Mouse Invasion!

Whenever I decide to go all Martha Stewart, I'm always actually relieved when it doesn't turn out as perfectly at the picture. The whole point is -- even with burnt ears and red-rather-than-black tails -- the kids simply had a blast with their friends creating these little mouse cookies (it's the journey, not the destination)...

Have One for Me

The kids had so much fun doing their annual gingerbread thing (this year it was trains). There was frosting everywhere and a surfeit of candy and even at the end of two hours of festivities, they were ready for "just one more..."

Red, Sweet, and Blue

I didn't intend to spend ALL day making these sparkly cookies, but that's how it worked out. At least we have a little patriotic bling for tomorrow's picnic.

Keeping Up With the Clauses

We had several friends over today for our annual gingerbread house construction party. I should say faux gingerbread, because we switched to graham crackers years ago due to the flexibility it offers as a building material. All the kids have fun (even the grown up ones), half the decorations get eaten, but nobody can ever top Wynham's construction efforts -- this year the results were something like Thai-temple-meets-Taj-Mahal. Jack looks just a little bit envious...

Collaborative Cookies

What was I saying about luster dust? We ended up using ample quantities of it. I worked on cookies for 14 hours straight, with lots of help. Leslie made dough; Deb and Heather rolled it; Claire, Jack, Aidan, Elena and Garth decorated; I botched another batch of royal icing. My pecan snowballs turned out more like pecan pancakes. But everyone had a great time, and no one seemed to mind my lack of organization or skill. Jack won the prize for most dough -- and most cookies -- eaten during the festivities. Anyone who wants one, come on over quick; I can guarantee you with my crowd, they won't last long.

To Bake, or Not to Bake

I've just barely gotten my head wrapped around the idea that Christmas is coming and suddenly I realize that if I don't make cookies this weekend, there won't be any to eat until 2009. In October, my Christmas cookie plans were quite elaborate, but I'll be lucky if the butter even softens in time. I'm going to get it done, but I can assure you that there won't be any stained-glass cookies with golden luster dust in the collection. Where is the Pillsbury Doughboy when I need him most? That is the question. (Click here to see the answer!)

The Cookie Chronicles, Vol. II

On Saturday, all the kids participated in mixing, rolling, baking, and taste-testing a couple hundred cookies so that we could get some friends in on the decorating act on Sunday afternoon. The royal icing is still giving me anxiety every time I make it, but it didn't stop us from having a lot of fun and making some gorgeous cookies.

Claire was absolutely beside herself because her kindergarten teacher joined the festivities. She sat by the window for nearly an hour saying, "Is it time yet? When will everyone be here?" When the honored guest arrived, you would have thought it was the Queen of England herself. I mean, Claire even cleaned her room for the occasion!

I'm more convinced than ever that there's something magic about cookies -- they just seem to bring out the best in everyone. Apparently people have thought this to be true for a long time. The history of cookies is a pretty fascinating read! To see more pictures from our sweet, sticky Sunday afternoon, have a look at the YouTube slide show.

The 100th Day

Today was the 100th day of school, and in kindergarten, that's a really big deal which merits a full day of festivities focussed on the number "100". Each child had to do a project that included one hundred of some item, and Claire's first thought was -- you guessed it -- cookies!

Luckily, she did a poster with 100 heart stickers on it, so the cookies were just an extra and we decided to count by fives and I only had to make twenty. Which was exactly one for each child in the class. They were apparently pretty happy about them, as the picture Claire's teacher sent might suggest. Have I mentioned before how much I love kindergarten?

The Cookie Chronicles, Vol. I

The cookie creating/baking/decorating thing is definitely the new obsession around here; Jack and I were at it again yesterday and there's another batch planned for today. This situation is as rich in irony as the dough is in butter, since I'm generally known to be anti-sugar, especially the white stuff. But as soon as you can find a way to incorporate 73% cacao chocolate, most sins are forgiven.

My crash course in all things cookie is self taught, and the latest lesson was about the proper way to melt and temper chocolate (for use in piping designs). I feel like I'm back in Chemistry 101. I tried two more batches of Royal Icing that both went royally wrong: the first one expanded to twice the size of the bowl, and the second one separated almost instantly when I applied it. Mixing the colors presents its own challenges, and there's a lot of try, try, again going on. But in this case, all the mistakes are obligingly eaten, so there's no waste.

