Monday, March 5, 2012

Alphabet Sugar Cookies

So it is that time again, where I have to bring snack to Jackson's class for a week! Now being the overachiever that I am, of course this can't be easy!

After some talking with Jackson and searching on Pinterest, I finally found my idea for Monday's snack!  Alphabet Cookies! Well the pin didn't have a link to a website, so I found another cookie pin and on it was a recipe for homemade Sugar Cookies (now let me just say the lady that does that blog has some of the most beautiful cookie creations!!! I can't wait until I have a chance to try out her tutorial for the Lego Man cookies)  Well, it was Sunday night and I was not set up for any crazy project. I had on hand what I needed to make just the sugar cookies with sprinkles, and of course my alphabet cookie cutters!

 Well, after making the cookies, we rolled out the dough and got straight to cutting letters!
 Here's where it got interesting.. I knew I wanted to bake the cookies with the sprinkles already on it but I wasn't sure how to go about it, so I started by lightly dipping the cookies in the sprinkles on a plate. It definetly got maximum sprinkles on the cookies but it was a pain because the cookie dough was so flimsy and the letters kept wanting to fall apart.
 Next, I tried sprinkling the sprinkles on top of the rolled out dough, rolling them into it with the rolling pin and then cutting the letters out. By the end, the sprinkles weren't just on top of the cookies they were in the middle too which was fun. Plus, I only had to move them once from the paper to the pan! I definitely liked this way the best!
Quick Tip: Her recipe calls for 7-8 mins at 400 degrees... Well I used tiny cutter and her cookies are bigger, so these only had to cook for about 5-6 min, while that may not seem like a big difference, that extra minute or 2 burnt a whole batch of cookies!
One More Tip: Rub a little bit of shortening to cover the cookie pan and sift a little flour on top and your cookies will come off easy every time!

Cooling racks are such a great baking tool!
mmmm... tastiest Alphabet ever!
I think my favorite part of all of this was how much Jackson got into it! He was so excited he kept telling me I need to make a the first letter of everyone in his class's name, but the problem was he could only remember 5 names and there is 17 kids in the class! So I did may best... :)  And tomorrow at snack time he will be so happy to eat and share the cookies he helped me make.

Creative block... well sort of...

So lately I've been juggling a lot! More so than I'm use to it feels like.  I've felt kind of stuck in a rut... unable to get my creative juices flowing. But as it turns out they just need a redirection.  I've been struggling with organization lately.  I feel like I have too much stuff and not enough space. And it wasn't always like this, I think it got worse after Christmas. Which I guess is understandable.  But now I'm needing to begin my spring cleaning. I am on a mission to declutter my house and get rid of stuff that I don't need or at least store it properly until I do need it. And also to rearrange a bit and add some more color. I was called out the other day because I haven't really ever took the time to "decorate". Yeah, I have a few curtains and some pretty candle pieces out but not really enough to make the place interesting and I feel like I need a little more interesting while looking around my house. So I started by getting a tablecloth for dinner table! Its amazing how a little bit of color can brighten a whole room. And I cleaned my oven (there's nothing quite like a clean oven!). Next, my goal is to rearrange and organize my kitchen cabinets for better functionality, and clean out anything that doesn't need to be there.

So while still juggling my 2 kids, my sister's baby that hangs out with me a couple days a week, Jackson's first year of school, my husband recovery from ACL surgery, all our activities, all the projects I so want to do and now decluttering my stuff, I've got a lot going on but it will be so worth it in the end.

But if it takes a while in between posts, this is why! I will be posting though.. because I'm in the middle of another pillowcase dress project which of course I will want to share once I've finished and I have more curtains to make, I'm still always experimenting with food. So I will be still be here as best I can be. But just know I'm working hard now so that I will have more time to get creative later... but whoever said spring cleaning can't be creative! :)