Baby on Board Cookies . . . and a Virtual Baby Shower

Have you ever been to a VIRTUAL BABY SHOWER before?  Well, guess what?  You're attending one right now!

Our sweet, sweet friend and incredible baker, Amanda, from i am baker is having her fourth, yes 4th, baby (a boy!) next week.  And Kristan, from Confessions of a CookBook Queen, had this fabulous idea for some of us to throw Amanda a surprise baby shower.  SURPRISE, Amanda!!!

If by some chance, you've never met Amanda...well, first, where have you been?!?  Second....let me show you how amazing this woman is.

Y'all....she is ONE.SERIOUSLY.TALENTED.LADY.  Oh, and nice as can be, as well. And funny, did I say funny?  So, you can see why we all love her.

I volunteered to make cookies....I know it's a shocker.  We tried to coordinate the shower colors as best we could through Skype; we went with teal and orange.

So, go wish Amanda "Happy Baby!"  (Here she is on twitter, if you're the tweeting sort.)

OH!  And be sure to stop by the other shower hostess for more goodies today...

Drinks:

Add a Pinch – i am baby Shower Punch
TidyMom – Ducky Bath Blue Punch

Savory Bites:

Dine and Dish – Stuffed Mushrooms
GoodLife Eats – Cucumber Sandwich Recipe
My Baking Addiction – Crab Rangoons
Simple Bites – Spring Crudité, Buttermilk-Black Pepper Dip

Desserts:

A Farmgirl’s Dabbles – {i am baby} cakes
Bakers Royale – Baby Shower Cupcakes
Bluebonnets and Brownies – Mini Fruit Pizzas
Confessions of a Cookbook Queen – Homemade Butter Mints
Food for My Family – Baby Shower Macarons
Gourmande in the Kitchen – Chocolate Blueberry Truffles
My Kitchen Addiction – Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls
She Wears Many Hats – “B” is for Boy – Itty Bitty Baby Cupcakes
Smith Bites – Strawberries with Brown Sugar Dip
What’s Cooking with Kids – Hamentashen cookies

Last But Not Least:

Wenderly – Baby Cards

Can't wait to meet this sweet baby, Amanda!!!

Posie Cakes . . . cookies for a sip and see

I had a request for my "signature cookie" this month.  The funny thing is, I didn't know I HAD a signature cookie, but I knew exactly which cookies she was referring to.  The pink cookies in my header, on my blog button, my twitter avatar....I must really like that cookie! ;)

And because those original cookies were for my girlfriend Terri, it makes me happy to call them my "signature."

This version of the cookie was for a sip and see for a baby girl.
 

I love sip and sees!  Sip and Sees are like baby showers given AFTER the baby is born. There's ooo-ing and ahhh-ing over the baby, presents in pink or blue, lots of food....and oh, yeah...maybe the new mommy can have a mimosa! ;)

To make the cookies, you'll need:

• sugar cookies in a 3-tiered cake shape
• royal icing divided and tinted with AmeriColor Soft Gel Paste Food Coloring--Deep Pink, Soft Pink, and Leaf Green 
• disposable icing bags
• decorating tips: #3, #1, #7 
• toothpicks

First, outline the cookies with royal icing using a #3 tip.  Let the outline dry 20 minutes or more.

Reserve some of the pink royal icing used for outlining and thin the rest with water for flooding.  Adding just a bit of water at a time, stir the water into the icing until it is the consistency of thick syrup or glue. Cover with a damp towel and let sit several minutes.

Stir the icing gently with a rubber spatula to pop and air bubbles that have risen to the surface.  Transfer to squeeze bottles.

Working 6-8 cookies at a time, fill in the outline in the contrasting pink thinned icing.  Use a toothpick to spread into edges and corners.

Come back over the 6-8 cookies just flooded and drop on dots of the contrasting color.

Let the cookies sit for more than an hour since the detail flowers are large.  You don't wanted dented icing! :)

If you have made your royal icing the day you are decorating, add just a few drops of water to the outline consistency icing.  This will help prevent stiff peaks on your flowers.  If the icing was made the day before, it loses some of it's stiffness in the fridge. 

With a #7 tip, add large dots for the flowers.

With #1 tips, add swirly detail to the center of the flowers.

With the green icing and a #1 tip, add leaves.

Let dry overnight.

Voila! 

So, if these pink posie cookies are my "signature" cookies....what's YOUR signature dish? 

Cookies for Baby's Baptism

When a fellow volunteer at the food pantry asked me to make cookies for her sweet baby's baptism, I was so honored!

Kara is one of those really organized people.  She even provided me the cookie cutter, just like she did when I made cookies for her sister's 40th birthday party.  Come to think of it, Kara, would you like to be my personal cookie cutter shopper? 

