Easy Puffle Cookies

Posted on May 19, 2013 by melissajoycookies

When I first asked my youngest, who turned 8 years old a few weeks ago, what kind of cookies he wanted to take for his class treat, he said, “Do I have to take cookies?”.

Sheesh.

With out pushing, I swear, he changed his mind and chose a design that was easy to do and super cute!

These are Puffles. If you are not familar with them, they are from an online game the kids play called Club Penguin. Not sure what the purpose of the game is, but these little guys are like your pet. All I know is, they are easy to turn into a cookie and I thought I’d show you how I did ‘em in case you wanted to try! This method is for the KopyKake deprived, like me.

First I found a Puffle image online and did a few sizing adjustments before printing it, to get it to fit on the circle cookies I baked. I traced that image onto card stock to make a template, cutting out the eyes. I suppose that I could have just printed it onto card stock right away….duh. Blog and learn!

Taking the template and using a food writer, I traced the image on the cookie.

My yellow marker decided to stop working so had to switch to black, which didn’t seem to make a difference in the end. Now they were ready for the outline!

Following the marker lines, I piped black royal icing, using a #2 tip. Don’t forget to add the little Alfalfa sprout of fur at the top!

About the time it took me to mix up the four colors to flood them with, the black pipping was dry and ready.

These were the colors of choice by the birthday boy. Of course I am all about the “Melissa Joy blue”, as we call it around here.

Once they are flooded, they are ready for the white of the eyes. My sister was visiting us from Maine the day I started these, so I think I let them dry over night like this. All cookie production needed to stop for hugs and laughter and wine.

Priorities, you know.

The next day I finished them off with eye details and their little smile. So sweet and so easy!

Twenty seven Puffles for the class, DONE! It was requested that I make one special Rainbow Puffle, which the boy of honor ended up saving here at home. Saving, as in not wanting to eat it because he liked it so much. And this was the kid that didn’t want me to make cookies for him in the first place.

Happy birthday E!

For Mommies

Posted on May 11, 2013 by melissajoycookies

We just spent a wonderful vacation with my parents and siblings. It was a week filled with too much food, a bit of drink, dance parties, go karts, dice games, old stories and lots of laughter. Needless to say, we are happily exhausted. A great way to spend time together, especially for our Mom, right before the Mother’s Day weekend.

My mom has always organized the trip up north to Door County, WI, planning on an excursion at least a couple times a year. Even though we are all a bit farther apart, we still manage to make it happen! We wouldn’t miss the opportunity to go to our favorite spots, right Mom?

Now that we are back to reality, I’ve been working on things cookie related again. While editing these pictures I came across this Mother’s Day quote by Tenneva Jordan, which reminds me of my Mother-In-Law.

“A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie.”

There is a new Mama in our neighborhood, as well as Mama-To-Be that I made these cookies for recently. Aren’t all babies sweet peas, and can they continue to be when they start growing up? I still occasionally call my 8 year old this nickname.

Mãe, Majka, Ema, Mami, Majka, Màna, Amma, Madre, Máti, Mãe, Mutter, Ma, Nana, Moer, Äiti, Motina, Mam, Marmee.

Whether near, far, or in spirit, there is always someone to call Mother. And no matter how you are a Mom to someone, I wish you a most wonderful Mother’s Day.

Now I gotta go and get my kids to bed.

The First of May

Posted on April 30, 2013 by melissajoycookies

I remember making small May Day baskets one year in elementary school…maybe it was the first grade? Little containers filled with flowers, brought home to adorn my neighbor’s door, secretly of course. The anxiety over not getting caught as I slipped the ribbon over the door knob of my unsuspecting recipient was quite exhilarating. At least it is when your six.

I also placed one on our front door for my mom. I think I told her to stay inside so I could execute my plan. She’d never guess what I was up to, since she obviously didn’t see me carry home cones of flowers. Carefully putting my creation on the knob, I rang the bell, hid nearby and watched. I’m sure her surprise to my lovely gift was genuine when she open the door in delight.

I remember feeling so excited and proud to have pulled off my mission with success! It was my first taste of the joy that comes with giving, and being anonymous made it even more sweet. May Day baskets are like an old school rendition of today’s “Random Act of Kindness” gestures, isn’t it?

Giving May Day baskets on May 1st is such a delightful tradition that has fallen by the wayside, here in the States anyway. I think it should definitely make a comeback.

“The world’s favorite season is the spring.
All things seem possible in May.”
- Edwin Way Teale

Busy as a Melissa Joy Bee

Posted on April 27, 2013 by melissajoycookies

You’d never guess it was a month with no major cookie holiday. It seemed as though I was in the kitchen non-stop this April, and now looking back on the photos, perhaps I had been. Holy cookies Batman! Here’s a sampling…

Dreaming of summer for a silent auction at my boy’s school.

My Grandparent’s Anniversary, which I wrote about here. Love you Nana & Gramps!

Community Center volunteer appreciation. Once I had them done I realized if you don’t read the “CRC” at the top of the pin first, it looks as though I wrote it wrong. Mental note to plan a little better next time.

Birthday cookies galore!

Thanks for the lego tutorial Sugarbelle!

Then my favorites from last post. Worth sharing again, if that’s okay. I recently wrote on my Facebook page that it was with these cookies I realized I am sometimes more artist than baker. It was the first project I created that I wanted to keep and save for I don’t know what. The mantel? So silly. I set them free and I believe they were truly enjoyed by the recipients.

A few for the upcoming National RN Recognition Day.

Smiles going to a Mommy.

For a favorite “customer”, a few special lollie cookies for her Sugar Rush themed birthday party. They were also the perfect design for LilaLoa’s Monthly cookie challenge, which was to find another use for a diamond ring cookie cutter. I snapped a few pics on how I swirled them, just for kicks.

