I really dislike online focus groups. It’s hard to stay awake, it’s hard to keep my eyes focused on the screen for 5 hours, and you miss the facial expressions and interactions between participants that make focus groups interesting. BUT… I can decorate cookies during online focus groups! These cookies are brought to you by 15 hours of focus groups (and a few house of staff meetings… shhh!)
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This was my FIRST request for Harry Potter cookies! I was introduced to Potter last year- I made it through all of the books over the pandemic summer- and I got pretty hooked. So when my niece requested these for her 8th birthday, I was VERY excited. As an added bonus my toddler calls them “Hairy Pottery” cookies, which is very funny.
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When my son asked for Paw Patrol cookies for his birthday, I showed him my previous blog post on this topic. Reading it now is hilarious. Paw Patrol has been part of my life for 5ish months now, and it’s hard to remember a time when I didn’t know all of the pups’ names. Or a time when the Paw Patrol theme song wasn’t stuck in my head. But there is the evidence. When I made those cookies, I was totally unaware of the Paw Patrol.
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One of the great things about having a toddler is that I am now able to share my hobbies with him in a way that I could not when he was a baby- and it is so much fun. We do have a little disagreement about what happens when we are done baking, however- he likes to eat the cookies; I like to take pictures of them. While I now have more time to bake cookies, I also have less time to photograph them before they are eaten by my sugar-crazy 3 year old.
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Back in non-covid times, I was baking north of one hundred Christmas cookies a year. This year, the sugar haul is more modest. I finished my cookies over a week ago because the cookies are being shared by mail (and a few by front door 6-feet away masked delivery). Nate and Charlie Wolf have been gracious enough to eat the not-quite-cute ones. All told (including the castaways) I made around 60 cookies this year.
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Happy Quarantine Thanksgiving! This has been the strangest year. But I am thankful for the extra time at home with my son and I’m especially thankful that this is the 2020 pandemic and not the 1918 pandemic. We have FaceTime and online ordering and the ability to work from home. And since I’m not sharing cookies around a big Thanksgiving table this year, I’m thankful that I can share them virtually. Read more…
Every year, my friends’ daughter requests the cookie of the year. She’s a 5 year old tastemaker. Last year it was rainbows and unicorns. Every little girl I know wanted those cookies. This year it’s Frozen (ahem, Frozen II to be exact.) Read more…
I really wanted to make folk art Valentines this year. And it started that way… but then quickly devolved into a free-for-all. The resulting set is folk art colors and a variety of designs and patterns. My Valentines did not seem to mind. Read more…
I finally finished my Christmas cookies yesterday. I didn’t intend to bake a lot of cookies this year. We are not traveling for Christmas. My husband and my two year old can only eat so many cookies. Actually, they can eat a lot of cookies. But they shouldn’t.
My husband’s aunt (my aunt in-law?) is a real cook and baker. I’m a hobby cookie decorator. She is the real deal. Nate eats all of my cast off rejected cookies. During the holidays, this means a lot of cookies. By the time we get to Christmas, Nate declares that he cannot eat another cookie. And then his aunt hands him a bag of sugary buttery baked goods and suddenly he can actually eat another cookie (or ten.)
I’m a camp girl. I went to residential summer camp in New Hampshire from age 8 to age 21. It’s my favorite place; I still go back for family camp every summer. Read more…
My niece is turning 6 this weekend AND we are moving to our new house. So in the midst of packing, sorting, donating, and losing my mind, I took some time out to make a special set of birthday cookies. She’s my favorite girl and this occasion deserves a special treat. Read more…
I made these cookies for a very special little girl’s fourth birthday. Designing and decorating them was an absolute delight. These are the cookies I wish someone had made for me for my fourth birthday. Given the reaction by other little girls in my life, I have a feeling this will not be the last time I make rainbow and unicorn cookies this year. Read more…
With an 18 month old, it is getting harder and harder to make time for cookies. My plan was to dramatically scale back on holiday baking this year. It was a plan. I was going to stick to it. And then I realized that, for me, cookies are the whole point. Read more…
My feisty little niece turns 5 in 2 weeks. She loves to dance and make up silly songs. She loves to play with dolls and dress up in sparkly clothes. She loves to travel and see new things. And she really loves mermaids. And I love her, so I made mermaid cookies to celebrate her big day. Read more…
Snickerdoodledoo 