sugar & meringue

Party Hosting Tips Circa 1967

2010-01-31T11:01:00.003-06:00

Please read the full post at my new blog.

I've got a new place!

2010-01-24T13:45:00.007-06:00

Blogger's been a fine blog host, but it's time for some changes so…

I've packed up my rolling pin and moved!

Come check out my new place…

sugarandmeringue.squarespace.com

Can't wait to have to you over. I'll have treats waiting!

Bake at Work!

2010-01-17T11:34:00.003-06:00

I was inspired by this Lifehacker article to make some waffle cookies. (I've been reading Lifehacker a lot lately!)

The title of the article is Make Cookies in 90 Seconds with Your Waffle Iron.

I tried both of the recipes that the article linked to and while the oatmeal chocolate chip ones (top) seem a bit more novel, the tried and true chocolate waffle cookies tasted better to me.

Anyway… I thought… depending on the type of place you work… it might be fun to take your waffle iron to work and serve these to your co-workers fresh baked. I think maybe I'll try it this week. You gotta do something to make work more fun, right?

Etsy's Front Page - WooHoo!

2010-01-10T07:13:00.005-06:00

One of my vintage finds, a bottle of Farley's On Tops sugar was featured on Etsy's front page treasury!

Thank you to Ashli from The Vintage Patisserie who created the treasury!

Be Warm

2010-01-09T11:12:00.004-06:00

It's -3º here with a windchill of -13º.

Sounds like most of the US is in the same boat.

It's a good day to stay home, drink coffee and bake.

In a search for warm drinks, I found a link from Lifehacker to a Free Starbucks Coffee Recipe E-book. Think I'll try their recipe for hot chocolate ('cause that's the only drink recipe that I have all the stuff for) and the Streusal Crumb Coffee Cake.

Have a warm and cozy weekend!

The middle or the edge?

2010-01-03T06:23:00.006-06:00

"Happiness is like a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you." –Nathaniel Hawthorne

Happy New Year!

My word for this year is SIMPLIFY. I'm getting organized, getting focused, getting rid of all the excess crap and then…

I'm taking it easy and going with the flow.

So… simple brownies with stenciled powdered sugar seemed like the perfect New Year's treat to go along with my simple, no-nonsense attitude.

Do you fight over the middle brownies or the edge brownies at your house? I guess we're lucky. My daugher prefers middles but the rest of us don't really care. If you are a household of "edge lovers"… check out this All Edges Brownie Pan from Think Geek.
Isn't that fun?!

Star Wars Lego Cookies!

2009-12-27T08:26:00.005-06:00

December 23 - Our little Padawan celebrated his 9th birthday. With a winter storm raging outside we felt as though we were on the planet Hoth. Conditions forced distant and elderly family members to remain at their base camps. Only Master Grandpa, Master Grandma and a youngling from a neighboring camp were able to attend. Spirits were high though as warm soup (in bread bowls!) and cookies and cupcakes were enjoyed by all.

Christmas Eve - The winter storm continued to rage and our datapads warned of an impending blizzard with white-out conditions. Our mission, to carry out Christmas Eve traditions with Master Grandma and Master Grandpa, seemed doomed. However, the Force was with us and a break in the weather provided the opportunity we needed to travel the short distance to their base camp. While there, we were able to locate the pickle ornament hidden in the tree and enjoy chili and cinnamon rolls. With our mission completed we returned home safely.

Christmas Day - Conditions forced us to alter our original plans. We would not be able to complete a journey to visit family on a distant planet. However, Master Grandma, Master Grandpa, Master Great-Grandma and Master Great-Grandpa were able to join us for our gift exchange and dinner. We felt very lucky to be able to enjoy the day with them and glad that they made it back to their own homes safely before we had total white-out conditions later that afternoon.

I hope all of you had a safe and merry Christmas. May the Force be with you!

Faithful Friends Who Are Dear to Us… Dog Treats

2009-12-20T19:35:00.006-06:00

We were looking through the dog food aisle for some special treats to put in our dogs' stocking and to give to my sister in-laws' dogs, who always join our Christmas celebration. That's when my daughter said "Why don't we just make them some treats?"

Why didn't I think of that? We're a DIY family after all!

So… that's what we did yesterday. Baked and packaged cookies to share with all our canine companions. I have to say… making dog cookies was almost more fun than making people cookies!

Here's the recipe I used:

2 c. whole wheat flour
1/4 c. cornmeal
1/2 c. unbleached flour
1 tsp. salt
2 T. oil
1/4 c. molasses
2 eggs
1/4 c. milk

Mix all ingredients. Roll out on floured surface, to 1/2" thickness. Cut with desired cookie cutter. Bake on cookie sheets at 350º for 30 minutes, until lightly toasted.

We decorated these with a little white chocolate.

How to Decorate Christmas Cookies

2009-12-13T19:12:00.007-06:00

Photos not adjusted, text not proofread, layout a little wonky…

But it's done!

I've been meaning to post a "How to decorate cookies" tutorial forever and here it is finally, imperfect though it may be. So let me know if it doesn't make any sense. I'm happy to answer questions if I can!

Download the PDF here!

Last weekend my best friend (who lives 2 1/2 hours away) came for my birthday. We went to our favorite junk shop and bought tons of vintage Christmas decor.

This weekend my cousin (who lives all the way in Spain!) came over for a lesson on how to decorate cookies. Here's the angels she decorated. With a little practice I think she'll be a great cookie decorator!

Next weekend is the first of 3 family Christmas gatherings for us.

Christmas parties, programs & shopping fill the time in between.

So… like everyone else I know… I barely have time to think. But it's a very happy state of stress. I really love the flurry of activity this time of year and I feel very lucky to get to spend some time with family and friends.

So… in case I don't have time to write again before Christmas…

HAVE YOURSELF A MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS!

It's Beginning to Look Alot LIke Christmas!

2009-11-29T20:56:00.001-06:00

• Cookies Baked √

• House Decorated √

• Presents bought (almost done!)

Before this weekend I was feeling pretty stressed about getting everything done. Since I work full time most of my holiday preparations have to be done on weekends and this weekend was the last free weekend I had to get the bulk of my shopping, decorating and baking done. Actually… my mom came and helped with the cookie decorating last weekend so that was taken care of. (Thanks Mom!) But I still had lots of things to do. Thankfully… after a nice Thanksgiving with my in-laws, I was able to finish my decorating and get most of my gifts bought. PHEW! Feels good to start the work week with some big things checked off the old "to-do" list.

AND…

I GOT A NEW KITCHENAID MIXER!!!!! Happy Birthday and Merry Christmas to me! My 18 year old Oster mixer was falling apart. I literally had to hold it together to use it. So… I braved the early morning Black Friday crowds and got myself a new Kitchenaid! Totally worth getting up at 3:00 am!

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and that your Holiday preparations are coming along!

Happy "Cyber Monday"!

Makin' a List, Checkin' it Twice

2009-11-12T06:33:00.014-06:00

Download the Holiday Baking Planner

Handmade'ns is over. Thank goodness! Now I can focus on baking and blogging and start getting ready for Christmas.

Getting everything done for Christmas requires extreme organizational skills and that's not something I come by naturally. For me… organization takes a huge effort and I don't like it. But… if I can make something pretty to keep track of everything… it helps a little. So I designed these pages to go in a 3-ring binder. You can use them too if you want, just download the PDFs here.

Making lists of everything I need to bake for helps me figure out what kind of supplies I need to order too. Look at all these fun things I found in my favorite shops. Makes me so anxious to get started!

Next weekend… the baking begins! Time to blast the cheesy Christmas Carols, put on comfy slippers, pull out the rolling pin and cookie cutters and let the flour fly!

Blue Sugar and Deer Toppers from Layer Cake Shop, Mushroom Picks & Red Spotty Baking Cases from Bake it Pretty, Pink and Gold Cupcake Liners from A Cupcakery, Metallic Gold Edible Glitter from Sugarcraft

Urban Floral Brushes by Rawox, Dyspepsia from Larabie Fonts, League Gothic from the Leauge of Moveable Type

A dimension of Imagination…

2009-10-26T16:18:00.007-05:00

You're traveling through another dimension – a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination.

I've been off in another dimension lately. A dimension of paper clay and paint. A dimension of wool roving and felt. A dimension of fabric and thread. I've crossed over into… the Crafty Zone. Every November I take part in a craft boutique with some friends. So… October is always devoted to crafting. I make little doodads with paper clay and a few needle felted critters.

I've let a lot of things slip while I've been busy with my crafting. I forgot to tell you that I had the honor of writing a guest post for Connie at The Constant Baker. Connie is a pastry chef in San Jose. Her blog is full of great ideas and information. It was very flattering to be asked to contribute to it!

I'll be spending my Halloween helping to "Save the World". The "World" is an old theater in our town that was built in 1927. The World Theatre Foundation is trying to raise money to restore the theater and turn it into a non-profit movie house run by volunteers. They're having "Candlelight Ghost Tours" for Halloween. The speech team is helping with the event and since I'm a speech mom… I guess I'll be helping too. I think it'll be pretty fun!

Happy Halloween!

Bliss

2009-09-29T06:42:00.011-05:00

BLISS…

The Nebraska Junk Jaunt

A weekend with my best friend

Beautiful Fall weather

A scenic drive through the country

A bakery getting rid of old cake and cupcake toppers!

Enough mid-century modern furniture to refurnish my living room for only $30!

BLISS…

A mention in the book Blogging for Bliss as one of Happy's (Happy Loves Rosie) favorite blogs!

perfect happiness

thank you!

Birthdays & Bursting Bubbles

2009-09-12T17:37:00.000-05:00

Both of my girls celebrated their birthdays last week. The poor kids are my guinea pigs… if I want to try a new cupcake design or flavor I usually end up making them for one of their gatherings. The cupcakes in the photo were for a small family shin-dig.