I've had to give up my metalsmithing class for now, so this is the perfect creative outlet, and something that the whole family can participate in. Last night, Coco was discussing designs with her friends on the phone. And I can't wait to see what Wynham comes up with once he starts decorating. Interestingly enough, many of the tools and techniques of my jewelry making can be applied to this edible art (see heart inlay above). But the best part of all? Everyone loves a cookie. Cookies make people happy, and that's what it's all about...

My Cookie, My Love

My brother and I were talking the other day, still disbelieving that our Mom is gone, even though it's been a year now. Somehow, the subject of her cookie cutter collection came up. I have some of them now, but I never really tried to match her talent with pastries. When it comes to cookies, pies, and cakes, she was an artistic genius. Her standard always seemed impossible to live up to before, but in talking to Jonathan about those memories, I was struck by an overwhelming desire to make something beautiful.

There was a bit of a learning curve to overcome with the particular type of cookie I set out to make, but it was soon a family affair, with all the kids joining in, and James coming by to do occasional taste tests. The kitchen was a complete sticky disaster. My royal icing was way too fluffy and took days to dry. My piping hand was less than steady. But we had hours of fun, everyone's designs were so creative, and yes, they were things of beauty (it's in the eye of the beholder, after all)...

This Is the House that Jack Ate

Building gingerbread houses is a long-standing tradition in our family. Each child gets to make his or her own house, and their personalities come shining through in the finished product every time.

Chloé's house looks exactly like the one in the demo picture, meticulously completed, as though a hundred tiny elves used laser levels to apply the frosting and nonpareils to her exacting standards.

Claire's end product shows an attempt to follow the directions which quickly gives way to creative impulses driven by a predictable onslaught of impatience. Cute and quirky.

Wynham's architectural approach leans toward Bauhaus as he, using the same cutout pieces as everyone else, creates a two-story townhouse complete with a triangular atrium entryway and a gingerbread man (the Gingerbread Man?!?) sunning himself in the rooftop garden.

Jack is willfully unclear on the subject. Why would anyone fiddle around on a plate for so long with something that tastes so good and was obviously meant to be eaten? I love the holidays, but not nearly as much as I love my kids... Merry Christmas!

Run, Run, Run

It's true, there were some pretty long faces in class the day the Gingerbread Man ran away. Luckily for the kids, Mr. GM is a reliable correspondent and has been sending postcards from each stop in his extensive travels. There have also been a few sightings, but no one even gets close before he's off and running again... Every day Claire comes home with a new installment of the Continuing Adventures of the Gingerbread Man, and most recently he wrote from Outer Space! His progress is being charted on a big world map in the classroom, and they're running out of space for all his missives. What I would really like to do is climb into his suitcase, but I guess I'd have to catch him first, and he's a very elusive character...

(top photo graphic design by Debra Turner)

I Want to Go Back to Kindergarten

Okay, I have to admit that I’m envious of Claire – she gets to spend her days in a kindergarten class, and it’s made me nostalgic for those halcyon days of my own past. My love for kindergarten is both philosophical and practical.

In a world full of chaos, the kindergarten classroom is its own little universe of structure and order. The hook where you hang your coat and book bag has your name above it, your box of crayons has your name on it, everything has a place and usually gets put back in its place. This almost never happens at our house. If I opened the pen/pencil drawer in the kitchen and actually found a pen or a pencil in there, I’d probably faint.

A kindergarten classroom is so colorful. The walls are covered with groups of tidy layouts in every imaginable color combination; a graphic artist’s dream and nightmare all rolled into one. And so many school and art supplies, I love them! These things encourage creativity – almost everything in kindergarten is an art project, even the math. Drawing and coloring and playing with glue are part of the curriculum. Well, at least we do a lot of this at home, too. Especially on the walls…

Books get priority in kindergarten. This is my idea of heaven. Can you remember getting to spend a big portion of your day with books? The joy of learning to read? Being read to? In kindergarten, it requires no suspension of disbelief to enjoy the stories. That gingerbread man you made in class really did hop out of the oven and run away while you were at recess. And now he’s sending postcards from around the globe!

People are nice. They know that “warm fuzzies” are things you say to make folks feel good, and that “cold pricklies” are better left unsaid. Kindergarten kids know that “please” and “thank you” are important words – they work like magic – and they can’t really ever be overused. It’s okay to talk about your feelings in Kindergarten, and even more amazing, people usually listen. Kindergarten is a place where it’s safe to be yourself – too bad the world isn’t taking notes.

Plus, there’s an extra benefit in the kindergarten classroom: the signs and books and labels all have big enough print that you can read them without putting on your reading glasses first (and believe me, this is big)…