Well the Cookie Nip Summer Tour is complete and I while I could regale you with details of the celebrities we encountered, the amazing cakes we saw at the competitions, the new retailers and brand ambassadors we signed-on, or the friends we met who love our product, I know all you really want are the details of how Marc, Michelle and the Cookie Wagon veered off a carefully crafted lesson plan….I mean itinerary….and turned this...

If you have sent me a message in the past few weeks that I seemingly ignored, please forgive me. It is not that I ignored anyone, just that I can't read. And while I am at it, if you see a misspelled word or typo in this blog post you need to go on and forgive that too since I am typing while vision impaired and I can't read the computer screen. I am writing mostly to catch up with people who think I up and dropped off the pla...

Hello friends,

I love sharing recipes with you. It is my goal to send one every week but let's be honest; sometimes life or work prohibits it. This blog tells me exactly how many people subscribe to the blog, how many recipe emails are sent and how many were opened. I don't want to fill your inbox with enough emails to make you cuss. However, about ten times a week, I will get a request to resend a recipe that someone remembers...

What happens at Cookie Con comes right on back home with you! After thirty years in education, I have enjoyed my share of conferences and somebody else's share, too. Of course teachers go to exotic places like universities and stay in broken down dorms that students refuse to live in and have all manner of riveting break out sessions on Differentiated Instruction, Data Disaggregation, and Positive Behavior Management. Cookie C...

No matter how carefully we roll and cut and bake, at some point we will get a cookie that is a little rough around the edges. Sometimes it is caused by a cookie cutter, sometimes by spreading when our butter is a bit too soft and sometimes there is no reason why our cookies bake up a little rough around the edges. Not to worry. You can always fix it. 

I find that whenever I use  a plastic or 3D printed cutter, I get a little ro...

Those of us who bake cookies probably have a good mixer with a sturdy engine. Many of us have KitchenAid mixers. The KitchenAid comes in three different models, the Classic (small) the Artisan (medium) and the Professional (macDaddy).There is something to love about all three and which one you want is probably attributed to how much time you spend baking. I have owned all three so people often ask me which one I like best. My...

So last weekend I was at Cookie School with a guest from Pittsburg. She was very friendly but we all could immediately tell by her accent that she wasn't from around here. She told us that she wanted to be able to make cookies for "The Cookie Table" at wedding receptions. I was immediately suspicious because I have been to a whole lot of weddings and I have never seen a table dedicated to cookies. I explained the significance...

I have told you before that Pinterest is not your friend. Styled food photo shoots are so trendy and popular because we love to look at them. Enough caramel dripping down the side of the cup or one more pearl of condensation on the iced beverage or the way the light dances on the ripe, heart shaped strawberry can sometimes make us stop what we are doing and plan a whole party around that vision. Bakers especially fight the Pin...

When I started on this journey of concocting a signature flavor, I had a certain blend in mind. I will admit it is just a little bit exciting to have every flavor you like sitting on your counter and adding a drop of this and a drop of that and then baking with it until you have a winner. One thing I thought I knew was that creamy flavors (like butter and caramel) do not compliment citrus-y (lemon or orange) or strong flavors...

One of the most maddening challenges we face as cookie bakers is color bleed. I have tried to completely dry colors before introducing more colors,  outsmart the cookie by getting the colors as close as possible without touching, and even going back over the design with more frosting trying to hide the fact that colors are territorial and they tend to bleed. Most people look at that adorable cookie and are so impressed by the...