All's Fair in Love and Cookies

Those were words said by Stevo (my bro-in-law) to my dad this weekend.  My parent's came up and I told my father not to expect any cookies because of my huge order that I've got for this week.  But, of course, we have cookies laying around the house.  Some leftover Easter eggs and a few Masters cookies were still hanging out.  That was enough to satisify my father's Sweet B tooth.  (Because they're still good after 2 weeks!)  And so, at the end of their visit, when we were all goodbye-ing, my dad appologized to Stevo for eating all his Sweet B cookies.  Stevo said, "All's fair in love and cookies."  I loved it.  Almost as much as when a friend of mine told me not to forget to "Stop and smell the cookies."  Maybe I've gone a little overboard and need to start smelling something other than cookies when people start putting cookie euphemisms in my everyday conversations and I'm ammused by them.  Oh, well.  Maybe I need one of those bumper stickers that says, "Eat. Sleep. Cookies."  Nah.  Even though I'm pretty sure that's how my upcoming week will play out. 

But I am going to show you some of the cookies I've done over the past 2 weeks.  They all happen to be tiles and for a few different occassions. 

These were for a friend who wanted to congratulate her brother and fam when they found out they're having another baby or "little peanut."

I did some birthday cookies and thank you cookies (for 2 different people) in Kentucky blue - an iconic color in collegiate sports.  It turned out pretty, but not as pretty as those UK helmets.  (Don't worry, I'm not cheating on my Dawgs, I just love that blue.  But of course, there's nothing more beautiful than red and black on a green football field!)

I was finally able to do a black and white combo for a freind's thank you cookies.  They turned out so classy looking. 

I also realized that I could doodle on cookies even if they weren't Easter eggs!  Not sure why it took me so long. 

And finally, new baby cookies.  In pink and brown.  Love the color combo!

I love that my cookies are helping others celebrate in different ways (and states!). 

Well, for next weekend, I'm doing tea cup cookies for a high tea fundraiser for Sound Choices Pregnancy Center.  I've got 389 cookies baked - it's been a long day.  And now for a long week of icing.  I'll let you know if I survive.  Until then, happy icing to me!

Earth Day - Plant a Tree, Eat a Cookie

So, I think on Earth Day, everyone has a green thumb - like everyone's Irish on St. Patrick's Day.  See. 

Now, before you get to amped up about me jumping on the "green" wagon because of my special Earth Day post, let me explain. I'm not a radical.  But I do believe in conservation.  I recycle because it makes me feel like I'm helping out for the future.  (Don't want the earth to end up like in Wall-E.)  I use re-usable bags when grocery shopping - mainly because they're so much easier to carry.  The boxes I package my cakes and cookies in are recyclable.  When I go on walks, if I see trash and it's not too yucky, I'll pick it up.  And probably my favorite way I conserve is my fuel efficient Honda Fit.  I love it! 

But now, let's get down to the real reason I'm doing a special Earth Day post.  To show you these -

I actually made these a coupla weeks ago for my friend Joanna's birthday.  The icing isn't the super smooth icing I usually use, which I think adds texture to the trees.

I searched high and low in my sister's house for something "organic" to display the cookies on for their photo shoot.  All I could come up with was a plastic plate shaped like a flower and a bamboo tray.  Oh, and one of my terra cotta pots.  What can I say.  My older sister isn't exactly the "organic" type.  (She'll probably fuss at me for saying that.  I think she thinks I make her sound not-so-smart when it comes to creative things on my blog.  But let me just take the time right now to say - I wouldn't be where I am in this Sweet B's endeavor without her love and support and the use of her kitchen.  She is such a constant encouragement to me and I appreciate all of her input - she's my business consultant, you know.  Woah, didn't realize this was going to be Sister Appreciation post, too!)

Enough of that mushy love stuff and back to the cookies -

Here they are in their natural habitat.  Tee-hee.
If you know anything about me, you know I love trees...

So, if I were a cookie, I'm pretty sure this is what I would look like.

So, Happy Earth Day, Sweet B's style!

Cute As a Button...Cookie!

