nightowl, did you flood your "LOVE" freehand? That's amazing! I love the tux, bridal gown, and heart cookies packaged together, what a lovely idea!

lascatx: ~ 20 min SW of downtown...yeah, it's been an awful three years. Rebunky posted last Friday, checking in on me, and I haven't quite found the energy to reply. My countertop and its funky seams stare at me every single day, and I can't even feel semi-excited about being in my kitchen...too many bad memories and bad people traipsing through here. Blecch. I never thought I'd be part of the ABB club, but at this point, DH and I have resigned ourselves to the fact that we'll just do it ourselves. Cross your fingers for us. I've done a bit of floor tile work in the kitchen (man, back-buttered 20# porcelain tile is heavy!), but a vertical surface is a bit daunting.

Funny: I was 'that mom' who volunteered to bake a gazillion cookies for the soccer team parties. :) I did sell a lot of my cookies during my first couple of years, mostly locally (a couple of HS graduation parties for Strake -- that was a nifty project). And then reno got in the way. But I plan on getting going again: I've already put the word out...I'm strictly word of mouth. Mostly, the money I made supported my "cookie cutter & sanding sugar" habit. :)

nightowl, when you bake so many cookies, how do you store them until the day they are needed? i assume you are not doing it all the night before?

2many - the LOVE is a transfer plopped on top of flooding. It is a messy practice copy - I can do better. I followed a youtube video. I can look for the link if you can't find it. I found a LOVE jpg, sized it, and made a bunch on acetate. I got better after 10 or so.

beachem - I did Halloween a few weeks ago. We don't have little kids now and I was overwhelmed with S&T cookies last week. I will post what I made a few weeks ago though.

time -- ha - the week I did the S&Ts, I had off. That was crazy because I did so many different types and I was learning how to make stencils and stickers.... I will have time off for the wedding one's too as it is Thanksgiving week and this is only piping and filling.

I have a large island and kitchen table, so can do this assembly line style. I also have a dehydrator, which speeds up the icing drying process.

mich - I am new to this, Perhaps someone with more experience can help me here. My plan for the wedding is:

150 cookies -

• Day one is making dough, rolling our, baking and maybe initial decorating.
• Day 2 is decorating first or second round. I have a dehydrator to speed up frosting drying.
• Day 3 is finishing touches, maybe in the dehydrator to dry if needed, and bagging or putting in air tight containers.
• Day 4 is delivery.

Jivawa, I wish you were closer (I'm 30-45 min north in good traffic) -- I would help with the BS and see if I could offer any support for the funky seams -- even help you decorate cookies. You know, it is the things you do and make in a kitchen that make it warm and wonderful -- the heart of the home, not the stuff. My mom used to talk about the nicks and scars in furniture as cherished memories and character. Maybe you can come to see your kitchen as having character and give it love and warmth again. A Charlie Brown Christmas Kitchen.

Nightowl -- did you know there is a LOVE cookie cutter in that shape? I have one. I like it on the square too.

lascatx: Thanks for your kind words...100% agree and understand that it's all about what goes on IN a kitchen that matters. You can catch up on my countertop issue here -- scroll down to June 2017 for small claims drama. WARNING: graphic images of awful workmanship -- avert your glance! ;)

nightowl: Whenever I filled orders of any kind, I always left wiggle room for disasters (that's just me), and completed the cookies with a day or two to spare. For royal iced cookies, I bagged AND put into air tight containers, then popped them into the fridge. If cooler weather has hit your neck of the woods already, leaving the cookies at room temp should be fine. (A dehydrator...nice!)

Oh, wow, Javiwa! Won't divert this. DH is calling -- will try to get back to you elsewhere.

Javiwa. Wow. I was up to my ears with work this summer and missed your disaster. What a mess!

I have been playing with stencils again. Someone asked me if I could make a school logo. It’s a sloppy test, but not too bad for a first try

nightowl - that looks more than pretty good for a first try, wow!

I made these for someone's party today

smile smile smile smile. Your cookies give thrice: to the eyes, heart and belly. And to this random stranger out here smile-smile-smiling too. Next time I feel really depressed I am going to head over here just to gaze adoringly at your KAW photos. Thank you.

