Cookies and a Confession

I love to bake cookies. A lot of cookies. But what is this recent obsession with sugar cookies and royal icing, you ask? Well, we need to go back to Christmas to understand the entire situation. I was arranging all of the Christmas cookies on trays with my mom when I stepped back to look at the 50+ DOZEN cookies that I had made… I had many different types, sizes and styles of cookies… a lot of options for the end user, if you will. And this is the moment it hit me…

I was a volume based cookie baker.

GASP!!

A jack of all trades, master of none.

This goes completely contrary to my Weddings by Heather business model, which is boutique based. In layman’s terms: WbH is based on quality (limited number of high end weddings) vs volume (tons of weddings at a lower price). I’ve always preferred to work smarter, not harder.

I decided that I could not continue to run incongruous models in my life. A Heather against herself cannot survive (name that show).

In January I decided that I was going to spend this year learning how to make a really pretty sugar cookie. If I practice enough, then by December, I may transition from a jack of all trades to a master cookie baker. I have a vision in my mind of my Christmas cookies this year, and I’m really hoping that I am able to execute (and if not, I may cry. I get very emotional when it comes to my cookies).

Whenever I get a chance, I’ll bake a batch of cookies and throw them into the freezer until I can find time to decorate them. My super wonderful, supportive husband does not always understand my need to practice (are you baking cookies AGAIN?). But I have explained to him that I have many facets to my personality and you can’t define me just as a wife, mother, photographer, friend, etc.  I will not be pigeonholed! Or anything to do with a pigeon! They are disgusting!

Now, please allow me to explain these St. Patrick’s Day cookies. The gunsmoke gray color is actually supposed to be black, but I’m still learning. (I have already determined that Americolor is the way to go, just needed to add more super black). The ‘L’ was my attempt at piping a letter and I quickly realized that I had thinned the icing too much. I used a #1 tip, but I added too much water to my base icing.

Do you have a favorite design? If so, what do you like about it? I like the marbled one on the lower left because it reminds me of a vine, which fits with a clover. Sorta.