Sugar Cookie Madness

And oh yes, they have driven me mad! I've recently decided to professionalize my sugar cookie decorating by switching to royal icing. The icing I was using before was just a simple icing made with confectioners sugar, corn syrup, and vanilla. The stuff isn't very versitile though and it doesn't harden quite as much as royal icing (which is akin to rubber cement).

So- of course I jumped online for tips and I must tell you, the ultimate online teacher has got to be Sweetopia. Her tutorials and tips are incredibly helpful and she truly helped me get on my feet! Don't get me wrong, it was still hard to learn how to use royal icing, and I've nowhere near perfected the process, but her website got me started and I recommend you check it out if you have any interest in cookie decorating.

I've upgraded my cookie decorating tools, going from ziplock bags with varying sized cuts made in the corner, to Wilton's piping bags and tips. GOOD move. It is SO much easier to decorate with tips; I can't believe I did it any other way, but at the same time I'm pretty proud of what I was able to accomplish without them! I'm still learning how to control the flow and I don't have a Kopykake projector like the Sweetopia blogger so I need to perfect my free-hand skills or find a cheapie overhead projector somewhere- good luck.

I recently had an order for 45 baby-themed cookies for a shower and although they turned out really nice it was really stressful- one of those if-anything-can-go-wrong-it-will kind of orders, you know, I lose half a batch of cookies to the floor, underestimate the amount of confectioners sugar the order will take, realize I'm out of the correct sized cellophane bags and have to make an emergancy run to Target, and the cost to create them, not including the hours and hours they took, pretty much cancelled out how much I earned. Phew! It was tiring, but really good practice and I'm proud of the outcome. I'm not diving into any more cookie decorating anytime soon (I say that, yet I've got snowflake decorated gingerbread cookies on my Christmas cookie list, so, yeah...).

Freshly baked sugar cookies!

Icing! Icing! Icing!



Duckies and Elephants, Oh My!

Speaking of Christmas cookies- I've got about a week or so break and then it's back at it! I'm making 6 different types of cookies and shipping them all over the country to family and friends! Reports and photos to follow, I promise :)

Stay warm and have a happy Thanksgiving!

Follow-up to The Bully Premier

I had a blast at The Bully premier on Wednesday, October 20th at SPACE Gallery. The night started with a performance by local band South China (check them out if you have yet to hear them- they are just incredible) and then filmmakers Derek Kimball and Matt Konkel of Last House Productions premiered "The Bully" followed by a showing of their film "I Want You to Know." The turnout for the event was fantastic- I'd say at least 100 people showed up.

The night before the premier I sat in my kitchen for three hours painting sugar cookies with scenes based off the film's promotional poster.





It was exhausting, but they came out much better than I expected and my boyfriend was flitting around them all night with "ooooo's" and "ahhhh's." I packaged them up in cellophane bags tied with black ribbon.

There were 14 in all and I almost sold out :) In addition, I whipped up a batch of Ginger Cookies and Mud Puddle Cookies. I packaged them in 3's and sold quite a few, though it seemed like the Mud Puddle's were most popular. No wonder- they're covered in dark chocolate ganache! Everyone who bought from me was sure to come back multiple times to tell me how good the cookies were. This is the first "event" I've ever sold merchandise at and I'd say it was a big success! In all I raised $25 to support getting the film into the international film festival circuit.



I'd really love to do another event like this again- just have to keep my eyes open for opportunities. Since the event, I've had 2 orders placed and two more pending ones, so I've got a big baking week coming up!

The Bully Premiere

I hope everyone is planning to attend the premiere of local filmaker Derek Kimball's new film, "The Bully" on October 20th at SPACE Gallery. The teaser for the film looks incredible, and based on Kimball's previous work, this is sure to be an event you don't want to miss!

In addition to the film viewing, Kimball's film "I Want You To Know" will serve as a prelude to the premiere and two local bands are slated to perform. All of the proceeds from the night will benefit getting the film into the international film festival circuit, and so I'm happy to say that I'll be selling film-inspired cookies at the premiere with 60% of the proceeds going to the cause!

I'm planning to make large sugar cookies painted with various images from the film's promotional poster as well as some other flavors. I'd love to come up with a "Bully" cookie too!

I've been a bit bummed lately as sales have been slim to none. I've realized I need to find a way to advertise myself to more people but haven't come up with a plan yet. I had hoped that word of mouth through friends would work- but it's not really drumming up much business for me. We are approaching gifting/family dinner season though, so maybe something will pan out. If anyone has any other ideas for me, I'm all ears!

Keep yer chin up!

I was at the Portland Farmer's market a few weeks ago and noticed "keep yer chin up" carved into a bench. It was perfect; just what I needed to read- like when John Lennon attended Yoko's art exhibit for the first time and climbed a ladder to read "yes" written on the ceiling. A sparkle of positivity. A moment of encouragement.

Since then, I've had 5 orders come in for From Scratch and Sniff. Despite the fact that I can't seem to catch a break with these festivals and outdoor markets, I'm making some really great friends up here who are incredibly supportive and seem to really enjoy my baking. I also had my first out-of-state order which was pretty exciting (thanks Jane!) :)

Sometimes I'm down on myself for not having had the foresight to attend cooking school instead of going to college, but really I couldn't have known at that point that this is what I want to do. I think I've got enough raw talent and the smarts to figure out what I don't know to make it though. Only time will tell!

My most recent project was hand-painted sugar cookies. It was a tedious task, but, oh man did I love it! I created soccer themed cookies for one order and scuba themed cookies for another. I'm not as happy with the cookies done in color- perhaps it's the dye I used in the icing (Wilton Icing Colors) instead of plain old food coloring. I'll have to experiment. I just wasn't happy with how dull the colors came out. I was very happy with the ones done in black, however and I'm pretty sure I've got another order for soccer cookies coming up soon!



This weekend I have 2 orders to prepare: a lemony cheesecake with raspberry sauce and oreo truffles and a cookie plate. Sadly the festival I work for is starting this weekend and I'll be working 90 hour weeks for the next 6 weeks leaving little time for baking. I'm planning to have a cookie/dessert tasting party in late August, though. I'm going to bake samples of all of the products I currently offer and have people come (and encourage them to bring people!) and do taste testings and allow them to give me some feedback. I'm also going to have order forms available and discounts on orders placed right there. I'm hoping it will help to get my name out there a bit more. My biggest task at the moment is to create a damn logo so I can start cranking out some business cards!