How to make rosy cheeks on a gnome cookie

Or any other cookie for that matter.  

There are actually a couple of ways to rosy up a cookie cheek.  

This is my favorite technique to use because it is subtle and melts right into the flesh (wow, that sounded kind of scary didn't it?).  

I could have used a darker shade of pink to make the cheeks stand out more, but I didn't.  I could claim that I was going soft and subtle, but gnome cookies in strong primary colors don't exactly say "shabby chic".  Oh well.  

On to how it is done!

After the flesh colored flood icing has been put into place on the face, you immediately add drops of pink flood icing where you want the cheeks to be.

One drop will do you - it will spread out and melt right into the face.  Of course, you want the face and cheeks to dry before you add any other details.

These little fellas are being boxed up and heading to Iowa in a care package for my nephew's wife Danielle.  The poor girl just had the most awful pregnancy (bed rest and placenta previa), a 38 hour labor, and emergency c-section, and now is battling a serious staff infection from the surgery.  Yikes.  

If any of you could send some prayers and sweet thoughts her way, I would really appreciate it!

I'm hoping some magic in a box will cheer her up!

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The healthy-ish cookie

Yes, you read that correctly.

The last couple of days I have been making thank you cookies.  One set is going to my husband's father and wife in Montana and I will post about that in a day or two.  Today's cookies are going to my future daughter in law's parents for hosting me and Isabelle on our engagement picture/wedding talk/leaf peeping weekend.

I make thank you cookies all the time, but these needed to be different.  Genevieve's parents eat an extraordinarily healthy diet.  I am talking vegetarian (not G's mom), organic, whole grain, and every other healthy term you can think of.  I am talking baking all the bread, gathering the eggs, tapping the maple syrup, and growing all the fruits and vegetables.  They are WAY beyond any garden variety (ha ha, get it?) healthy food advocates.  In fact, Genevieve's dad Dr. Lee Reich is a very respected  horticulturist/author of six books/consultant/speaker who has been in publications like Martha Stewart and Mother Earth News.  Genevieve's mom Christine is a chemistry teacher who is dedicated to eating well, biking, hiking, and all things healthy. 

Enter moi - Lisa the Cookie Baker, and her daughter Isabelle the Cookie Eater.  Have I set the scene for you?

 I did eat my first paw paw, American kiwi, and persimmon there, and they were fabulous. In fact, I am going to try to grow my own paw paw!

And so began my quest for a healthy-ish sugar cookie.  Oh my.  I settled on a recipe that called for whole grain flour, butter, egg, molasses, honey, and baking powder.  I added ginger, allspice, cinnamon, and nutmeg in an attempt to give it a gingerbread cookie like vibe without a milkbone dog biscuit taste.  The dough performed beautifully.  It was a dream to cut out and baked into a sturdy little cookie.  I decorated them only in outline (if there is a way to make my icing without sugar, well, I really don't want to know), so there wouldn't be an abundance of sugar on top. 

And I decided to go with a cute woodland theme for my mother nature cookies.  I needed elves, fairies, and mushrooms to help set the stage.

I really hope the gang in New Paltz is going to like them.  BIG THANK YOU Christine and Steven, and Lee and Deb!

Am I going to become the healthy cookie baker now?  Well........,

No.

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