Truth is… my girls aren't all that crazy about decorated cake. (perhaps they've O.D.ed?) They prefer a cheesecake or a plain angel food cake. I'll make the angel food cake for them today.

Other birthday traditions include choosing a special dinner. My oldest daughter chooses something different every year. My youngest always requests fried chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy. mmmmmmmmmm.

It's also time for peaches from the farmers market and vegetables from the garden. I'm not crazy about peaches but my family eats them and I love the way they look in my old bowls. Mom's canning tomatoes today so as soon as I get this post published, I'll head out to the garden to pick some for her.

In other news…

Have you read this article from Slate?

The Cupcake Bubble

Cupcakes are now showing every sign of going through the bubble cycle. The first-movers get buzz and revenues, gain critical mass, and start to expand rapidly. This inspires less-well-capitalized second- and third-movers, who believe there's room enough for them, and encourages established firms in a related industry to jump in.

Cupcakes are having their moment, no question, and many could make sweet profits. But remember what always happens after a sugar rush: a crash.

Does this spell doom and gloom for those of us who want to start a baking business? I don't know… here's my take on the article…

Someone started a unique, cool cupcake shop. It was successful. Others copied the idea, added their own twist and were also successful. Now everybody's jumping on the bandwagon…

And while cupcakes doubtless offer good margins, a baker has to sell a lot of them to make real money. That will surely tempt many entrepreneurs to start mass production. But the minute you start baking at a central location and trucking to the goods over long distances, the value proposition inherent in the product can grow stale, as Krispy Kreme found.

I'm not planning to jump on the cupcake bandwagon. I like making pretty little cupcakes, but my plan for Sugar and Meringue has never been all about starting a cupcake bakery. My focus is on creating artful cookies and cupcakes that can be presented as gifts. I've always thought my business model was a little more like that of a florist than a bakery. I imagine people buying my cookies as gifts for some of the same occasions they might buy flowers and using my cookies as favors and table decor (kinda like flowers).

Anyway… that's my 2¢. I think there's a place for our baking businesses as long as we offer something unique and there's some sincerity behind what we do. We'll see what happens!

Ergonomic Secrets for Cookie Decorating Success!

2009-08-30T19:20:00.000-05:00

How do ya like that title? I just read a tutorial on "Writing Blog Post Titles that Grab Attention" at buildinternet.com. So that's my attempt at a title that "creates curiosity".

So what's my "Ergonomic Secret for Cookie Decorating Success"?

Get a taller chair.

It's helped me anyway. I'm short, about 5'3". My kitchen table chairs just aren't quite tall enough. I end up sitting on my feet to get that extra height, then my feet fall asleep… it just doesn't work. So on my last junking trip I found a vintage Cosco stool. I sat on it while decorating these house cookies. It seems a bit more comfortable…

Whatever… just get comfortable when you're decorating. I just wanted to use that oh-so-clever title and tell you about my new chair.

Sassy Pink Boutique

2009-08-27T06:03:00.000-05:00

I'd like to introduce you to my friend Amy.

Amy is the owner of Sassy Pink Boutique and Amy Sheppard Web Studio, a blogger and part of Mammalicious Finds. She's also a very busy wife and mommy. WOW! I'm worn out just listing all the things she does!

Here's a peek at a few of the fun things you can find at Sassy Pink Boutique.

Top to bottom- baby cupcakes, bath bomb & jumbo cupcake candle
Below- pink cupcake apron

New Stuff in my Etsy Store!

2009-08-23T18:13:00.000-05:00

Didn't get any baking done this weekend. I spent my time updating my etsy shop. Just wanted to show you some of my new listings.

Fun things for girls…

Fun things for boys…

Have a great week!

Somehow we pulled it off!

2009-08-18T19:27:00.000-05:00

Phew…

My first wedding reception cookie/cupcake order

Biggest order I've ever taken

Of course… I wanted them all to be perfect

I'll admit I was a bit nervous

But…

Thanks to my mom's helpful assistance everything went just fine!

I've been told they were a huge hit! (Thanks Claudia!)

I need to give credit where credit is due and say that the design for the square cookies with the cake design was inspired by some that Rosey Sugar made. LOVE HER WORK!

Insomnia

2009-08-10T06:21:00.000-05:00

Thanks for all the nice comments about my bake sale cookies. I'm totally over it and feeling guilty for whining. It was nice to have you commiserate with me! If you've ever sold your creative work, you've probably been there.

This weekend was much better. I spent all day Saturday decorating cookies for a wedding reception. The reception is this coming weekend (the 15th) and I'll be making cupcakes for them too. So, I'll be taking this Friday off to get that done. I'll show you the pictures when the whole sha-bang is ready to go.

Yesterday was spent in my craft room. I'm trying to get a few things made for a craft show that I do every November. I have a thing for hot pads in the shape of something with embroidery and stuff (if that makes any sense). My mom found some fun hot pad patterns she had stashed away from the '70s and I couldn't wait to adapt them. The cupcake potholder in the photo was one of the patterns.

I also spent a little time staging some photos of some things I need to get listed in my etsy shop. My poor little etsy shop has been badly neglected lately. I'm hoping to spend some more time there this month getting new things listed and hopefully designing some new fun things to sell. We'll see…

Truthfully… I feel like lots of things have been neglected around here. I stayed up way too late last night trying to get caught up then woke up at 4:00 a.m. thinking about every thing that I need to get done. Late summer through Christmas tends to be that way. Way too many things I want to do and not enough time. Not looking for any sympathy though… I don't have to sew cupcake potholders, write blog posts, list stuff in my etsy store, shop for fabric to use for photo staging, go junking with friends, make new potholder patterns, design new recipe cards, paint my hallway, blah blah blah… I just really, really want too! Ohhh woe is me…

Hope you are finding time for all of your projects! Take care!

Emily

The Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day

2009-08-02T11:36:00.000-05:00

I made these last minute… kind of in a hurry… not my best work ever… But still…

25¢ each???? SERIOUSLY????

I donated 2 dozen of these cookies to the speech team's bake sale. I thought it was a worthy cause and I'll admit, I thought it might be a little bit of good advertising. I packaged them neatly in little cellophane bags. I actually felt like I was making a pretty nice donation. All the bake sale items were marked when they arrived (not by the people who baked them). Anyway… I couldn't be there for the bake sale but my daughter told me they were marked at 25¢ each. Individual brownies (made from a mix and packaged in saran wrap I'm sure) were marked at 50¢ each.

I'm hurt, insulted and discouraged. Sometimes I wonder why I even bother.

Oh well… I guess some days are like that, "even in Australia".

The Winner!

2009-07-25T20:45:00.000-05:00

Congratulations to Sweet Sugar Belle! She is the winner of the National Sugar Cookie Day Competition! Please visit her blog to see more photos of all her fantastic cookies I'm amazed by her talent!

All the photos uploaded to the flickr photo group were very impressive. I was definitely inspired after looking at them. So many of them were extremely detailed and original. WOW! Thank you so much for sharing and for joining the National Sugar cookie day celebration!

Better late than never?

2009-07-21T20:05:00.000-05:00

So sorry I didn't get the finalists for the sugar cookie contest posted on Saturday. I'm embarrassed by how long I've been letting this contest drag on but happy to report that this week's delay was due to baking-related priorities.

So here are the finalists:

Sugar Sugar Gal

Rosey's Sugar Palace

The Sweet Adventures of Sugar Belle

Sweetopia

There were so many other really cool cookies uploaded to the flickr group that it was practically impossible to pick these finalists. (another reason I was so slow to get this post out).

I'm putting a poll button in the right column so you can help me pick a winner. Come heck or high water, I WILL announce the winner this Saturday.

Thanks for helping me celebrate National Sugar Cookie Day!

Home

2009-07-16T19:21:00.000-05:00

9 days

60+ hours of driving through deserts, mountains and cities

Maybe 2 hours of sleep every night

Too much junk food

Lots of beautiful sights, laughs & great memories

Our vacation was very fun but I'm glad to be home where the roads are all flat, straight and only 2 lane, the grass is green and life is relatively simple.

Although…choosing finalists for the sugar cookie contest has been anything but simple! So many really awesome cookies were uploaded to the flickr group. These are just a few that I chose very quickly to show you.

I'll try to narrow these down to 4 or 5 and have a poll so you can pick your favorites by Saturday.

Thanks!

Emily

2009-07-09T06:35:00.000-05:00

Happy National Sugar Cookie Day!!!!!

Cookies Galore… indeed! Lots of very very beautiful, cookies have been uploaded to the National Sugar Cookie Group! I don't know how we'll ever decide on finalists for the prize. I'm glad you'll be helping me select a winner! I wish I could offer a prize worthy of the talent I've seen in this group. If only I were a millionaire…

Thank you so much for participating in the National Sugar Cookie Day Celebration!

I'll be back after my vacation to wrap up the contests and share some packaging ideas and resources.

Decorate!

2009-06-28T15:29:00.000-05:00

Do things ever go as planned?

I intended to write a cookie decorating tutorial for National Sugar Cookie Day but there just hasn't been time. We're leaving for vacation tomorrow so it's clearly not gonna happen.

However…When I was browsing through the cookies posted to the National Sugar Cookie Day Flickr group I found this awesome turorial by Marian from Sweetopia. She gives great, detailed instructions along with some fantastic resources. Thanks Marian!

Here are a few of my favorite places to find cookie decorating supplies:

Fancy Flours
Country Kitchen Sweetart
Sugarcraft

And here is a great tutorial for making gumpaste flowers by Mare from Meet Me in the Kitchen

Happy decorating!

The Ingredients

2009-06-25T07:45:00.000-05:00

It's all about the ingredients…

Although I'm sure there's lots of debate about which ingredients make the best Sugar Cookies.

