Summer Days

It is definitely summer! It's supposed to be in the 90's this weekend.....cool off with a cookie margarita (includes a "salted" rim - it's really large sugar!), or playing with a beach ball in the pool. Easy to kick off the flip flops to stroll the beach barefoot!

Cowboy Up, Ya'll!

We had a food day at work today for a cube mate's birthday. Word has it he used to line dance, so I thought I'd make some cowboy cookies. Turns out, he doesn't eat sweets. (How does his body still function? This is a mystery to me!) But everyone else seemed to like them and a few new people saw them and were excited, so that's good!

Recent and Near-Future Cookies

This is a cookie blog, right? In the beginning, I swore I'd just write about cookies and not anything too personal. If you're a reader that just looks at the pictures, that's OK! As usual, I'm blogging a bit to catch up and will post the pictures later on today:

Recently, I've done more 50's for a birthday, Cubs cookies, some playing cards for a bridge gathering - the A, 2, 3 in all suites, some 1st birthday cookies, baby shower cookies and arm cast cookies (today). Coming up I have some girlie stuff (shoes and purses), some yet to be decided, and graduation cookies for December. : )

Some of my favorite comments relative to my cookies:

One lady who had tasted my cookies at a friend's house was going to miss the other bridge club outing where that hostess was also serving my cookies. She made the hostess promise to freeze one for her.

I made St. Louis Cardinal baseballs for Father's Day for my boyfriend's dad. His mom, a die hard Cub fan, said she had to eat one because she just couldn't wait a couple days until hers were delivered (summery cookies).

My boyfriend has lodged an official complaint that he doesn't get to eat enough cookies in comparison to the large amounts leaving our kitchen.

My mom (the one who made the comment "Who would make a yellow star?") is wowed by them and tells me I'm talented. I'm 34, and this might be the highest praise I've ever received from her. :)

There are the compliments, of course. "These are the best sugar cookies I've ever had." "This is too cute to eat." "Are you planning to open a real bakery?" "When are you quitting your day job?"
The biggest one is you all passing my name to people you know - THANK YOU! That is the best compliment ever.

Reality Check

While going on vacation was a very needed break from recent pressures and got my mind back on track to tackle new things upon our return, some things are just unexpected and make us give thanks for what we have in our life.

My nephew was in a car accident involving the vehicle rolling over and him being thrown out the back window. It is a miracle that only his wrist was broken (shattered, to be realistic) and not that it should be downplayed, but he was so lucky that was his only major injury. After 2 surgeries, his docs say he is on the mend and should be just fine!

I am taking him cast cookies today (sugar makes you heal faster, you know - at least that's what my family thinks. My sister is making peanut clusters and my mom is making this awesome lemon dessert (I don't even like lemon!) See, this sweet-tooth thing runs in the family! My boyfriend's dad keeps asking if I'm selling enough cookies yet to quit my day job. Not exactly, but we are shopping around for a gas convection oven to help speed things along. I digress.

If you are not a pet lover, cats in particular, you can skip the following, as you won't understand. I've had 2 cats the majority of my grown-up life, and got them when they were kittens. Roz who would turn 11 later this year, and Tipsy, just a year younger. They have lived with me in all my apartments, went to grad school with me in California and back again to Illinois. Kept me from giving up after my car accident. Brought more joy and unconditional love to my life than I've ever known. I got a cat because I thought they were independent. Roz was more like a dog from the get go; waiting on me to get home from work, sitting on my lap every chance he got. I got Tipsy to keep him company. Didn't work; he was a mama's cat and there was no going back! Tipsy prefers to be queen of the bed or any sunny spot in the house. Roz has been fighting a thyroid disorder and heart murmer for some time and not responding well to medication. When we came back from vacation, we spent a few days together before he had a seizure and we had to take him in to be put down late one night. I miss him terribly. Tipsy, oddly enough, is coming out of her shell and being more sociable. Maybe Roz just always stole the limelight. I'm glad I have a chance to show Tipsy how much she means to me, and always has, and I'm hoping she didn't ever feel like she was excluded.

I'm baaaaccckkkkkkkkkkk................

We had a great vacation. My advice is to spend no more than 2 days on Washington Island. Relaxation is great in small amounts! The stars are awesome, and the water the clearest I've ever seen (but I'm not a world traveler.) Back on the mainland we had so much fun - shopping and going to a fish boil (see flames below), a haunted trolley tour, an ostrich farm, mini golfing, biking in a state park, buying everything cherry (wine, salsa, BBQ sauce, chocolate covered dried cherries................), walking along the marinas and checking out the names of boats, checking out lighthouses (we went to 2 of the 10 in Door County - see one below). We had breakfast at Al Johnson's, where they have goats on their grass roof - see below! We went to an awesome antique store/architectural warehouse - I could live in their back room full of old metal fences, stained glass windows, old tile, reclaimed mantelpieces...........beautiful! I also found, of course, cookie cutters!













When we returned home, my boyfriend's mom gave me a set of cutters that had been his grandma's; some of which were the same as I bought on vacation. So now I have inspiration from several grandmas! I'm honored!

I've ordered some new cutters as well inspired by the trip - lighthouses, dolphin, seagull, seahorse, anchor, starfish, shell, angel fish, bee, beehive............ I'm baking them today and should have pics later this week.

And more 4th of July cookies...

Happy Feet.............for the 4th

I made three dozen cookies for a friend, all flip flops, and no two pairs were alike!