Yup!  I love having cute names for my cookies.  I have my cookie tiles (squares), my cookie medallions (circles), and I have my cookie buttons (mini-circles)!  They're bite-sized, nougats of cookies goodness.  I made them last week for the Masters crew to supplement the larger, more complicated ones.  Everyone said they liked the size because they didn't feel guilty for eating a huge cookie.  (Of course, they sat there and ate about 5 button cookies, but, hey, whatever helps them sleep at night.)  My sister first said they looked like buttons when I made them as sampler cookies. 

I made a bunch of them.  I know that the smaller they are, the faster they go.

My 6 year-old niece walked in and saw these still on the cookie sheet and said, "Awwww!"  She thought they were cute-as-a-button, too.

And of course, I had to take it a step further.  And I made them actually look like buttons.  And then I made my cute-as-a-button, 1 year-old niece (who is my newest addict) enjoy my button cookies!

(And now the rest of the pictures are just me being an aunt showing off how cute my niece is!)

I know she looks like she's been eating some Sweet B's cookies for some time now, but I promise, her first one wasn't until Easter!  But she's hooked now!

Love her, love the cookie buttons, and if you're reading this - I love you!

Welcome To Augusta, Y'all!

So, I've lived in Augusta for almost a year.  Up until now, it has felt eerily like Columbus (where I moved from and lived most of my life).  The cities are very similar.  They are about the same size.  They are both on a river that is the state boarder, so they both have Riverwalks.  They both have Army bases near them (although, Ft. Gordan isn't nearly as big as Ft. Benning).  And the downtowns look like they were designed by the same architect.  It even has that small town feel.  My sister can't go anywhere without seeing someone she knows.  (It's almost like that for me too, and I don't know that many people yet!) 

But this time of year, there's a feeling that I never got in Columbus.  Springtime is a time of awakening for most parts of the South.  Where everything starts "greening out" as my sweet Granny used to say and getting covered in pollen.  But in this town, it's different.  There's an electircity in the air that starts to charge.  And I've noticed some unusual happenings around town. 

For starters, driving through the neighboorhood these days, I've notice so many people having work done to their houses - getting it painted, new roofs, shutters off being re-painted, major yard work, on houses that didn't look they needed it to me.  

And then I started seeing tents pop up along Washington Road.  You know, like tail-gaiting tents, with signs that said stuff like "Practice round tickets, buy or sell".  There are these guys just sitting there, in lawn chairs.  During the middle of the week even!  Don't these guys have jobs?!

Not long after, I started seeing these out in front of businesses.

What on earth?  I saw one sitting outside a church and thought "Are they selling it?  Raffling it?  Just showing it off?"  But there weren't any signs saying any of that.  Then I learned that the golf cart itself was the sign.  Just to say, "Hey, golfers!  We support you!"  It's a thing that Club Car does in support of the season.

Then, there's all the talk about the azaleas.  Yup.  Flowers.  Will they bloom in time?!  Oh no, what are we going to do if the azaleas aren't out?!  Can the tournament go on if the azaleas aren't out?!  Yes, yes, it can.  Because evidently, behind the big huge wall of vines that hides this place called the Augusta National, they can control the weather.  They have some sort of pact with God or voodoo they can put on the green bushes and make them bloom - magically.  So, no worries.  The backdrop behind the golfers will be as beautiful as ever.  But what about the rest of us?  We want the azaleas in our front yard to bloom too!!  I guess we'll just have to wait on Mother Nature like the rest of world.  But I think they'll make it out, just in time.

And so, if I haven't clued into what's going on around here yet - there's a ton of these to remind me.

So, I've learned that where Columbus has several claims to fame - Aflac's worlwide headquarters, TSYS, and the city where Coca-Cola was first formulated.  Augusta - has the Masters.  And they are extremely proud of that.  It's a state of mind or even way of life around here.  People eat, sleep and breath golf.

So, if you're in Augusta this time of year, you can feel the excitment and energy building in the atmosphere.  (Or dread and despise for some of the locals, I'm sure.  I've heard traffic gets ridiculous!) 

The spring-spruce elves have made an appearance around this house too in preparation for the guests that will begin arriving Tuesday night. 

And of course, Sweet B has been busy baking some special treats for the West Virginia crew!

I even impressed my brother-in-law with my icing skills on these. 

My niece and I made this Lusciously Lemon cake and a few dozen chocolate chip cookies today.  She is such a big help!! (More to come on that later!)