I believe real butter and PURE vanilla extract are the key ingredients to a good sugar cookie. I would like to say that I always use the finest vanilla, eggs straight from the farm, organic flour… all that fancy stuff. The truth is… I buy the best that I can afford and that is readily available. Occasionally, I'll splurge on a nice bottle of vanilla from a gourmet shop. Sometimes I'll get eggs from an uncle who has chickens. Usually… I go to my local supermarket to get both. Fancy ingredients or basic supermarket ingredients… either way, I'm happy with the taste of my cookies.

Here's my recipe:

3/4 c. butter (1 1/2 sticks)
2/3 c. shortening
1 1/2 c. sugar
2 eggs
2 TBS. milk
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
4 c. flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt

Beat butter, shortening and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs, milk and vanilla. Beat well. Add flour baking powder and salt and beat until mixed well. Chill for at least 3 hours. Roll dough to 1/8" thickness. Cut with your favorite cookie cutters. Bake at 375 for 6-8 minutes.

2009-06-17T20:28:00.000-05:00

Cookie Making Supplies by sugarandmeringue on Polyvore.com

So… I planned on getting this post out last weekend…Tuesday at the latest. I've been looking for some fun "sugar cookie equipment and supply" resources to share with you. Well… I found lots of fun things… one link lead to another and… it's Friday night and I'm just now writing this post.

There are so many supplies to talk about, I decided to focus on non-edible equipment this time. I'll share resources for sprinkles and sugars and things like that later. I also plan to share sources for packaging supplies in another post.

Cookie Cutters:

I love cookie cutters! I used to collect them and only quit due to a lack of storage space. They're cheap and it's always fun to find a new shape

Bake it Pretty - (shown above)

Into the Oven - They have a few really fun shapes of copper cookie cutters including a Spaceman, Robot, Alarm Clock, Tricycle and Little Red Wagon. I might have to find a place to store these!

Off the Beaten Path - They have a huge variety of shapes and they're cheap! My favorite category is their "Old Fashioned" cookie cutters.

If none of these sources have the shape you're looking for, I found a tutorial at Juggling Frogs for making your own cookie cutters. I think I'll try it one of these days.

Aprons:

I love these handcrafted aprons made by Kerry of Practically Necessary.

I also found some great vintage aprons at Plaid Pony Vintage.
And here's some great directions for making your own apron at Bari J. (scroll down for a link to the PDF in the side bar)

Other fun stuff:

I can't bake without setting a timer and I would love to have these magnetic timers from
Wrapables

I can't believe all the amazing cookie photos that have been added to the National Sugar Cookie 2009 Flickr group! Check out the badge I just added to the right side-bar! WoW!

Happy Baking !

National Sugar Cookie Day – 2009 Kickoff!

2009-06-09T05:00:00.000-05:00

July 9 is National Sugar Cookie Day. Last year, I created a flickr group and posted some of the photos that were submitted. This year, I'm a little more organized and, in addition to a new 2009 National Sugar Cookie flickr group, I've planned a month-long celebration including:

my favorite sugar cookie recipe
a cookie decorating tutorial
lots of supply resources for cookie baking, decorating and packaging
a cookie blogging & decorating contest & prizes
special discounts at Sugar and Meringue

I'll start by giving you the contest details…

I'll be hosting 2 contests:

Contest #1

• Write a blog post about sugar cookies. Share a recipe, a memory, a decorating idea, your cookie cutter collection… whatever you want as long as it has something to do with sugar cookies. I'll be looking for the most interesting, touching, inspiring or prettiest post.

•. leave a comment or e-mail me at em_reiman@yahoo.com to let me know about your post.

• Your post must be written (& I must be notified) by July 12th

• The winner will be announced on July 18th.

The winner will get this vintage cookie cookbook, a decorating bag, two decorating tips with a coupler, a bag of fun multi-colored sugar, a set of Kitchen Aid measuring spoons, 2 vintage cookie cutters, some packaging supplies and a set of my recipe cards (NOTE: These prizes will only be shipped to US residents. If you're from another country, you can still enter. I'll try to come up with an alternative prize to send you if you are the winner.)

Contest #2

•Join the National Sugar Cookie Day 2009 flickr group and upload your best sugar cookie photos. Or, if you don't have a flickr account e-mail them to em_reiman@yahoo.com. My family and friends and I will choose our favorite photos. Then I'll let post a poll and let you decide the winner.

•Photos must be uploaded by July 12th to be considered for the contest.

The winner will recieve some recognition and a small prize.

How will I be celebrating National Sugar Cookie Day? I'm going to "The Cookie Jar". I'm not kidding… My great-grandparents' last name was Cook. They bought a cabin in the mountains in California back in the 50s (or maybe the 60s?) and named it The Cookie Jar. We've been planning this trip for a while and it's just coincidence that we'll be there for National Sugar Cookie Day but what an appropriate place to be! Anyway… the Cookie Jar has no phone service, let alone wi-fi so I'll be off-line from July 2 - July 12. I'll have something set to auto-post while I'm gone, I just won't be able to respond to any comments or e-mails until I get back.

I'm so excited to see how you celebrate National Sugar Cookie Day!

Join the National Sugar Cookie flickr group!

Garage Sale - Bake Sale

2009-06-07T10:07:00.000-05:00

My son seems to share my entrepreneurial ambitions…

Recently, he has teamed up with a neighbor girl to start a detective agency. They charge $1.00 per case. Unfortunately, the detective business has been a bit slow lately so I thought I'd help him out with his money making efforts by letting him make some treats to sell at the garage sale we're having next weekend.

Turns out, he's been invited to spend the weekend at a friends house out of town so the bake sale will have to wait but we made some Puppy Chow anyway. (here's a link to the recipe). I thought it would be fun to sew the tops of the bags shut like real dog food. (I ordered the glassine bags from Bake it Pretty) The photos of the pretzel rods and rice crispy balls are from previous posts (Pretzel Rods, Something on a Stick) but we would have made them had we actually been having a bake sale.

July 9, is National Sugar Cookie Day! This Tuesday I'll be kicking off a month-long celebration leading up to the big day so please check back!

Have a great week!

MIlk & Cookies Picnic

2009-05-25T07:43:00.000-05:00

Graduation is over. It's hard to believe our girl is all grown up. We are very proud of her. We had her reception at our house. Everything went well and it was great to see all of our family and friends.

Anyway… now that graduation is over and all the cleaning, sprucing, planning and baking (that we did to get ready) is done, life is getting back to "normal" and I finally have time to write a quick blog post again.

I am really, REALLY, enjoying this Memorial Day weekend. A 3-day weekend with nowhere to go & nothing important to do was just what I needed. I don't even have enough ambition to put together a full fledged picnic at the park. Instead, I decided it would fun & easy to pack up some cookies and milk and have a "snack" in the park. I made the Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies from a recipe in the March, 2008 issue of Cottage Living. The cookies are just your basic peanut butter cookies. The filling is what makes these cookies delicious. Here's the recipe:

2 (3-ounce) packages of cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
5 T. powdered sugar

Beat all ingredients until smooth. Spread about 1 T. of filling onto flat side of cookie and top with another cookie.

Hope everyone else is having a great Memorial weekend too!

Happy May Day!

2009-05-01T10:37:00.000-05:00

Happy May Day!

Just wanted to show you the May Basket Cupcakes I made this year and share with you some great new baking supply shops I've recently discovered.

I bought the plastic basket handles and cupcake liners through Layer Cake Shop. This etsy shop has lots of great things and I was very pleased with my order.

The same basket handles and similar cupcake liners are also available (and less expensive) through Bake it Pretty. (it pays to shop around). I can't tell you how excited I was to find this shop! You know what it's like to find a shop that so exactly matches your sense of style that it feels like it was created just for you? I just ordered her vintage button chocolate mold. Here's a link to her "Candy Buttons 101" tutorial. I can't way to play with this!

I think it's obvious that I was very influenced by the colors and designs shown on both of these sights.

I'm also excited to to tell you I've been visiting with Lyndsay from Sweet Cuppin' Cakes Bakery & Cupcakery Supplies. She has an awesome baking supply shop with a great section called "Handmade for you By Talented Cupcakies".

My daughter will be graduating from high school in a couple of weeks. We're having her reception at our house so I've been working feverishly to whip this badly neglected home into shape! I finally got some of the redecorating projects I've been working on done! I've posted the photos on flickr and I'm about to blog them at Flying Time Designs. This weekend my mom is coming over to help me tackle the yard. So that's my excuse for being such a lazy blogger lately. Who knows when you'll be hearing from me again! Until then, take care!

Happy Easter

2009-04-12T14:59:00.001-05:00

A Home for Sugar and Meringue?

2009-04-05T20:07:00.000-05:00

I've talked before about my need to find a kitchen space that I can license so that I can sell and market my cookies and cupcakes legally. This has been a huge obstacle. Kitchens aren't easy to find and they don't come cheap. However, without a kitchen, I can't really market my baked goods and I feel like some opportunities could pass me by, 'cause I'm just not set-up like I need to be.

My Options:

1. Rent something- However, kitchen space for rent is almost non-existant in my area.The few places I do know of that might be available would cost an arm and a leg. Even if I quit my job and baked all day every day, I probably couldn't get enough cookies made to pay the rent let alone make a living. I may be able to split the rent with another baker but I'm not too crazy about sharing.

2. Build something- My husband knows how to build things. He's an HVAC guy so he knows how to do the heat, air, electrical and plumbing too. We might even be able to get some lumber from his folks (they tore down an old barn). I've found some adorable plans for some tiny cottages online. Problems… finding the time to build something and finding a place to build something. Finding an inexpensive lot with no covenents might be difficult.

