Saturday, August 15, 2009

Ice, ice baby!

I am grateful for the Phone call I got early this morning because
obviously, icing cookies in my Dreams was getting me nowhere!

So after the call, I wandered downstairs to begin the day
and my Cookie icing project. I was excited to use my new
stand mixer too... Now that I've forgiven Martha for
featuring it on her show and Making me buy one!

The first step to Perfect royal icing is to sift the powdered
sugar. Unless you sift, no Royal icing can be perfect!

No one Sneeze!

I love my New mixer. Very much!

Powdered sugar, meringue powder, a tiny bit of water,
and 12 minutes later... Royal icing! Who knew?

Outlining my cookie Shapes now. And, may I just say... I was a registered Dental assistant
for Five years, and I've typed since I was in the Fourth grade - But it took only
twenty minutes of this for me to feel the Burn of carpel tunnel syndrome! 

I'm doing it... but Ow!

Could be that my icing was too Stiff because the second mix piped a lot
easier. It's a good thing too, because I was on my way to Never doing this again!

Obviously, Brandon's on my mind... I can hear him saying, Rangers Lead the Way, Mom!
He just sent a text Message to say they won't be getting the weekend off, like he
expected. Instead, Cadre has them cleaning weapons all day. I can't wait to see him Friday! 

Now that my Shapes are outlined it's time to thin the icing
to Flood with color. Not so hard... Just think syrup! 

It's nine o'clock on Saturday morning and
all I can think about is Fresh squeezed...

Orange juice!

Let's Flood!

I should have given my cookie Designs more thought. But I didn't think they
would turn out this well! I mean, I thought this was just going to be a test run...
Had I known I wasn't going to Burn all the cookies and that my icing would actually
work, I would have thought More about what I wanted these to look like in the end!

Looking back, I wish I had filled the center
of my Orange daisies with pink icing!

Still, this isn't so bad!

I did Dot the pink daisies with the orange
icing! Can you tell I'm winging this?

Pretty, not-so-horrible for a First time cookie decorator! Huh?

The woman no member of our Family wants to live
without is having a Birthday this Friday... So I think I'll send
along some of my Cookies in the package I'm putting together!

Oh, No! Does this mean I'm turning into one of those people... You know,
the ones that give Baked goods and crafts as gifts? Surely not!

I also experimented with (flood) icing the cookies first and adding the Border
later. And, I played around a little with dots and drawing Hearts too!

This wasn't difficult. Still, it is Easier to flood into a dry icing outline

I experimented with a #6 tip here... I don't recommend it. #6 is clearly
too wide. Makes the outline look messy, which is not the look I was going for!

All wrapped up and ready to go!
I hope you enjoy Monterey as much as I do...

Okay! My 2-day cookie decorating experiment is Over and I'm pretty
pleased with my results. And, so is my Taste-tester! He said these are the
best Sugar cookies he's ever tasted. And, I agree! Bridget's vanilla-almond
recipe makes a delicious, and oh-so-Tender cookie! The Dutch sugar cookie
recipe is good, but it's Nothing special. I love anything Almond flavored;
therefore, Bridget's cookies win - hands down and Every time! 

Taste-tester just asked me when I plan to put the Cookie business
away and get back to my Serious cooking because he doesn't want
cookies for dinner. I hope these NY strips from Costco are serious
enough for him because I'm going to Rub them down and
let them Marinate all day while we go out and play!

4 comments:

  1. First...your cookies look great! Yay!!! Love the pink & orange together! And yeah, I'm thinking carpal tunnel is definitely in my future. ;)

    Second...I am DROOLING over that glass mixing bowl!!! I've never seen that for a Kitchen Aid. So, so jealous!

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  2. I volunteer to be a taste tester. These are gorgeous - too pretty to eat! Can you recommend a way to hang them on a wall to decorate?!

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  3. To hang them you could easily place a hole into the top of the cookie before baking. Just use a straw to "punch" out a circle of dough - Insert the straw into the cookie where you want to hang it and twist just a little to release the dough from the cookie. Then lift the straw to remove the dough plug, which should remain inside.

    Good luck... And, thanks for your kind words!

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  4. Okay Janet my Dear! I'm going to try this over the weekend to send cookies to my mom and sister and niece Lily who will all be together next week! Send them a bit of me!
    I wish there was a cookie decor book that showed you just how to design cookies! And where oh where did you get those yummy looking sprinkles that I see! I love studying what all you have! Can you believe I don't have a stand up mixer....shhhh...don't tell anyone! Crazy...I know! Saving up for one! ;o) There have been so many other things we have needed for our new home! xxooxx
    This post was a huge help!

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