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HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I decorated these for our annual New Year's Eve party and to share with another family.

I made New Year's cookies last year but I think I just did snowflakes. It's hard to remember after I've baked and iced thousands of cookies.

For 2010--I think we'll keep a "cookie count" running on the left bar of this blog. I'm curious to see how many cookies we make in a year.

Christmas Cake Pops??

My husband's coworkers LOVE cake pops and requested them for the shift party. After looking at different shapes on the internet --nothing really interested me too much. So I thought of Christmas lights with a milk chocolate base and different colors on top. The shape was a little hard to cover and I think they look a little like tulips. At least they tasted good!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like...

SHOPPING FRENZY!!! And we've lost our minds.

We have 14 bouquets and 10 plates of cookies to be sold tonight. Prices range from $8-$25.

In case you've forgotten, Shopping Frenzy is at Damascus High School, 6-9 p.m., come early in case the weather gets bad. If you buy the cookies and don't need them right away, they can be frozen.

Our favorites--Joan likes the trees, I made those. I like the snowmen, Joan made those. Together we LOVE the snowmen, mittens and stars together, so I'd call those our favorite. What's yours?

Put a Fork In Me, I'm Done!

We were done making cookies for the holiday, after all, we have to get on with our lives.

But nothing can fill these containers like Santa cookies can. So I had to make one last batch, as I knew our customers would expect it.

Do you know how hard it is to find a Santa cutter? Sure, I could order one on-line, but that takes too much time. I settled for an upside-down ice cream cone, cute and resourceful.

But wait, if you have Santa--you have to have his reindeer too......

Just Adorable...And You Can Buy Them

This is just a snapshot of what we'll be selling at the 3rd annual Damascus High School Shopping Frenzy. We'll have bouquets and samples too! We hope to sell 150 cookies at this event.

Please Stop By:

Tuesday, December 8, 2009
6-9 p.m.
Damascus High School Auditorium

Remember, your total purchase price of cookies bought goes directly to Damascus High School Post Prom.

Other vendors include: Silpada Designs, Arbonne, Cookie Lee, Glitzy Garb, DHS Athletic Boosters, Gold for Cash, Pampered Chef, ReCessories, Morgan Dane Designs Sterling Silver Co., Ken Designs, Angels and Anchors, Party Light, Stained Glass by Guylaine Rachel, Tupperware, Avon, Beauticontrol, Jewelry, Bags and What Knots..., HoneyBee Havanese, Mitzi Micham & more.

Hope to see you there!!!!!!

Bon Voyage

These holiday cookies are going on a boat ride. A hundred of them are traveling to Smith Island for the annual Christmas party the ladies have there. Smith Island is the only inhabited island on the Chesapeake Bay and it is only accessable by boat.

Check out this past Sunday's Washington Post Metro section. There's an article about the island and the famous Smith Island Cake, of which I have had the pleasure of tasting!

Thank you, Bee, for your donation to Damascus High School Post Prom.

Christmas Cookie Crazy!

A big baking and decorating day! Audrey and I are making more cookies than ever for this Christmas. Whew! I never thought I would finish.

The Candy Cane

I think these are kind of boring by themselves. I can't wait to see them mixed in with our entire collection.

Have you ever wondered where the candy cane came from? Candy canes were already in existence as a Christmas treat by the late 17th century. Popular tradition holds that the shape is meant to represent a shepherd's crook.

One final fact: the average 5-inch candy cane contains 50 calories and no fat or cholesterol. So eat up! Your breath will be nice and minty for that special meeting underneath the mistletoe.

Remnants of Fall!

I've been delivering cookie orders for Thanksgiving and I can't resist taking more pictures--these fall cookies photograph well! Enjoy!

Magic party

I was asked by a friend to make bunnies to pull out of a hat for an 8-yr-old's birthday party favor. They had a magician at the party. I hope everyone liked them!

You Can't Catch Me

I'm not a gingerbread man!

Last year I colored the dough when I made these guys. The dough was brown so they weren't flooded with icing, only the details were iced. Easy.

When Joan and I were doing our baking planning, (yes, there is a method to our madness) she mentioned that people were disappointed that the cookies were sugar and not gingerbread--they looked like gingerbread. This year we were afraid that if we made real gingerbread that the other cookies may taste like gingerbread when plated together. That's why these aren't true gingerbread men, just iced sugar cookies. Not as easy.

Lisa and David

are getting married on November 28th in Chicago. David's mom (a returning customer) ordered 5 dozen of these beauties for the rehearsal dinner. Thank you for your donation!

40 Days Until Christmas!

So why the fall leaves you ask...because there's only 40 days until Christmas. It's time for us to move on to snowflakes, trees, candy canes and snowmen.

This is the last of our fall cookies. Don't worry, if you ordered cookies for Thanksgiving they are safe in the freezer. We'll be selling these at post prom BINGO tomorrow. In case you've forgotten, it's at DHS, doors open at 1:00, BINGO at 2:00. Come out and support one of our favorite causes.

We just looooooove the leaf-shaped plates, perfect for serving these festive cookies.