3. Buy something- There's a sweet little house on the market and it's affordably priced. It would cost the same or less than building something and the payments would be significantly less than rent. I know the people who are selling it. They're trustworthy. I could try the cookie thing for a couple of years, if it doesn't work, sell the place and probably recoup most of the cost or rent it out. Problems… This place is affordable because it's 10 miles out in the country in the middle of a run-down neighborhood. Lots of ramshackle houses and run down mobile homes. Financing… do I try to get a small business loan, refinance our house and add this one on, find a grant? I can't tell you how much time I've spent searching for a grant to apply for. My dad has written and recieved many grants for his job so he's been looking too and we're just not finding anything. By the time I figure out a way to pay for this house, it will probalby be gone.

What to do?

Anyway… my favorite junk shop had all their books 1/2 off this weekend and I got a whole bunch of great vintage cookbooks for my etsy shop plus a few other fun things. Aren't those little girl candles sweet? I also got a really cool old metal cabinet for $25. For that price, I couldn't let it go, but honestly, I have no where to put it. (I need to buy another house!)

We were expecting a blizzard this weekend so I prepared by baking cookies… of course. I pulled out my 1963 copy of Betty Crocker's Cooky Book and made cream cookies. They're shown in the mosaic above.

Cookies by Candlelight

2009-04-01T19:52:00.000-05:00

I'm not much of an environmentalist. The environment (and my effect on it) is just one of about a million things I know I should pay more attention to. However… we did celebrate "Earth Hour". It was a great excuse to make everyone turn everything off and play cards with me. We lit some candles, played some UNO and ate some of my daughter's fresh baked homemade chocolate chip cookies. It was heavenly.

Anyway… since I'm a cookie blogger, not an environmental blogger… let's talk chocolate chip cookies.

I know the New York Times covered this topic way back in July. Chocolate Chip Cookies are old news. But they're a current topic at my house. My daughter has been baking them almost weekly. She makes a big batch, freezes the dough and whenever her friends come over she serves them a batch of fresh baked cookies. She uses the recipe I've carefully developed through the years.

Here's my Recipe:

3/4 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. margarine
1/2 c. shortening
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 egg
2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 bag of milk chocolate chips

Beat brown sugar, sugar, butter, margarine and shortening until fluffy. Add vanilla and egg, blend well. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt; mix well. Stir in chocolate chips. Chill dough. (1-36 hours, whatever fits your schedule). Use a cookie scoop to drop on cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for about 8 min.

When I was a kid I remember going to a friend's house and spending the whole afternoon playing in the hay loft in their barn. They had a rope tied to the rafters and we'd swing from it and then drop into a big pile of loose hay. Then we made forts and tunnels out of the haybales. When we finally decided to go inside, her mom presented us with a big plate of fresh baked chocolate chip cookies. It was such a fun day, and still one of my favorite childhood memories. Maybe that's why I'm such a fan of chocolate chip cookies.

How to Fake Cupcakes

2009-03-22T08:04:00.001-05:00

This tutorial was posted on my .mac account which I've allowed to expire so, I'm re-posting it here. Enjoy and please let me know if I need to clarify anything.

You will need…

• an old muffin pan
• cupcake liners
• plaster of paris
• toothpicks
• 3-inch styrofoam balls
• hot glue
• paper clay
• sand paper
• acrylic paint in desired cake and frosting colors
• lightweight spackling for frosting (1 1/2 - 2 cups per color)
• disposable pastry bags
• # 1 M decorating tip
• cupcake toppers/decorations (optional)

Put cupcake liners in pan. Mix plaster of paris following directions on box (I mixed 3 cups plaster with 1 1/2 cups water and had enough for 7 cupcakes). Fill lined cupcake pan with mixed plaster of paris. As plaster sets, place a toothpick in the middle.
Cut 3" styrofoam ball in half
Pierce the center of the ball with the toothpick you inserted in the base.
Take the ball off the toothpick and squirt hot glue in the hole created by the toothpick. Put the ball back on the toothpick/bottom.
Cover the stryofoam with a thin & smooth coat of Paperclay. Allow the clay to dry thoroughly.
Sand
Paint dark brown or desired color
Put about 1 1/2 cups of spackling in a bowl and add acrylic paint to make it the desired color.
Stir
Place spackling in a disposable pastry bag and pipe on cupcake as desired (I used a # 1M tip and spiraled the icing on starting on the outside and working my way in). WASH BOWL, SPOON, DECORATING TIP, ETC. IMMEDIATELY!!
Adorn cupcake as desired and allow to dry

Polka-Dot Cake

2009-03-08T20:05:00.000-05:00

This weekend we had a family celebration for my Grandpa and mom's birthdays and I was in charge of bringing the cake.

I'm a confident and proud cookie and cupcake maker but cakes…

Well… I'm not so good with cake.

It's always one of the first questions people ask when they see my cookies/cupcakes. "Do you make cakes?"

no

Honestly… I'm just not all that interested in cake decorating. Maybe it's because there's usually only one cake and one chance to get it right. If you screw up on a cookie or cupcake it's no big deal. I don't know… I'm just not a cake decorator.

Anyway… for the birthday thing, I thought I would just make cupcakes. Then, my son & I stopped at the candy shop when we were at the mall yesterday and I saw these sprinkled chocolates. I remembered seeing this polka -dot cake in one of my vintage Betty Crocker cookbooks and I just had to give it a try.

I tried to show the cake at its best angle for this photo but, it was really a disaster. The top layer slid over, the frosting ran, the sprinkles bled… the only good thing about it was the taste. Thank goodness I went ahead and made the cupcakes too. Saved my pride a little bit.

Keeping Secrets is Hard!

2009-03-01T17:43:00.000-06:00

We did it!

Remember in my last post how I said we had lots of things cookin' here? Well… we were cookin' up a surprise party for my mom. She's an occasional reader so I couldn't say anything about it.

Last weekend… That's right. One (just one) week ago…

My dad came over and suggested that we throw a surprise birthday party for my mom and a close family friend (Mrs. G) back in our home town (2 hours away from here). Sure… No problem. How many people are we talking about? …Ohhh… just a few, mostly just the teachers (my mom and dad both worked at the school back home) and a few other close friends. …Okay, so we're talking about 30-40 people right? …Probably.

So my dad and the close friend's husband (Mr. G) went about trying to organize this thing.
They both made a few phone calls to people in town and asked them to call others, sent out some e-mails, left some messages on answering machines and reserved the community center. Problem… they weren't telling people the same thing! People were given different party times, some were told to bring a covered dish, others were told it would just be cake and coffee. Sigh…

Meanwhile… Mr. and Mrs. G's kids and I were trying to coordinate on the food plans with no idea how many people to expect or really any idea what we were doing!

Since dad said he would provide the meat… on Wednesday, I went with him to get some already cooked barbeque pork. On Friday, after work, when the meat place was already closed… I was quickly told we didn't buy enough meat. No time for discussion, mom was just in the other room. No problem… I'll find some more meat.

Meanwhile… I'm in charge of cake or cupcakes. A normal person would probably just go to the bakery at this point or at least keep it simple, right? Not me… can't do simple… oh no… have to impress all the folks back home… sigh…

Decorations… I did my best.

Plates, cups, napkins, chips, buns… tried to think of everything. The other family took care of all the drinks and brought a roaster for the meat.

There were several times my dad said things that almost gave away the surprise. I was sure my mom knew something was up. She thought they were going home for the day to visit Mr. and Mrs. G and to go out to dinner with them and another couple. How they got my mom to the community center is another long and funny story but she really was very surprised. As they were walking into the building she even said "We can't go in there. There's people in there. They've got something going on."

Anyway… when it was all said and done I think we had 50-60 people come. We barely had enough meat, but I think everyone got to eat. I made about 55 cupcakes, so hopefully everyone that wanted one, got one. It all worked out. It was fun. Mom and Mrs. G were surprised. It was a great day and one we will be laughing about for a long time.

Starting to Cook!

2009-02-25T20:10:00.000-06:00

We've got lot's of things cookin' around here and honestly… they all have priority over blogging.

But… I thought I'd at least try to share with you some Photoshop Brushes I created a while back. My plan was to make them downloadable.

Here's the thing… when I try to do something like this, I realize just how lacking in technical knowledge I am. I know how to create a Photoshop Brush set but not how or where to upload them so that you can download them. So, if you are a Photoshop user and would like a set of "frosting brushes", I'd be happy to e-mail them to you. Just let me know! They were created in CS3 using a Mac and are saved as an .abr. I'm not sure if they'll work with other versions or platforms. If there is a way to make them downloadable, let me know!

And, quickly… here's one of the cookbooks I found on my weekend junking trip. I thought the cover was fun. It's going in my etsy shop as soon as I find the time to scan some more pages and get it listed!

Some friends have gone through some hard times lately. For them, time seemed to stand still. Time flies when you're happy. Busy is good. I'm lucky to have every single one of the things I have to do.

Going to the Bar

2009-02-14T14:55:00.000-06:00

Happy Valentines Day!

I just realized this is post #50! I also just realized that I started this blog on the lucky date of 7/07/07 (I wasn't thinking about that at the time!). It was March of last year that I started posting here on a more regular basis so that's what I'm considering my "blogiversary".

I'm celebrating by going to the bar!

Okay… it's a cheesy play on words. I'm talking about brownies and bar cookies.

The last time I went shopping for cake decorating supplies, I noticed that Wilton has a line of products out for making fancy brownies. They've had similar cupcake kits and the like out for a while. It made me wonder…

Are brownies the new cupcakes?

Naaah… I don't think so. I love brownies but they just don't have the same appeal as cupcakes. I can't imagine brownie printed fabrics and paper and other decorative things.

Never the less… I wanted to see what I could come up with to make brownies and bars more interesting and, in the end, I fell back on the standard practice of stenciling them. I was happy that I figured out how to color powdered sugar. You can't really see it in the picture, but I made some pink powdered sugar to sift over the letter stencils. I just stirred in some red powdered food coloring. It worked great!

