Valentine Deliveries

At 5 p.m. today, I finished my final delivery. For the past three days, I've been working dawn to dark baking, decorating and packaging my cookie gifts. It's been a true "labor of love" this Valentine's Day week.

Marlee sold some bouquets at school and at the chiropractor's office to raise money for her chamber singer trip to New York. That really made for a great week of sales!!

I will take a break from baking for a few days. My next project will be wedding cookie packages. The ideas are limitless. For the time being, I'm keeping some of my ideas "under my hat". But once I get them off the drawing board, I'll post my progress.

Another future project is going to be cookie classes and/or parties where I teach my techniques and sell "cookie kits"! There have been requests this week for classes. I love sharing my knowledge and techniques.

God's Timing

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Valentine Cookies

It seems like an eternity since I made my first Valentine cookie the first week of February in 2008. Now I'm preparing to start another batch of cookie dough for this year's Valentine cookie gifts, and I can't believe it!

Wow! My techniques and recipes have changed since those first pre-mixed bottles of decorating icing I bought in the craft department at a local supercenter. Now my cabinets have a light dusting of confectioner's sugar. There's not a nook or cranny in my kitchen that doesn't have some flour in it. The scent of vanilla fills the air on a regular basis in my home, and I am so used to it, I don't smell it anymore.

That first attempt to make cookie "pops" was successful (as shown in my photo). There have been some extreme disasters, too. One time I was taking a cookie bouquet to a baby shower. By the time I arrived, every cookie had fallen off its stick. I sat in my car in the parking lot. Nothing I tried made it any better. Finally, I took the ribbons and tied the cookie (in its cello wrapper) to the stick. It was a unique setup, but it was a lesson none the less.

There have many dreams I have for my cookie business. My greatest desire is to design cookie gifts for weddings and brides. There is a niche I hope to fill with my unique designs and attention to detail. Maybe this time next year, I'll be writing about my guest appearance on the Food Network with Paula Deen. It could happen. :)