I couldn’t resist making these Cotton Tail Cookies for Easter. They are so simple and whimsical. Easter lends itself well to pastel colors, so that’s exactly what I used for the icing. Seeing them all in a row makes me smile. I just know that these cuties are about to embark on a great adventure.
I had so much fun decorating Easter sugar cookies a few weeks ago that I decided that it was time to bring out the spring cookie cutters and make a few dozen edible flowers and butterflies. What better way to bring Mother Nature’s exuberance inside than to bake cookies in shapes inspired by her and decorate them to pay homage to her designs.
Easter brings a lot of joy when it finally arrives. I have fond memories of new clothes, new shoes, and hunting for Easter eggs in the backyard. As a child, I was always fascinated by the beautifully decorated sugar eggs that held a tiny scene inside, usually of bunnies and flowers. How did that bunny get in there? Yeah, Easter is not really about rabbits and decorated eggs, but they do symbolize the true meaning of the season...abundant life and new beginnings made possible by God’s unimaginable love.
Winter means putting on layers of clothing to go outside and taking off some of those layers when you are inside. Sweaters are so important that we have memorialized them by throwing “Ugly Christmas Sweater” parties this time of the year. Making cookies shaped like sweaters is my homage to this time-honored — dare I say “required” — article of winter clothing.
P.S.: Never shy away from the “puffy” look that results from wearing so many layers. Being warm trumps looking svelte!
Awhile ago, a friend went through a difficult time acting as a caregiver to a dying relative. She told me she felt like a fish out of water since she’d had no training at being a caregiver. I told her that her presence and her patience were the best gifts she could give and to leave the other “tasks” to the many professional people who were there to help her. When I got home, I made a batch of bumblebee cookies and sent them to her with a note of encouragement.
I started planning Easter cookies right after Valentine’s Day and couldn’t resist this small rabbit cookie cutter and his carrot-shaped companion. They simply had to be part of this year’s Easter Parade of Sugar-y Sweets. As real bunnies are known to do, the cookie version quickly procreated and became more than 100 decorated critters, each holding its own small DOT carrot. Before long, a bunch of little bunny-size carrots joined the parade. Happy Easter!
“April hath put a spirit of youth in everything.” William Shakespeare
Several years ago I visited a Butterfly Garden near Charlotte, SC. It was the most amazing experience. When you enter into the garden, which is an enclosed space, you can actually feel the silence. The butterflies glide through the air gracefully and if you’re very still they will land on you as if you’re a natural part of their world. There are no words to describe the peace and wonder that surrounded me as these magnificent and beautiful creatures went about their business.
Every winter, I’m obsessed with staying warm so adding sweaters to my cookies was a natural complement to the layers I was wearing myself when I made these Christmas goodies. Sweaters, hats, scarves...every cookie (even the alpaca) had to have at least one cozy item of apparel. The cats were the least successful but I refuse to take the blame for that. Like real cats, the cookie cats refused to cooperate.
“All creatures great and small...
the Lord God made them all.” Cecil F. Alexander
Based on his recipe for TKOs Chocolate Sandwich Cookies, I’m inclined to agree that Michelin Star chef Thomas Keller [see footnote] is a culinary genius. His creation is an elegant interpretation of an Oreo cookie and I’m here to tell you that it is beyond delicious. I love the Halloween-themed cookies that it inspired me to make. Forgive me in advance for this terrible play on words, but... “Bone” apetit!
“To make people happy, that is what cooking is all about.” Thomas Keller
Some of the people I love the most live too far away for frequent visits. My favorite way to connect with them — besides phone calls and Zoom sessions — is to bake for them. These sweet Deep Blue Sea cookies carried my hugs and kisses far and wide.