2009-02-10T06:17:00.000-06:00

The home updating/redecorating continues here. It's slow going as we've had lots of other things going on too. So… my house has been a complete disaster for the past couple of weeks. NOT FUN! It will be worth it though! The new flooring has been installed in the kitchen and the walls and trim have been painted. I think somewhere, in some "guy manual" there is a rule that says oak must never ever be painted. I broke that rule when I painted my trim and the hubby isn't too happy. Consequently… I will not be painting my oak cabinetry (like I wanted to) and I might have to live with deer antlers on my living room wall. Oh well… I'm soooo happy with the white trim in the kitchen, I can't wait to get all the trim in the living room painted too!

Wouldn't you know… in the midst of all the chaos… it was my son's turn to bring treats to school for the monthly bake sale. So we cleared a patch of counter space and made some Almond Bark Pretzel Rods. Quick, easy, cute, yummy and fun to work on together.

Instructions:

1. Melt almond bark in microwave following instructions on package
2. Dip pretzel rods
3. Place on wax paper
4. Sprinkle

I got out all my sprinkles and let E go to town. The chocolate jimmies came out of the jar kinda fast and the "OHH NOO!" expression on his face was priceless.
I happened to have some pretzel rod sized cellophane bags from Nashville Wraps on hand, so it was easy to individually wrap them and get them ready to go. I was told that they sold out in a hurry!

Cookies for a Colonel

2009-01-25T09:32:00.000-06:00

This has been a weekend of updating things!

I spent some time yesterday updating my etsy store. I've added some fun new vintage things, fake cupcakes, a new recipe card design and my "Make Cookies Not War" cookie cutters.

I'm really uncomfortable expressing my political views and that sort of thing here. I sort of wish I'd never taken things in this direction with the whole "Make Cookies Not War" thing. I had been watching the news coverage of the conflict between Gaza and Israel. On ABC they did a story about the effects of the conflict on the children there. It made me so mad! How can any leader of any country or organization look at suffering children and think that what they are doing is okay? So I decided I could try to raise a little money to send to Save the Children.

Anyway, it seems to me (though I've not recieved any negative comments) that not supporting the decisions of our world leaders = not supporting our troops. BULL! I am aware that the world is full of truly evil people and I am very grateful that there are people who are willing to make terrible sacrifices to keep us safe and protect our way of life.

Anyway…

Remember Connie from The Constant Baker? She is trying to raise some money so she can send 12 dozen cookies to a Colonel in Iraq. Please visit her blog for details. She's doing such a nice thing!

…& that's IT for me & politics!

Etsy isn't the only thing I've been updating. We've starting working on some redecorating projects around our house too! I'm so excited. We're putting new flooring in the kitchen, living room, entry and hallway. It's just a nice medium to dark shade of wood laminate. I'm going to do a lot of re-painting too. That should really brighten things up. I'll post pictures when I'm done. The down side is, with my kitchen is in shambles, I won't be doing much baking for the next couple of weeks so I'm not sure I'll have much to share with you here. We'll see.

Let the Frilly Unfurl!

2009-01-21T22:03:00.001-06:00

Let the Frilly Unfurl!, originally uploaded by Flying Time Designs.

Pared down, modern clean simple designs have their appeal. In fact my plans to redecorate my house involve a lot of paring down and simplifying. (I'll post my inspiration photos at Flying Time)

But sometimes…

You just gotta let the frilly out!

The wedding cakes in this 1960s Wilton Cake Decorating Book are so, unrestrained, over the top, hilariously frilly. Not a speck of cake is left unadorned. After seeing this I couldn't help myself. I just had to make some ridiculously frilly, super tacky cupcakes. As I was working on these I was reminded of those 1980s Jessica McClintock prom dresses with the puffy sleeves and all the lace. Those were the days…

Make Cookies Not War

2009-01-13T20:43:00.000-06:00

“Think what a better world it would be if we all, the whole world, had cookies and milk about three o'clock every afternoon and then lay down on our blankets for a nap.”

–quoting Robert Fulghum in 1987 at Middlebury College

When I wrote the "Armed and Dangerous" post about my new cookie gun, both Allison of The Lark and Potty Mouth Mama posted "Make Cookies Not War!" in the comments. I like that slogan.

Okay… I'm not one to get involved with very many big causes. Taking care of my own family is really about all that I'm capable of. However, if I can use Sugar and Meringue to promote peace and friendliness without being too pretentious about my own less than charitable ways… that'd be pretty cool!

I've started a "Make Cookies Not War" flickr group where you're welcome to post your own homemade cookie photos or ideas about "baking for peace", and (in an effort to be more charitable) I'm going to sell vintage cookie cutters with "Make Cookies Not War" tags attached in my etsy store (as soon as I get some cute tags designed). I'll donate the profits to Save the Children.

Interview – Cheryl Day of Back in the Day Bakery!

2009-01-05T22:45:00.000-06:00

I can't tell you how thrilled I am to be able to do this interview. Cheryl Day, owner of Back in the Day Bakery, is a very accomplished baker. Her cupcakes have been voted the best in the country. She's been in several magazines, the New York Times, and even appeared on the Paula Deen Show. (here's a link to that show) Located in Savannah, Georgia, her bakery is a tourist destination. It has that vintage/retro/shabby chic look and feel that I absolutely adore. I've wanted to visit Savannah for a long time and if I ever do get to go there, her bakery will be the first place I go! It's so sooo kind of her to take the time to answer my questions about starting a bakery business and to allow me to share them with you.

Here's what Cheryl wrote for the "about me" section of her blog Buttercream and Roses–

It all began with an easy bake oven. I am a newly-wed and own a bakery with my husband in Savannah, GA. I have the best job in the world, and I'm on a path to discovering the people who share my passion for life, learning, baking, and growing as a person. I love everything about baking and the fascination with what you can do with a few simple ingredients. It is impossible to measure the happiness I bring to others on a daily basis and the joy it brings me in return. Baking from scratch is a lost art and I am determined to carry on the tradition of baking from the heart.

So, it all began with an Easy Bake oven (the best toy ever!) Do you remember anything special that you made with your Easy Bake?

The "Baby cake" that I make was inspired by my early days of baking with my easy bake oven.

I read that your grandma and your mom taught you how to bake. Do you have any special memories of baking with them that you’d like to share?

Ah Memories...I lost my mom at an early age, so baking is all about memories for me. Just the other day I was making buttermilk biscuits and I found myself day dreaming about my mother's hands showing me how to dock the tops with a fork.I always find comfort in knowing that I can reach in the pantry and gather just a few humble ingredients, bake something delicious and be transformed to my childhood.

What did you do before you opened your bakery? Did you go to college? If so, what did you study? Did you always dream of having a bakery? What lead to the decision to open Back in the Day Bakery?

I owned a mini department store with my sister. We sold everything from trendy womens & childrens clothing, furntiure, apothecary all decorated in a very vintage shabby chic kind of way. I did go to college, but I dropped out when my mom passed away. I am a self taught baker. I did not go to a fancy pastry school. Whenever I have a challenge in the kitchen, I'll say I suppose I would have learned that in pastry school. I was always the one to bring dessert to the party, but none of my friends actually paid me to do it. So I never really thought of it as a career choice, I have always enjoyed feeding people. It is still amazing that I get paid to do it now.

I’m interested in knowing what was going on in your life about six months to a year before you opened the bakery and then what life was like that first year after the bakery opened.

I was in retail and NOT loving it. I loved the customer service aspect and meeting new people, but I was at a point in my life that I was determined to become the person I always wanted to be. That was running some sort of food related business. My husband and my sister encouraged me to take the leap of faith and my husband took it with me. We started researching like crazy, testing recipes, looking for packaging and thinking of what we wanted our place to feel like. Of course keep in mind, I was still a "Home" baker and what I would soon discover was that there was a BIG difference. My friend & mentor Jane owned the best bakery in Atlanta and she consulted with us (Money well spent) and came to help us make the transition from home bakers to running a professional bakery. The biggest change was realizing that we had to consider production time and that we couldn't spend all day working on one product when I had bakery cases to fill. We quickly learned short cuts without compromising quality. Time after all is money so this all has to be factored into pricing.
I remember being soooo scared. We had worked so hard building out the space mostly ourselves, spent ALL our money paying professional contractors (electricians, plumbers, sheet rockers) and now it was time to open the doors for business.
It was just my husband and I. Zero employees. We would alternate our baking schedules and then wait on customers too. Alot had changed since we first had the "thought" of opening our own bakery because the financing fell thru and we spent all of our savings, credit cards to get the doors open. So FAILURE was not an option for us. I remember feeling overwhelmed, but still very hopeful.The first year was alot of hard work and at the end of that year we hired our first front of house employee.

What was it that made you decide, “I’m going to open my own bakery” ? How much time did you spend planning your bakery before you opened it?

At the time there were NO high end quality artisan bakeries in Savannah. I knew that I wanted to do some sort of food related business.
Baking was our specialty and we had a lot of fond memories about bakeries. We thought it would be less capital because we knew that we could run it ourselves without having to hire wait staff etc. until we built up our customer base. So we just went for it!It was about 2 years from the vision until we opened our doors.

Did you have to write up a business plan and look for financing? Was the decision to start your own business scary? Did you ever have any doubts about what you were doing?

Yes we did write a business plan and looked for financing, but got turned down by every bank & the city entreprenurial program. We went to the SBA & looking back I think the reason why we did not get any money from those sources is because NO ONE believed that our idea had merit. They simply didn't believe in us. We had no real experience so I suppose I can't really blame them. The funny thing is, I was recently asked to teach classes on "branding" by the the city entreprenrial center. Was I scared? Absolutely I doubted my ability to do it for a long time. I questioned if we were good enough. Then people kept coming. We got voted best bakery, best cupcakes in the country and on and on...We kept getting more and more recognition and accolades. So I finally stopped doubting myself and focused on making us better.