Aliris - I hope your moments of joy outnumber the dark ones. And that on the dark days, you remember good days will arrive again.

I work with Veterans and those who serve Veterans. I am giving these out tomorrow. Thank you to all who serve.

They are going to LOVE those!! So pretty.

nightowl - those are fabulous! I wish I could be a fly on the wall as you hand them out. I particularly admire your attention to detail and packaging.

oldbat - thanks. I have my mother with me right now - she has advanced dementia, but still gets around and can communicate appropriately,. I brought her in and we handed out the cookies. She had forgotten our adventure by the time I said good night, but I hope to remember it for a while.

And, just so you all don't think all we do around this place is work, take care of people with dementia, and make cookies... we made a simple salmon and swiss chard with an orange/cranberry/herb relish dinner and I figured out how to make iron on vinyl transfers for a niece tonight.

I should have made more space between the writing and the arrows...next time...

I also put heart arrows on the sleeves. The back was a bit of a twist. on her name -- Beatrice.

Does anyone have the royal icing recipe from The Cookie Countess? I was about to make it, but her page is closed until Friday. Help and thank you!

Here 'tis ... The Cookie Countess Royal Icing Recipe ...

Use a stand mixer with the whisk attachment to start:

6 Tbsp meringue power, 1 tsp cream of tartar, 1/2 c warm water ... whisk until doubled in size, 1 -2 minutes, do not overmix

1/4 - 1 tsp butter flavoring, 1 tsp vanilla, 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice ... mix until just incorporated

1 lb confectioners sugar ... mix until just incorporated

1 tsp light corn syrup ... mix until just incorporated

1 lb confectioners sugar ... mix until just incorporated

Do NOT overmix. Mix just enough to incorporate. This will yield a VERY stiff icing. If you feel it is too stiff even to start with, add small amounts of water. But it is best to start with very stiff icing for a few reasons. If you are going to store it at all beore using, the less water, the less it separates. When you color the icing, this adds liquid, so you may regret adding too much water to start. Add you color first, then your water to bring it to the consistency you want.

Kate - this is what I use and people just "ga ga" over it. As Jellyt posted - use a wisk to start and then change over to a batter attachment when you start to add the 10x. I use the butter flavoring...but it isn't a deal breaker if you don't have it..

Good luck!

Thank you! We got them done. They're not the best, especially since it was late. But, my daughter and I had fun and we learned from our mistakes. She's already thinking about Christmas cookie possibilities. I'll try to post a picture in the morning.

Yes. Practice practice. You can see where I started not long ago. This week I made 150 for a wedding! Here is one of them.

And here are cookies for my staff last week.

Here are a few of our cookies:

And here is the tray for the family:

Kate. Those are great! I LOL looking at my first attempts. But, practice practice. I just delivered 150 of these today.

Those are lovely, Nightowl. I'm sure the bride and groom and guests will love them!

Nightowl - I always have to click into this thread for updates. The wedding cookies are GREAT! (Bridegroom being the hardest, right?). Kate, your selection is lovely - the colors are terrific together.

Oldbat - yes, the groom was tricky because I wanted to match the suit color. I warned them about blue teeth !!!! I had fun making the name stencil. And, I learned how to make fondant and made the hearts.

I made these for a special little girl last week.

You are all exhausting me just looking at the work and time I know it takes to do so many cookies! They are divine... just divine.

nightowl, you have far surpassed what I thought you'd ever do when you started this thread... I thought you'd grow tired of this, but I'm so happy (and I know many others are too) that you have continued! BTW, your swiss chard with cranberry/orange/herb relish looks and sounds so tasty!

Just got a catalog yesterday with cookies half as nice as yours - $65 for 12. I thought of yours and how much prettier, refined they are.

I've given up a lot of things lately while preparing for our reno... decorating for the holidays, cooking for the holidays, and mostly making elaborate pastries for others... The latter is one I do not think I wish to come back to, even with a wonderful kitchen, as it's just too time-consuming and I'd rather spend that time on other things at this juncture in my life. Thanks for posting your beauties, as they fulfill my pastry-making desires quite thoroughly : - )

2Many - thank you. Yes - I had no idea a few months ago how much I would enjoy this. And yes, the relish was easy to make and quite delish.