Anyhoo, back to the cookies...the napkins for the party were a pretty yellow with a dark brown cross, so we added a branch for the dove to carry to incorporate those colors.

{This idea came from a magazine that I saw YEARS ago. It was a Christmas dove carrying a holly branch.  So, keep this in mind; Christmas is only 122 days away, people!}

To make the cookies, you'll need:

• royal icing in white, brown and yellow (Americolor Bright White, Chocolate Brown and Egg & Lemon Yellow)
• tips: #2 and #1
• disposable icing bags
• squeeze bottle

Using a  #2 tip, outline the cookie in white royal icing. 

Thin the white icing (reserve a bit for later) with water, a little at a time, until it is the consistency of thick syrup.  Cover with a damp dishtowel and let sit several minutes.

Stir gently with a rubber spatula to pop any large air bubbles that have formed. Transfer to a squeeze bottle.

Fill in the outlined cookie with the flood icing.  Use a toothpick to spread into sides and corners.

Let sit 1 hour.

With the reserved white icing and #2 tip, add detail on wings, tail and add an eye.

Using another #2 tip, pipe the branch in dark brown.

With a #1 tip, pipe yellow flowers/berries on the branches.

Let dry overnight before packaging.

Thank you, Kara, for letting me be part of your baby's big day!

---

If you haven't already, be sure to enter the giveaway going on right now!  You could turn YOUR blog into a book!

For the Little Dudes . . .

Desserts for Dudes month continues with Cute as a Button cookies

...because dudes have to start somewhere!

When our little dude was born, he decided to make an entrance.  An unexpected entrance via emergency c-section, 10 weeks early.  He weighed 2 pounds, 13 ounces. 

{Kiddo is now 11 years old and 5 feet tall....wearing the same size shoe as his mother...}

Looking at birth announcements, I found one that said "cute as a button" and it was perfect because he was about the size of a button.  I only wish I knew how to make cookies back then. :)

The buttons are made from homemade fondant.  Remember that?  They were so fun to make; I could have made hundreds of them.

Supplies for the buttons:

• fondant 
• AmeriColor Sky Blue Soft Gel Paste Food Color
• bench scraper

• tips: Wilton 4B, and #1 or #2 plain tips
• cornstarch
• rolling pin
• toothpicks
• chopstick

To make the buttons, color the fondant with gel paste food coloring, kneading until fully blended.

Dust the surface and rolling pin with cornstarch to prevent sticking, a tip Buddy gave us, and roll the fondant thin, maybe 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch. Use a bench scraper to lift the fondant off the counter if necessary.

Using the back of the Wilton 4B tip as a cutter, cut out the button shape.

Mine kept getting stuck, so I used  a chopstick to nudge them out.
{PS...I'm not going to quit blogging to be a hand model anytime soon.}

With the back of the #1 or #2 tip, add the inner circle button detail, being sure not to press all the way through.

With the tip end of the #1 or #2 tip, make button holes.
{Seriously, what are those holes called? A button hole is something you push your button through.  There must be a name of the holes in the middle of a button. Anyone? Anyone?}

Use a toothpick to poke all the way through the button.
{Again...no hand modeling.}

Let dry at room temperature.  Store in an air-tight container at room temperature.

For the cookies:

• Outline & flood the cookies with royal icing and let dry overnight.
• Pipe the dots around the border.
• With an AmeriColor Gourmet Writer Food Decorator Pen , add the wording. (AmeriColor pens are much better than the ones as the grocery store!)
• Attach the buttons with a bit of royal icing.
• Let dry several hours.

Oliver Rocks!

Posted by Mariah:

Warning!!! Extreme Cuteness! View at your own risk.

Here's a sampling of photos from my weekend with my nephew Oliver. He has a pretty busy schedule, but he was nice enough to let me hang out and photograph him in his routine.

Fingers are so yummy.




Oliver's dad says he is the luckiest baby on the block because he has a cartoon character for a mom. It's true, Mandy is part Roger Rabbit and part Winnie the Pooh.
Oliver thinks she's very cool.






Nummy. If you don't shovel the food in quick enough Oliver gets pretty pissed.

Soft.

Look at those muscles. This baby is buff.

Bath time is always a hit.

Bubbles and duckies are the best.

I wish I was flexible enough to chew on my own toes.

Nap time?

Clowning around with dad... photos by Mandy!

Taking a stroll around the neighborhood.

I love this one. I think Oliver looks like me, we have the same cheeks.

Wish I knew what he was thinking here.

Well, don't say I didn't warn you. I am sure there are a lot of biological clocks out there that just kicked into high gear!