After the bakery opened… What was the most difficult part of running your new business? What was the most exciting/satisfying part of having your own bakery?

The most difficult thing was the long hours & the pressure that we could not even take a day off if we are sick. Working in a kitchen is not glamorous. It is a lot of pressure to put out a consistent product every day. Questioning whether or not we could keep up with demand especially since we bake everything from scratch. It is a lot of dish washing & toilet scrubbing too. The most exciting thing was people buying what we made and loving it! It was so exciting to meet our loyal customers and talking about food with others that were as passionate about it as we were. Also knowing that we had a great product was very rewarding. People seemed to really appreciate what we were doing.

Now… What is the most difficult part of running your business and what is the best part? What is a typical day like for you?

The most difficult thing is finding good employees. It is like finding a needle in a haystack. Baking is not a career goal for many people. It comes so naturally for my husband and I, and we have worked so hard to build our reputation of quality. It is hard to find others with that same sort of dedication.
My work day right now is from 4:30 to 4:30 and it is non stop. During the holidays, we work 16 hour days. I have worked 19 hour days I think that is because I still wear a lot of hats. There's really no typical day.

If someone oversleeps or calls in sick, I am the front girl juggling the rest of my baking & decorating projects for the day.

I still love to bake just as much as the first day we opened, but I would love to clone myself.

You make everything from scratch. How do you manage your time and get everything done without going crazy?

Who said I wasn't crazy! LOL Seriously, After 5 years I am still working out the kinks. BUT we are always committed to making everything from scratch. This year I am determined to train my clone and be less of a control freak.

How did you decide on a location?

Back in the Day Bakery has gotten lots of great publicity and has become a tourist destination. This has to be exciting. Has this changed the way you run your business? How do you meet the demands brought about by all your success and publicity?

We chose our location which is a "transitional" neighborhood & a lot of people thought we were crazy. The reasoning was twofold because we wanted to be a neighborhood bakery and for financial reasons. Based on this, we knew we had to be REALLY Really good and we thought as long as we were centrally located people would come. Then of course we started to get some great press NY Times, Food Network etc. and then we became a destination for tourists.

Just for fun… What is your favorite dessert to make?

I love baking cakes and cupcakes.

Is there a certain special tool or supply you could not live without?

A 50 cent bowl scraper is the best tool ever for adding dry ingredients as you mix and a multitude of other uses.

Finally, what advice would you give to someone who wants to start their own bakery or baking business?

If you are passionate, have a great work ethic, can multi task, and dedicated to your dream, then go for it!

Don't think you can depend on others because you can't. At the end of the day remember it is YOUR dream.
Yes you can!
Finally, remember don't think you can be everything to everybody.

Note: I don't know what's going on with the formatting for this post. Please ignore the various fonts and font sizes. Blogger just seems to be acting wierd.

Happy New Year & May the Force Be With You!

2009-01-04T14:57:00.000-06:00

I can't believe I haven't posted anything since December 15. I guess time really does fly when you're having fun. We had a great Christmas and a happy New Year with lots of gatherings of family and friends.

My son's 8th birthday was on the 23rd, so I thought I'd show you some of the Star Wars cupcakes I made for him. The Vadar and lightsaber cupcakes were inspired by flickr user Kati Peck , the R2D2 cupcakes were my own idea/design.

I can't wait to see what this year has in store for Sugar and Meringue. Maybe this will be the year I really get things off the ground. I've had some very encouraging things happen lately. I don't feel like I can talk about them 'til they're official but I will say that I might be getting some exciting recognition. I hope I can build on this recognition. We'll see what happens.

So now what?…

I see oppurtunities. I have a chance to get some great recognition. But… I don't have a liscensed kitchen. I can't persue most of these oppurtunities without a liscensed kitchen.
If I manage to find a kitchen space… I will need to figure out how to pay for it. All of the recognition and opportunities I've been talking about are "maybes" and they won't generate any income for a while.
I have a good job. But it's full-time, leaving me with little time to work on building a business and not nearly enough time to produce (let alone market) enough cookies and cupcakes to pay for a kitchen space. In this economy, can I risk giving up a good job to start a business?

I guess, I just need to take things one step at a time and see what happens. I'll go to work, take care of my family and then devote what time I have left to business planning. I think, as long as I'm working hard towards my goals, whatever is meant to happen will happen.

If only I were a Jedi…

May the force be with you in 2009!

Oh by gosh, by golly… It's time for mistletoe and holly…

2008-12-15T20:04:00.001-06:00

"retro" cookies, originally uploaded by Flying Time Designs.

Well…

It's the last week of school before Christmas vacation.

Our first big family Christmas gathering is this weekend.

Time is (pretty much) up!

I guess I've got most of the important things done. (Just need to get those cards adressed and mailed) But the season seems unusually rushed this year.

There's always so many more things I'd like to do…

Anyway…

Just wanted to wish you all a very very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Take care! Stay safe!
See you next year!

Emily

Armed & Dangerous

2008-11-30T08:13:00.000-06:00

That's right…

I bought a gun.

Look out!

My shiny new gun is "trigger quick"
and my daughter and I are "trigger happy" .

I would advise you to SECURE YOUR DOUGH!

For years, I've had to borrow my mom's cookie press when I wanted to make spritz cookies. Not anymore! I found this vintage cookie gun at the antique store last weekend. It was only $4.00! Isn't it beautiful? It looks as if it were rarely used and it works great. My daughter and I had a lot of fun trying it out this week. She likes to operate the gun. I like to sprinkle on the sugar and put on the dragees.

I had fun with the packaging too. I put like colors in cupcake liners and tucked them in this pretty silver box that I bought from Fancy Flours then wrapped the box with some vintage ribbon that I had.

If only all the guns in the world were cookie guns…

My Favorite Holiday Recipe

2008-11-25T19:22:00.001-06:00

Peanut Butter Bon Bons, originally uploaded by Flying Time Designs.

As promised, here is my favorite holiday recipe. I shouldn't even make these 'cause they tend to get eaten up before they ever make it to any holiday gatherings

Peanut Butter Bon Bons

2 c. peanut butter
1/2 c. butter
16 oz. (4 1/2) c. powdered sugar
3 c. Rice Crispies
6 oz. milk chocolate chips
butterscotch chips

In saucepan melt peanut butter and butter. In large bowl, combine powdered sugar and cereal. Pour peanut butter mixture over cereal mixture. Mix together with your hands. Form into 1" balls. Chill until firm. Melt chocolate chips. Dip candies in them. Place on wax paper line cookie sheet. Chill.
If desired- drizzle with melted butterscotch chips.

They're not the prettiest things in the world (at least mine aren't) so… it's all about the packaging.

My favorite holiday memory?

My son was born (3 weeks early) on December 23. We were celebrating Christmas with my mom's side of the family that day. My water broke right after dinner (great way to get out of washing dishes, huh?) I was still in the hospital on Christmas day so my mom and dad brought my girls and all the presents to the hospital.

In my previous post I invited 4 people to share their recipe/memory but please don't feel you need an invitation. I'd love to hear about everyone's favorite recipe or memory. You can use my badge if you want or make your own. Whatever suits you. Leave me a comment or e-mail after you write your post so I can read what you wrote!

Thank you!

2008-11-18T20:46:00.000-06:00

I have been a fan of Katie Runnels' artwork and blog for a long time so…
Imagine how unbelievably excited I was when she asked if she could write a blog post about ME! Holy Cow! Oh My Gosh! Wooohooo! Yippeee!
Katie's blog is not only filled with beautiful things but also great resources for those of us who dream of making a living creatively. I'm sure you've already visited her sight, but if not, you really must check it out.
What an incredible compliment. Thank you Katie!

I was also excited to be tagged by Happy to tell you 6 quirky things about myself (Here's my list of quirkiness) I'm sure I could come up with more than just 6 quirky things to tell you about myself, but with Happy's permission, I have decided to start a new tag. I'm not a big fan of rigid rules so here are the general guidlines:

Write a blog post about your favorite holiday recipe or favorite holiday memory or both.

Invite 1-1,000,000 friends to share their recipe/memory with a link back to the person who invited them and links to the people they are inviting.

I've got a recipe and a memory I'll share soon.

In the meantime I'm going to invite the 4 friends who most recently started following my blog. (Sidenote: I like knowing who's stopping by for a visit but I've got to change the terminology. Followers, following… sounds kinda creepy and cult like. Let's just be friends.)

Anyway my friends are:

Melissa Dawn
Blue Cupcake
Pretty in Pink
Happy Loves Rosie ( since I changed the tag, I can tag her back : ) )

Now showing at the Gallery…

2008-11-14T19:59:00.000-06:00

My artwork will soon be on display in a very fine gallery.

Okay… I have a friend who owns a wonderful gallery in a nearby town. She asked me to make some cookies for an opening she's having soon. But, hey, just 'cause I'm not really the main attraction, doesn't mean I can't have a little fun being all hoity-toity, right?

This was my first order of the season. My mom came over and helped me work on these. She even decorated all the angel cookies for me…I've been making angels for the last 10 years, and I just can't stand to do it anymore!

Here's the little "muffin tin of cookie accessories" I put together for decorating day. I made all the sugar-paste holly leaves and things the night before. The multi-colored metallic dragees and the silver colored sugar next to them are brand-new. They just came (from Fancy Flours) in time to use on these cookies. I love the dragees but I was kinda disappointed in the silver sugar. I thought it would look much more metallic/glittery/sparkly. It was kind of a dull gray.

I also listed a few fun new things in my etsy shop. I'm gonna try to get a few more things listed in the next few days so keep checking back.