I am now doing it as a side gig. Just here and there... Word got out and I am really enjoying making things for other people and getting reimbursed for it!

I love the different mouse cooky decorations. You could also put three snowflakes on ... one for each ear and one for the face area.

If anyone is inspired to do this for money ... look up "cottage food law" and the name of your state. It will tell you what the laws are. NM has some very sensible requirements and almost any kitchen can pass.

Home baked goods are in the lowest risk (for food borne illnesses) category.

Yes. I have started selling mine. Very fun.

LOVE the mouse cookies and all the rest as well!! Keep posting your progress! :)

Merry Christmouse....these are amazing. Love the snowflakes and lights

nightowl, you need to quit posting all those clever and unique cookies, you make me feel inadequate! Just kidding! But wow, I'm loving those MM cookies and the variety! Your creative juices are certainly flowing... gushing a torrent! Your skill level is extraordinary - so wonderful to see such precision work : - ) I'm happy to hear you are enjoying it so much, and trust me, word will spread fast and this may end up being far more than a side gig! I continue to be beyond impressed!

PS: tried to figure out which of you MM cookies was my favorite... and I couldn't... they all are!

FYI - I copied the MM designs from another's idea on a website. I wish I was clever but I am getting better at copying....

My kitchen is finally functional (even though it’s far from done!) in time for me to make our annual Santa cookies! I’m so happy I can finally participate in the KAW cookies thread!

These are made with a cookie mold instead of a cookie cutter, which gives it the dinension. Nothing super fancy about them, but I did make the poinsettias out of fondant, lustre dust, and gold dragées.

wow, Gennifer, those santas are so cute! how do you get the peachy skin color?

nightowl, I love your MM with the xmas lights!

Gennifer -- WOW WOW WOW.!!!!

The dough is already a little yellow from the egg yolks, so I just add a few drops of red food coloring.

They are a lot easier than frosting with royal icing. I have yet to master that. ;)

Gennifer B If I was the recipient of a couple of those I'd be utterly delighted and charmed! Nothing fancy? C'mon! Fluffy frosting, an element of elegance (the small fondant poinsettias dusted with luster dust), and a cheery smile accompanied by rosy, plump cheeks... I call that fancy, and I know that took you some serious time! I adore them!

Did you dust or slightly color the cheeks? And may I ask, what mold did you use?

Those remind me of cookies I made at the ripe age of 11. My parents headed out to Xmas shop while I stayed home with the flu. A budding cook even then, I found a gingerbread recipe and proceeded to make dimensional faces by placing balls of dough for cheeks, noses, and brow ridges on top of one layer, then covering it with a 2nd layer of gingerbread. I 'sculpted' more and colored it for hair, brows, beards, etc., so they'd resemble family members. They came out hard as rocks (good thing, no one would eat cookies with flu germs!) but were hysterical! We hung them on our Xmas tree every year for 5 years (no joke) until one year we unwrapped them and found them buggy. Thank you for the memories...

HO HO HO

OH, the blinged out belt!! LOVE!

2ManyDiversions: Good eye! Normally, we use watered down red food color to make his cheeks/nose rosy, but this year I used the same rose-gold luster dust on the cheeks/nose that I did on the poinsettia. I definitely prefer it, it's more subtle than the food color. You can find the cookie mold here: Jolly Santa.

Nightowl: Love those! I think my favorite decorated sugar cookies are the ones using a simple round or square shape, but made into something awesome. It seems like it takes so much more creativity than following an elaborately-shaped cookie cutter.

Let It Snow

I popped in just to see what you all were up to for Christmas cookies. Love the little forest scene with the nonpareil snow.

Oh my god, you guys "sleigh" me with all those beautiful professional cookies. I can't get my treats to look that good or consistent.

Love the Santa and nightowl's bling out belt.

Yes, I bet you actually CAN, beachem! Practice, practice, practice...promise. :) I finished my ~ 500 recently. Since it'd been five years since I'd iced cookies for the holidays, I swear it wasn't until about my 50th that I got the hang of it again. So much for muscle memory!

I'm baaaaackkkk. Anyone else making fun stuff?

Those are CUTE!

Thinking about your cookie explorations, nightowl. What are you up to now?