Any excuse for sweets and Sweet B is there!!

So, now that Sweet B has made lots of treats for family and friends, she is taking the week off to enjoy this thing they call the Masters!  Maybe I'll figure out what all the hype is about and I might even get to go!!  (I've been practicing my golf clap.) 

If you're not into golfing, this post might have bored you a bit (and if it did, you probably don't live in Augusta).  Sorry.  But Sweet B will be back to baking fun and creative treats soon! 

Until then, Happy Masters - let's get golfing!

More Zig Zags and Polka Dots

I realize that I have already posted pictures of Easter eggs.  But I don't think you realize how much I love them.  So, let me tell you - I love them. 

You see, all through school, especially the last years of my college experience, I occupied my time in class with doodling.  (I wasn't the best student.  I now know it's because I was going to school for the wrong thing.  If I could go back and do it over, I would have totally gone to culinary school.  Unfortunately, I discovered this after 5 1/2 years of under-grad and 1 1/2 years of post-grad schooling.  You live and learn.)  I might not remember much from Theatre History, but I know I did some darn good doodling in that class. 

My Easter eggs look like a page out of my Microeconomics notebook.  (Without the random "supply and demand curve" - that isn't a curve at all.  It's a line, people, a S&D line.)  I can remember wanting to show my doodles off, but didn't really have any sort of outlet to do that with.  So, I would just share them with my younger sister, Betty.  Betty doodled a lot, too, so she appreciated them.  She would show me her cool doodles that she did in class, too.  (She's not much of a student, either.  We're a lot alike, in some ways.) 

Well, I now have an outlet to share my doodles and I couldn't be happier!  I did 62 egg cookies this week and loved every single one of them.  I think this is the first style of cookie that I'm excited that I get to do more of them this week!  (Usually, after staying up 'til midnight decorating cookies, I don't want to do that particular shape for a while.  But not with these!)

These are more like "working" pictures than "studio" pictures.  I loved the way the sun was coming in, so I didn't get my lamp out to suppliment the lighting.

There were no 2 eggs alike. (I like variety, can you tell?)

You might have also noticed that I don't like pastels.  My sister, Bonnie, said something about me not using "traditional" Easter egg colors, which I'm assuming she meant pastels.  I asked her if she expected me to use "traditional" anything.  She said I had a point.

For this one-

You see that lumpy cookie in the middle?

Here's a closer look -

Oh, she's lumpy alright.  (Don't worry.  No one pays for this cookie.)  She's a designated pok'er cookie.  I poke her (pok'er) to see if the icing is anywhere close to being hard.  It takes quite some time - anywhere from 12 to 24 hours.

(Don't worry, it doesn't hurt her.  She's still tasty, just ask my brother-in-law.)

In addition to the eggs, I did some birthday cookies.

So, happy birthday, Amy!

And now for more shout-outs -

My lil sis and her mate.

My friend in Tifton - Surprise!  These are coming with your iced whites!!

And of course - my brother and his crew -

I even made up a basket for them!

Well, I hope I make it through the next 2 weeks - I'm booked solid!!  So, if you don't hear from me, it's because I'm being suffocated by flour!!  (It's the way I'd want to go!)

Let's get baking!

“That’s a Good Cookie” – The Secret Revealed

I’m going out on a limb here and writing a post not centered on any pictures. But hopefully, it will be worth it for you.

My niece, CA, was eating one of my cookies the other day (I tend to ice a spare cookie and put her name on it, like any good aunt would). On this particular day, she looked at me in between bites and said, “NiNi, you put your secret in here, didn’t you?” I just love some of the things that come out of her mouth. This happens to be a perfect example. It just made me smile. I’ve never told her that my cookies have a “secret” ingredient. She just assumed that because she loved it so much, it must have a secret ingredient.

I used to think the taste of my cookies wasn’t the most impressive part about my cookies, even though my dad has always said that they’re the best cookies in the world. Of course, I just thought he was saying that because, well, he’s my dad. The rest of my family raved about them too, but once again, they’re my family, they’re just being nice, right?