I Decorated!

2008-11-12T20:27:00.000-06:00

Well… I'm not gonna get a post written tonight as I planned but I did get this place all decorated for the Holidays!
Talk to ya soon…
Emily

Interview- The Constant Baker

2008-11-04T17:16:00.000-06:00

This is why I started this blog. I wanted to connect with people who have their own baking business, to find out how they got started and how they keep their business going.

Catherine Slye of She's Sew Slye was kind enough to introduce me to Connie Martin owner of The Constant Baker. Connie allowed me to interview her via e-mail. I think her answers to my questions are very interesting. She left a good job to follow her passion and live her dream. I hope you are as inspired by her courage as I am!

"Connie's passion for baking began as a young girl when she first entered her butterscotch brownie recipe in her Girl Scout troop bake off and won first prize. Throughout her teens she continued to bake tortes, yeast breads, cookies and cakes. While attending Miss Porter’s School, she taught a month long course on making various dessert mousses. She continued to bake while at college and her passion culminated with a dream to attend pastry school. That dream came true in 2006 when she graduated from the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco with a degree in Pastry Arts. After a stint with a patisserie, she now owns The Constant Baker and has been delighting dessert lovers throughout the Bay Area and beyond."

–from Connie's Website

• It sounds like you started baking at a very young age. Who taught you to bake? Do you have any favorite "baking" memories you'd like to share?

Connie: I can “blame” it on my paternal grandmother, whom I adored. She was of German heritage and I remember helping her make her kuchen recipe. I must have been 4 or 5 at the time, when I got started. She would put me on a step stool next to her kitchen counter and let me pour the ingredients into the bowl as she worked her magic. She made the best kuchen. I remember eating it with her warm right out of the oven….it was heaven. Unfortunately, the recipe was in her head and it died with her. Words of advice, if you have family recipes that are in someone’s head, get them to write them down. Even if you don’t cook or bake yourself, they are precious bits of family history to be treasured for future generations. My family still talks about that recipe.

• Miss Porter's is a boarding school for grades 9-12 right? I don't know much about life in a boarding school. Did you have access to a kitchen there? Were you allowed to bake when you had free time? How did you end up teaching the course on making dessert mousses?

Connie: Yes, Miss Porter’s (MPS) is a boarding school for grades 9-12. I did have access to a kitchen there but I don’t remember exactly where it was. It was not the main kitchen so it must have been in a dorm. I didn’t bake at MPS, only during the holidays when I went home. At the time I attended MPS, the school had a January term where the girls could study anything they wanted to for the month. I asked my advisor if I could not only study, but teach a class in making dessert mousses. Mousse, at the time fascinated me. They agreed and, at age 17, I had about 10 students who were making mousses with me. We made at least 8-10 different mousses and had a blast doing it.

• Where did you go to college and what was your major? Did you work in any other fields before deciding to go to the California Culinary Academy? If so, what made you decide to go back to school to get your degree in Pastry Arts?

Connie: I have a Bachelor of Arts degree from Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY. I majored in Political Science and Economics! Before I went to CCA, I was in the hospitality industry. I worked in catering sales and as a meeting planner in a fine dining restaurant and then in a conference center. In the late 90’s, I also owned my own event planning company, Corporate Events. When I first graduated from college, I worked in New York on Wall Street as a commercial loan officer in a commercial bank; Bankers Trust Company, which is now owned by Deutsch Bank. I attained the position of Assistant Vice President while there.
What made me decide to get a degree in Pastry Arts? I have always loved to bake. As I have grown older, I realized that my soul was crying out to me to follow my passion. It was very scary to answer this call as I left a very good job to attend CCA. But I knew, that on the last day of my life, if I had not attended Pastry School I would have regretted it.

• I have a daughter who is a senior in high school this year. She dreams of owning her own coffee shop someday. She will probably get her bachelor's degree in business, but she is also considering attending a Culinary Arts school. Can you tell us a little bit about Culinary Arts School? What advice would you give her?

Connie: If you have a passion for baking, especially the science and creativity of it, you are in for a treat if you attend culinary school. I literally had to pinch myself everyday I was in school because I could not believe I was so lucky to have such a wonderful opportunity to learn so much about a subject I love. My chef instructors were very patient given their awesome backgrounds. We were such neophytes but they loved us for both our good times and bad. And there were some ugly moments. But that is how you learn. My worst moments were my best teachers. My advice; be open to the experience and don’t be afraid to make mistakes. It’s better to make them there than on the job!

•After culinary arts school, you worked at a patisserie before deciding to start your own business. I'd like to know more about your decision to go out on your own. What led to that decision? Was it scary? Were there any difficulties in the beginning?

Connie: I decided to go out on my own because no one was doing what I was doing in my area and I wanted some flexibility in my life. It is very scary to go out on your own because you have no idea how your business will be received. It was very difficult to get started. I had to design a menu, cost it out, and write a business plan. Then I had to find a commercial kitchen, get all of my permits…and Santa Clara County has very strict requirements. After that there was the administrative side of setting everything up; bank accounts, bookkeeping system, business identity, logo, website….the list of “things to do” is endless! I am still working on it and expect I will be for awhile!

• How is your business set up? If I remember right, you rent a shared commercial kitchen space and you don't have a store front. (right?) Can you discuss the pros and cons of this type of set-up?

Connie: Yes, I work out of a shared commercial kitchen and it is the best way to get started in my opinion. The costs of leasing and running a kitchen on your own are exorbitant and the permit process is very extensive. Plus I have flexibility. I signed a one year lease. If you lease and build out your own space, you don’t have that flexibility. My shared kitchen works fine. Everyone is pretty accommodating and, when a few of us are in there together, we work things out regarding use of equipment.

•When you first established your own business, how did you get the word out/market your business/find new customers?

Connie: I am a member of a few networking groups and that is how I started getting my name out there. As people gave my products as gifts, those people then called me for cookies. I am still building my business, of course, and am looking into some other venues such as one of the Farmer’s Markets here.

• What is a typical day like for you? How do you manage your time? How much of your time is spent actually baking vs. time spent on "business" things?

Connie: I don’t think I have a typical day. If I have baking to do, which I do most days, I go to the kitchen early and complete those tasks. I spend about 3-4 hours per day baking right now. I hope to increase that. The rest is spent on doing other things such as buying product, networking, and admin..

• I think pricing is one of the most difficult parts of selling baked goods. How did you decide on your prices?

Connie: Pricing is difficult. I priced all of my products last March and the cost of everything I use has gone up considerably. I decided on my current pricing based on the cost plus a mark-up for making the product. I expect I will need to increase my prices in January to cover the increased food costs. I also am using more expensive chocolate now so that has changed my pricing structure too.

• Just for fun… What is your favorite dessert to make? Is there a certain special tool or supply you could not live without? Can you recommend any fun supply sources?

Connie: I love lemons and we have a gorgeous Meyer Lemon tree in our backyard. I love to make anything lemon with the fruits from our tree; tarts, breads, marmalade, cookies, you name it. They all taste delicious because of our yummy lemons.
I love my offset spatulas. I use them all of the time. Fun supply source? NY Cake and Baking. I wish I lived closer to it; although that would be dangerous for my bank account.

Thank you Connie! The crazy busy holiday baking season is fast approaching (if not already here). I really appreciate that you took the time to do this!

Pie for the Pary

2008-10-30T06:25:00.001-05:00

My daughter is having a Halloween party so I thought I'd make her friends some yummy meat pie. But… with the price of meat these days…

She is hosting a Tim Burton movie-watching party tomorrow night and dressing as Mrs. Lovett from Sweeny Todd. She has been sewing her costume for weeks!

These are the "Demon Barber of Fleet Street" cupcakes I made for her. They're Blood Red Velvet (of course).

I know… this is twisted and disturbing… but sooo much fun!

They're coming to take me away Ha Ha!

2008-10-15T19:44:00.000-05:00

Yes… I'm feeling a bit crazy right now. I'm busy getting stuff ready for a craft show I have coming up in a couple of weeks and going to my kids' school events etc. So… my posting here at Sugar and Meringue has been a bit weak lately. But, I've got some things coming up that I can't wait to show you.

Next week– Probably the Worst Pies in Kearney – BEWARE … these pies are not for the squimish

Mid-November- I'll start my holiday baking. I can't wait to share pics of my holiday cookies with you and I can't wait to see what you're baking. I'm thinking of doing another "cookie" blog/flickr exchange thing like I did for national sugar cookie day. I'll post details later and I'm open to suggestions.

December- We'll see what there's time for!

January– The long awaited interviews will begin. I've already sent some interview questions off to a very nice baker in California. She's too busy to respond right now but promises that she will after the holidays. I can't wait to hear how she got her baking business off the ground.

For now… here's what I'm planning to order sometime soon for my holiday baking. Silver Stick Dragees, Multicolor Dragees and Sparkling Silver Metallic Sugar from Fancy Flours.

"Baking" with My Boy - Candy Corn + Peanuts + packaging

2008-10-07T18:55:00.000-05:00

Okay… I guess stirring up some candy corn and peanuts isn't exactly baking, but it is a fun treat for a kid to put together and package up for their friends.

Really… I just wanted to try out my new Xyron sticker maker. I thought my son might get a kick out of making some stickers, but honestly…he wasn't the least bit interested. (Guess he had better things to do!) So I made stickers and packaged up the candy corn myself. Surely there are other kids out there who would find it fun to punch out some cute paper and run it through the sticker maker machine!?

Mrs. Chism's "Indestructable" Pumpkin Cake

2008-09-29T20:37:00.000-05:00

When I was born my parents rented an apartment in the basement of Mrs. Chism's house. Mrs. Chism didn't have any grandchildren so she sort of adopted me and I called her Grandma Mary. This is her Pumpkin Cake recipe.

