A Mad Tea Party

Mad Tea Party at A Fanciful Twist

 Oh my, did I ever have fun making cookies for

I went into the garden and gathered some of my prettiest flowers,

gathered tea cookies,

and invited a rather persnickety guest.

She loved the chocolate sugar cookies,

and didn't even mind that I served hot chocolate instead of tea.

Flowers, mushrooms, and hearts make a plate of cookies quite pretty!

My new favorite cookie decorating technique is painting them with food coloring.

Magical colors 

with a whimsical touch

and gifts from the garden

make for an ENCHANTING

Please stop by A Fanciful Twist to see Vannessa's always delightful tea party and visit the other wonderful participants!

Come by The Enchanted Acorn Studio blog for more party fun and a giveaway.

Also sharing with
A Stroll Thru Life

A rather different apple pie

I made this pie in honor of a man who LOVED apple pie.

*HARLAND *

To give this pie a bit of a twist, I used brown sugar instead of white, added chopped dates, and some butterscotch chips.  

Making the apple tree on the top was as easy as can be.  First I brushed the top of the pie with cream (I do this with every pie I make).  With the left over dough scraps, I used a sharp knife to cut out the shape of a tree and gently lifted it onto the top crust.  The cream acts as an adhesive.  Next I used a mini cookie cutter to cut out the apples, and then placed them on the tree.  Using gel food coloring, I painted the colors on, and added the leaves directly onto the crust.  A sprinkling of sugar, and it was ready for the oven.

It was a sweet way to reminisce with my mother in law about a man who is no doubt dancing and livening things up in 

HEAVEN.

Friendship cookies

How do you define a friend?

For some very special friends who have been wonderful to my son Alec.

Many thanks to our dear friends Ken, Des, and Mitchell.

We love you!

Baltimore Orioles cookies

I had a batch of thank you cookies to make.  

SERIOUS thank you cookies.  

An unbelievably nice couple are letting my son Ted stay with them in Tacoma Park, MD, while he get his ducks in a row with finding an apartment and a job in the district.  What puts this in the amazing category is the fact that they are not old family friends.  Ted was the RA for their son at Oberlin College his freshman year, and now he is living in their basement.  

AMAZING KINDNESS!

When I asked Ted what hobbies or interests they had for some cookie inspiration, one of the ideas was baseball, and specifically

the Baltimore Orioles.

What sealed the deal for me was that I just saw my first ever oriole bird.  Even though I have lived in the mid Atlantic since the early 90's, they are quite rare to see.  I haven't been able to catch him with my camera, but I have seen him several times flying from the woods behind my house into our maple tree and then across the street.  

Let me just tell you, they are GORGEOUS birds!

The bird cookie was a given, but then it was time for some baseballs,

jerseys,

a logo,

and of course a huge 

to some wonderfully generous people!

Obies are the best!