Well, now that my cookies are getting around, I feel like I’m getting some unbiased feedback. I’ve had basically the same comment from two different people – who aren’t related to me – say that they loved my cookies and they’re not “easily impressed”. My dad gave a cookie to a friend of his who is a hobby chef (not sure that’s a real phrase, but you get my drift). After every bite, he said “That’s a good cookie” with a growing intensity. I have several people not in my family who are a bit fanatical about them. I promise I don’t put any addictive drugs in them, as I’ve been accused. Although, at times I have felt a bit like a dealer. My friend, who we’ll just call “J”, placed two cookie orders and at the end of discussing what she wanted them to look like she said, in a hushed tone, “And can you make me like, 6 extra? I don’t care what they look like.” And if you saw the way my brother-in-law rummages around looking for any extra cookies or witness his reaction to when I don’t have any to spare, you might call him a junkie.

Honestly, my cookies don’t have a secret ingredient. It is one of the most basic cookie recipes I’ve ever come across. I have tried more complicated sugar cookie recipes - Martha’s, Betty Crocker’s, but they weren’t any better, in my opinion. So, I stuck with the simpler one. It just contains the basics – butter, sugar, eggs, flour, baking powder, salt, and vanilla. The only thing that I can think of that would make them extra special is that I use good quality ingredients, especially the vanilla. As for the icing, I use the royal icing recipe that comes with the Wilton meringue powder – confectioner’s sugar, meringue powder (essentially dried egg whites) and water. Pretty basic. 

Well, the point of this post was not just to take a bite off my own cookie but to make an announcement. My friend, Kari, made the suggestion that I offer my iced cookies that aren’t decorated fancy at a lower price - for those who want some Sweet B’s cookies, but don’t necessarily have an occasion to celebrate. She might be on to something. I think I’ll take her up on that suggestion. So, I’m now offering what I call Iced Whites. A baker’s dozen iced white medallions (that’s a fancy word for circle) for $10. I need about 3 days to make them – it’s still a process, you know. And I’m thinking from time to time, I’ll offer an Iced White Sale – where I have several dozen to sell, first come, first serve. As for those of you who are going to ask about shipping – I can try doing the priority mail thing for $5 plus the cost of the box and cushioning. I usually use UPS, because I know exactly when it will get to you, and I feel like they take better care of my packages. But I’m willing to give USPS a shot with the Iced Whites.

So, to those of you that were hoping to learn my “secret”, I hope you’re not disappointed that you didn’t get any real answers. I’m sure I didn’t disappoint any of my addicts, who can’t wait to get there hands on some Iced Whites!! Now that Iced Whites are out of the bag, I should probably go stock up on dough… happy mixing to me!

Just so you'll know how plain the are -

But feel free to dress them up yourself!

You didn’t really think I would post without any pictures, did you?

C is for...Caterpiller?

To those of you that thought I might say C is for cookie (that's good enough for me) or even C is for cake, here's a surprise.  Around here, when I'm icing a cake, C is for caterpiller.  Just ask any of my nieces or nephews and they'll tell you what that means.  It actually all started when I was decorating the cake for the FBE.  I was at my brother's house with 3 of my beautiful nieces and 1 of my 2 handsome nephews.  If you've decorated a cake around kids, you know they swarm you like vultures - mouth's just-a-waterin'.  Now, I don't mind you tasting whatever I've got going on, but one of my BIGGEST pet peeves is double dipping in my icing.  Makes my skin crawl just thinking of it.  It's not because I mind eating after my family that much, because I don't.  It's the fact that whoever is eating the cake is now eating after you too.  And if they're a paying customer, I'm gonna yell at you because you've just ruined my cake. 

Back to my story - the vultures were circling and I knew if I didn't give them some icing willingly, they would try to swipe some while I wasn't looking.  So, instead of them sticking their finger in my icing bowl, I made them stick their finger out and I drew a "caterpillar" on their finger with my bag of icing. 

Oh, they loved it.  And I didn't mind them coming back for seconds because their slimy hand wasn't touching my icing bowl.  (Of course, their mom might have protested seconds...had we asked her.  Have I mentioned that I love being an aunt?)

Well, I had to share the novelty of caterpillers with the rest of my family.  So, anytime I'm icing a cake in this house, my sweet princess of a niece asks for a caterpillar.

And how can I refuse?  Especially to watch how much she loves it.

Down to the last bit!

Love her!