Books and Sheep?

My friend ordered cookies for her family celebration. She wanted to recognize her sister's retirement (She is a librarian)and the sheep are a bit of a family joke. Anyway, I think they turned out fabulously and will look great plated together. Hope you like them Leah!!

Another friend of mine wanted to assist with the cookie baking and decorating. She jumped in with both feet and helped with the sheep and books. It's a good thing she's a neat writer, because my books would have been untitled. Then she helped me bake 4 dozen leaves and rabbits. Thanks for all of your help Sheri--next time we have to make some you can keep!

To Brighten Someone's Day

Eileen ordered this personalized bouquet for her sister-in-law who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer.

An Invitation To Win

Please join us next Sunday for lots of fun at Damascus High School's Post Prom BINGO! We'll be there cheering you on and selling fall cookie bouquets.

Football Cake Pops

Someone my husband works with called to order cake pops for a football party he was having at his house. HMMM...I never made football cake pops before. Unfortunately, I couldn't make them for his party--not enough notice. A couple of weeks later, he invited us to his house to watch a game. What to bring?? Football shaped cake pops of course! Thanks for the great idea Bob!

141 Sugar Cookies on the Table, 141 Sugar Cookies...

If one of those cookies should happen to get eaten...someone would be in big trouble!

I don't care if I ever bake another cookie!! I baked these this afternoon; this is double what I can usually handle at one time.

The ones without the sticks are for an order for a rehearsal dinner. Those with sticks are for Post Prom BINGO to be held on Novemver 15th. A bouquet of 12 will be given as a BINGO prize, the rest will be made into bouquets to be sold at the bake sale, along with some other homemade treats.

Drum Roll Please...

Finally, after 8 hours of Wilton Class 2, I completed this beauty.

I don't think I should quit my day job, but if you need a fall cake I have lots of flowers leftover, and as usual, your total purchase price goes to a good cause. I'm told you can keep the flowers forever since you don't really eat them--they are edible, just hard as rocks.

Coming up--Class 3, Fondant and Tiered cakes. After I learn to decorate tiered wedding cakes I probably will be able to quit my day job as cake decorators charge a fortune for them.

Awesome Autumn

Barb ordered the top platter of autumn cookies on short notice. With teamwork, we made it happen--Joan baked, Audrey decorated. Thanks for your donation!

The few leftovers in the basket will go to the family hosting Andrew's homecoming dinner tonight.

Festively Delicious!

These cupcakes really put me in the Halloween mood. I was at Katie's blog
(check her out at http://www.goodthingscatered.blogspot.com) and the minute I saw these I knew I had to try them. Chocolate cake (made from scratch of course) with peanut butter icing, they are to die for!

Need cupcakes? E-mail or call me. Remember your entire purchase price goes to a good cause. I think we may have to soon change our name to "Sweet Treats for a Good Cause".

I'm Alive!!

I have built these monster cookies in my laboratory for your enjoyment. We are now taking Halloween cookie orders. Let us know if we can provide cookies for your Halloween party.

Black and White

Sue's daughter fell in love with our cookies after trying one I made for the Jimmy Hawkins benefit. Since her birthday was in two days, mom thought what better gift than a bouquet of cookies. The only problem, she needed them in two days.

We need two weeks notice for special orders (she wanted something musical). We didn't even have any flowers in the freezer that would make a nice birthday bouquet. We hadn't even decorated all of our halloween cookies yet. I offered what I had--black and white. Sue said, "Sure why not, she'll be 24, she'll probably love them".

This is what I came up with--Happy 24th birthday! Sue, thank you for your donation to Damascus Post Prom.

BOO!

Happy Halloween! Stay tuned for more Halloween cookies.

EEK!

My first Halloween cookie of the season. Scary huh?

Mandy, the winner of the Halloween cookies contacted me. She is a loyal follower of our blog and wants her cookies donated to the collection efforts for Jimmy Hawkins' family. Thank you Mandy.

A Good Cause

Jimmy Hawkins, age 20, was killed this week in a car accident. I didn't know Jimmy, but was approached by someone who asked if I could make cookies that she would sell to raise funds for his family.

We decided on lime green and white (Jimmy's bike colors), and his number--523 as cookies to be sold individually. The fall baskets will be raffle prizes.

All for a good cause.

Oh Mandy...

You've won a dozen Halloween cookies!!!! If only I knew how to reach you, you didn't leave your e-mail address. Send it to me so you can get your cookies.

Only one person entered the contest--strange, since statcounter.com tells us exactly how many visitors we have each day, and we have many visitors. Lucky for you Mandy, no one else took the time to enter.

Happy Birthday Wayne!!!

I made these for our future business manager :), Wayne. He's a Ravens fan so purple and black were the colors of choice. Can you guess how old he is? Enjoy!

Fall Fun!

I had to post more than one picture because these turned out so FUN! Audrey decorated the acorns and I did the leaves. Together, they make a great platter. Pam, thanks for inspiring the cookies for your reunion party. I hope everyone loves them.