Yup, I bake the stick right onto the cookie…

These should sugar up those 8 year old party girls real good!

And was that it? Not quite. I’ve got one more cookie design tucked away, but it’s for May. And I love love love they way they turned out! I’ll keep you posted.

How does your garden grow?

Posted on April 21, 2013 by melissajoycookies

These may be my most favorite cookies I’ve ever done. For this week anyway. They were definitely a labor of love.

Let me tell you something, decorating sugar cookies is not so easy peasy. It takes a long time, a steady hand, and a bunch of patience. But I love it. It’s been borderline obsession lately. Hey, when a girl’s got to create, she’s got to create!

And create I did. I didn’t think these particular cookies were going to take a long time because they seemed so simple, but it ended up being a three day process. Lots of different colors to mix {my least favorite part about decorating}, deciding on which fruits, veggies and flowers were possible, and then there was the stamping.

I bought a set of tiny letter stamps for a dollar a while back that were just waiting to be used on a cookie . They found their purpose on my seed packets. I used a food writer to “ink” each letter and slowly stamped away. It was trial and error and there may have been a little cursing, but like I said, a labor of love.

What drives me crazy, is when I can’t find the time to finish a cookie project. Maybe that’s another reason it took me 3 days to complete them. It’s the constant interruptions of everyday stuff. You know, like dentist appointments, laundry, and making dinner. Bah! Dinner? Let’s just eat cookies!

On cookie days, I will admit, I have been a wee bit late in picking up the kids from school. I usually tell myself, “I’ll frost just one more…”. Usually the wrong decision. I find myself flying out the door, no doubt with frosting in my hair and still wearing my apron. Maybe if I bring the boy’s teachers cookies, they will forgive my tardiness.

Another time consuming process is the photography. I love staging them, and yes, there is staging. Deciding on scrapbook paper backgrounds, table cloths, or props takes a bit of work. I went a little nuts snapping these and had to sift through 133 pictures. Let your OCD shine, Melissa Joy!

Maybe it’s the not-so-pleasant Wisconsin spring we’ve been having {think winter} that brought on the need for some gardening around here. Even if it’s in cookie form.

At any rate, all the work that went into these was totally worth it. I love to see them all finished and pretty. It’s a great sense of accomplishment, that’s for sure.

I never know once I start making a new cookie if it will turn out as I envisioned. I mull a lot, hold my breath, and go for it. In the end, I really only have to satisfy myself. And if you like them too, well, that’s just a bonus.

Decades of Love

Posted on April 12, 2013 by melissajoycookies

Some people save their bouquets or monogramed napkins from their wedding day, but my Grandpa ate an olive on his big day and kept the pit. After all these years, he’s still got it. These are my grandparents on their wedding day in April, 1940. They were next door neighbors as youngsters and just last week, we gathered to celebrate their 73 years together.

Say what?! That’s right. Seventy three. We wait much longer now before we wed, so I’m sure these milestones will be even more rare than they already are. If my husband and I get to 73 years of wedded bliss, we will be 99 and 101 years old. Only 57 more years to go, my Dearest…

My Gramps was a semi driver for over 30 years, being on the road for weeks at a time, while Nana was home taking care of the family. Maybe it’s true that absence makes the heart grow fonder?

Oh, they have done (and still do) their fair share of bickering. One would wonder how or why they didn’t throw in the towel. But they didn’t. Through all the disagreements, they must have found common ground.

One constant they have is their love of big band music and dancing. Nana and Gramps would travel every year to attend a garden party hosted by one of of their favorites, Jack Morgan and the Russ Morgan Orchestra. It was a long weekend of fabulous music, old friends, and of course, lots of dancing.

When I was a kid, Sunday mornings at their house, post sleepovers, always had the radio tuned to the old standards. Eating cereal out of Nana’s small, green, depression glass bowl and listening to Glenn Miller in their tiny kitchen will continue to be a cherished memory for me.

I made a ton of cookies for my grandparents, and the residents in their building to celebrate their anniversary, and a shout out goes to my Sissy for the ballroom dance idea. I was so excited to share with them what I had created. Each one was baked and frosted while reminiscing of times spent together.

Happy 73rd Anniversary, Nana & Grandpa!

I love you as hard as the sidewalk.

Kindness. Pass it on.

Posted on April 8, 2013 by melissajoycookies

Making cookies for a cause is one of the joys of being a baker. I can loan out my talents to help others bring awareness, raise money, or simply be supportive to a plight. Even if it’s someone I have never met.

I was contacted not too long ago from a woman who had recently lost her 8.5 year old son, Riley, to a brain tumor. Again, another sweet child taken by cancer. She was planning a fundraiser to collect video games for the children’s hospital oncology unit where he had been treated. The idea for the event originally came from Riley, who at the time, was excited to get his friends involved in the project as well.

Unfortunately Riley was never able see his plan through, but his mom is making sure it happens. As a way to pass on the kindness her son showed for others throughout his life, she is organizing an UNO tournament in her area to get those donations. She asked if I would make cookies with that theme in mind. And I did.

These stories are becoming far to common. The smallest people, wise beyond their young years, reminding us what is important as they battle their diseases. Their message is simple. Be kind to each other. Give freely. Help out. Love one another.

I just wish we wouldn’t have to be reminded in such heartbreaking ways.

pretty cookies with organic ingredients, and the stories behind them

Easy Puffle Cookies

For Mommies

The First of May

Busy as a Melissa Joy Bee

How does your garden grow?

Decades of Love

Kindness. Pass it on.

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pretty cookies with organic ingredients, and the stories behind them

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