatched dinnerware that'll remind you of your mom's kitchen back in the 70s and 80s.  the music spans from "rock around the clock" to "don't stop believin'."  the floor is reclaimed wood.  my bosses wear jeans and t-shirts.  and for as relaxed as i feel working here [seriously, parked at a desk doing spreadsheets would have killed me, eventually] i feel compelled to throw my refreshed work-ethic headfirst into making this place a hit.  so throw a party and call them, huh?  put me to work!
the cookies, by the way, were iced with yellow, then airbrushed with red while the icing was still wet, doing that nice mottled look again.  then some gold dust and edible ink leaves.  now they're hanging out with chocolate chip bars and potato chip cookies.  mmmmm.....