Cake is a birthday must-have, right? It has been at our house, but several family members have chosen other desserts, too, like chocolate-pineapple pie or a huge chocolate chip cookie. So although cake may not be the only dessert we have for birthdays, it is still one of the most popular.
These Brown Butter Cookies were a gift to a good friend who was getting married after being widowed for several years. I’ve given her many cookies over the years, but this time I wanted something for her to share with her new beau. The heart shape was perfect and covering them with white chocolate for the bride and dark chocolate for the groom seemed like the perfect match for this sweet couple.
Although 90% of the cookies I decorate are full of color, deep down I love the monochromatic look. I find white-on-white to be the most elegant look a cookie can have. So making cookies as party favors for weddings and bridal showers is one of my favorite projects. When the color palette is limited to white, texture and patterns become the focal point. These heart cookies embossed with floral patterns are a joy to bake and decorate. And, to my mind, white piping on white frosting is the height of grace and elegance.
“Sugar and spice and everything nice...” Popular 19th Century Nursery Rhyme
The baby shower cookies marked the arrival of a beautiful baby girl to our family. The bibs, onesies, baby carriages, rocking horses, bottles, pacifiers, baby rattles, and rounds were a sweet reminder that wonderful things come in small packages. Her two big brothers were fascinated with the new addition and excited to have cookies to mark the occasion.
When Marie celebrated her 90th birthday, she had to have something elegant and delicious to mark the occasion. Her favorite color is mauve, so the cookies, of course, had to be mauve! And Marie is a truly great lady, so they also had to be elegant. Each of these wedge-shaped cookies says “You are special.” I am so fortunate to have this wonderful and wise woman as a friend. Her tastes leans toward something less sweet so the cookie itself is my buttery melt-in-your-mouth shortbread recipe. This is Marie’s favorite cookie.
Although decorated cutout cookies are my first love, there are other cookies that also lay claim to my culinary affections. Flavor and texture are key and sometimes what I’m really longing for is a delicious, crispy-on-the-outside, chewy-on-the-inside chocolate chip cookie. I almost always have balls of chocolate chip cookie dough in the freezer, ready to pop in the oven at a moment’s notice. No decorating time is necessary to produce these heavenly bites.
My friendship with Nick has has been a pleasant surprise. Our short conversations are sometimes profound and sometimes light and humorous. I’ve come to treasure this remarkable man.
Our parish offers Baptism classes for parents who are having their babies baptized into the Church. The class runs about two hours and discusses the reasons for receiving baptism and the steps involved in the ceremony. About half way through the class, it’s time for a break...with cookies & coffee. You knew that’s where I was heading, didn’t you?
Because I really loved my job, I never thought I’d retire. But the day came and I decided to “follow my bliss” — as soon as I decided what that was. I bid a fond farewell to colleagues who had become friends and the next day, I embraced a life of leisure ... NOT! I’m actually busier now than I ever was and I’ve heard the same thing from other people who’ve retired.
White cookies aren’t only for weddings or christenings, but these certainly could be for both...and for other occasions, too. I love the wedge shape and how they fit nicely into a circle when you arrange them that way, but each wedge can certainly stand on its own. That’s kind of how marriage is, isn’t it? Each person can be on their own, but together they make a perfect whole.