4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. soda
2 cups unseasoned canned pumpkin

Beat eggs, add sugar and salad oil. Sift dry ingredients and add to egg mixture. Add pumpkin. Blend well. Pour into greased and floured tube pan. Bake at 350º F for 1 hour. Remove from oven. Let stand 10 min., then remove from pan to cool. Frost with Cream Cheese Frosting.

Note: I made these into cupcakes because I couldn't find my bundt pan. It's buried somewhere in my messy storeroom. Sorry! I didn't keep track of how long they took to bake, but I would guess about 15 min. They were done pretty fast.

My mom makes this cake just about every year for fall family get-togethers. She makes it in a bundt pan and prefers to leave it unfrosted. It's a very sturdy cake and has earned the title "indestructable" due to the many mishaps it has survived. Apart from many acts of clumsiness resulting in the cake being dropped (while contained in its carrier) this cake has even survived a couple minor car wrecks.

Coffee

2008-09-22T05:57:00.000-05:00

What does coffee mean to you?

A delectable flavor and a welcome aroma that helps you "get going" on even the darkest morning?…a leisurely after-dinner cup that is the perfect accompanimment to good conversation?…the bracing beverage that gives real meaning to your mid-morning coffee break? –from Fun with Coffee, copyright 1956 by the Pan-American Coffee Bureau

ahhhhh…coffee…my drug of choice. My parents didn't drink a lot of coffee, but every time my grandparents came to visit they'd brew up a pot. I remember loving the smell and wishing I was old enough to drink it. I remember the first time I tried coffee. I was probably about 10 and I was at a friends house. Her parents were gone and she decided to make a pot of coffee. I was totally amazed that she knew how to make coffee and I was a little afraid that we'd get in trouble! She dumped a ton of cream and sugar in each of our cups and it was sooooo good. I became a full blown addict when my daughters were babies and I relied on it to stay awake after nights of no sleep. My son and I still have "milk and coffee snuggle-ups". When he was two, we were visiting some friends and he got tired so he came to me and said "I need milk and coffee and rock-a-bye" . My friend was apalled until I explained the coffee was for me.

My teenage daughters both celebrated their birthdays last week. For the big family get-together, I made German Chocolate cupcakes and frosted half with German Chocolate Buttercream and the other half with Mocha Buttercream. Here's the recipe (from The Cake Doctor):

(Note: for the German Chocolate Buttercream) just omit the coffee granules from the following recipe)

1/4 cup milk
1 heaping tsp. instant coffee
8 T. (1 stick) butter
2 oz. (1/2 bar) German's sweet chocolate, grated
3 1/2 c. confectioners' sugar
1 T. water, if needed

1. Place the milk and instant coffee in a small glass measuring cup. Place in the microwave oven on high power until the milk is ot enough to dissolve the instant coffee, 30-40 seconds. Remove and stir until the coffee is dissolved. Set aside to cool.

2. Place the butter in a large mixing bowl and add the coffee and grated chocolate. Blend on low until the mixture has softened, 30 seconds. Stop the machine and add the confectioner's sugar. Blend with the mixer on low speed until the sugar is incorporated, 1 minute. Increase the speed ot medium and beat until light and fluffy, 1 minute more. Blend in up to 1 T. water is the frosting seems too stiff.

You Can't Always Get What You Want (but sometimes you do!)

2008-09-10T20:05:00.001-05:00

If time, money, and my husband's sense of style were no object, this is what I would do with my kitchen:

• I would paint my honey oak 1990s cupboards a nice creamy white. This would appall most of my family. They all still believe oak is the be all and end all of woods and painting it is a terrible sin. But someday, I may just whip out the paint brush anyway.

• I would install a dark stained hard-wood floor

•get new counter tops (not sure what kind) with a (what's it called?) "rimless"/sunk-in sink

• I would buy these appliances and such…

I did get something I've been wanting for a while the other day. Heather (from Merry Moon) & I traded cupcakes! Here's is the one she designed for me. It looks very sweet in my kitchen.

Janice, from Pug Yoga has tagged me to tell you about some of my (many) quirks. Here's the rules:

1) Link to the person who tagged you
2) Mention the rules
3) Tell six quirky yet boring, unspectacular details about yourself
4) Tag six other bloggers by linking to them
5) Go to each person’s blog and leave a comment that lets them know they’ve been tagged

So…my quirks…

1. I am ALWAYS cold! I cannot drink anything with ice in it or I'll start shivering. I earned the nickname "Super Emily" at my last job because I would walk around with a blanket tied around my neck (over my three layers of clothing).

2. I love learning about plagues and epidemics. I research these things for fun. My favorite books are the Hot Zone and The Demon in the Freezer. So scary, but so fun to read. I dream about writing a book set in a tuberculosis hospital in the early 1900s or about the 1918 influenza epidemic. (I'm not a novelist. It's never gonna happen, but its fun to think about). I used to think maybe I wanted to be an epidemiologist or virologist, but I don't really want to get my hands dirty I just want to learn about these things from afar. Maybe the CDC needs a graphic designer?

3. I DESPISE matching up socks. Matched pairs never seem to get put in the same load of laundry. So when I'm folding clothes I throw the unmatched pairs in "the sock basket". We have a huge laundry basket of unmatched socks. When someone needs a pair, they have to go dig for two that are at least the same color.

4. I hate green vegetables

5. Every night, before I get into bed, I have to lift up the sheets and check for spiders.

5. The smell of cantaloupe makes me want to puke! I think it smells like a garbage dump. GROSS!

Okay, I'm passing this on to…

She's Sew Slye
Lulu Carter
Violaceous
Elfie and Me
Potty Mouth Mama
Practically Neccessary

I Guess Fall is the Season of Change

2008-09-04T17:40:00.000-05:00

I've got a new job.

Since starting my own cupcake/cookie business was not something I could do immediately, I decided that I (at least) had to find a job that offered a little (actually A LOT) more flexibility than my job at the cookbook publishing company. So, that's what I did! I'm working for a much smaller, much more flexible and family friendly company and I think I'm going to be much happier. I'm now a graphic designer for a small lighting company. Not only will I be working on their catalogs, fliers, brochures and other publications, but I will also be drawing up some lighting plans and sending out quotes (using a bleepin' PC). So…I've got a lot to learn and man-o-man my brain is fried. I've been so mentally exhausted lately that all I want to do when I get home is some mindless veging.

Excuses aside, I'm starting to feel likes one of those people who talks about doing a lot of things and never really does them! I'm referring to this earlier post in which I talked about structure and all the things I planned on posting about starting in September.

I will share:
•cupcake and cookie recipes and decorating ideas
•treats I've made with my boy
•random stuff (business planning, etsy, fun products, etc.)

I will not:
•podcast interviews…yet… the learning curve is just too big and I don't have time to do the research right now… unless… there's a podcaster out there (who's conducted interviews over the phone) that would like to be my mentor. : )

So…I guess this is the "random stuff" post.

No matter how busy, exhausted, (whatever) I am, I can always find time to go junking. That's what I did last weekend and I found some great new things to put in my etsy store. Since Labor Day marks the unofficial end of summer, I decided to load up on Fall things. (see photo above) I'm working hard to get all those things (and more!) listed, a little at a time.

Labor Day also marks the beginning of total chaos in our household. It starts with my daughter's birthdays this month and doesn't end until after Christmas. My dad asked me if we had a weekend open for a family get-away. I checked my calendar. Nope… NO available weekends 'til after Christmas. (Huge sigh) Woe is me…

A Giveaway!

2008-08-28T17:26:00.000-05:00

Hi everybody!
Just a quick note to tell you that Damaris at Within the Corners of My Kitchen is hosting a giveaway that includes my cupcake toppers and some other great paper goods for your kitchen. I'm a little slow to let you know about this but just leave a comment on her site by Tuesday, Sept. 2. She gives away lots of great things so definitely check out her blog!
Thanks Damaris!

The Tree of Happiness

2008-08-24T08:18:00.001-05:00

Bridal Shower Cupcakes, originally uploaded by Flying Time Designs.

Oh boy…

Catherine of She's Sew Slye has given me the Tree of Happiness Award.

I'm supposed to list 6 things that make me happy.

Just 6? Lots of things make me happy, especially kind people like Catherine. (By the way…thanks for the award).

Since it's hard to decide on just 6 things that make me happy I'm going to cheat a little.

My six things are very broad categories with some specific examples given of each.

1. My family (of course)
I love it when I have all three of my kids trapped in the car with me for about a 20 minute drive. (any longer and they'll be plugged into their iPods and off in their own little world) Conversation seems to flow easily and I learn all kinds of things.

2. All things warm and cozy
fuzzy slippers, a dog sleeping on my feet, a hand-knit scarf, chocolate chip cookies just out of the oven, a good cup of coffee or hot chocolate, a campfire and a toasted marshmallow, a comfy old sweatshirt, flannel sheets…

3. Early mornings
I get up at 5:00 am. I love the peace and solitude of that time of day. I love the excitement of a new day. I love feeling like I'm ahead of the game by beating everyone else out of bed. I love seeing the sunrise.

4. December
Yes, it's a crazy, busy month, but I love it! The decorating, the shopping, the baking, the crafting, the wrapping, the get-togethers, my birthday, my son's birthday, and especially Christmas day. Nobody messes with Christmas day.

5. Severe Weather
Okay… I don't wish for any injuries, property damage, or ruined plans. But I love the excitement of a good thunderstorm. I love watching the dark clouds roll in. I love flashes of lightening and loud cracks of thunder. I love it when the power goes off for a while and I love the feeling in the air outside when it's all over. I also love a good blizzard. There's nothing better than waking up to white-out conditions and knowing that no one will be going anywhere that day.

6. A great idea

I love it when I get an idea for something I absolutely must make immediately. Something so wonderful that it cannot wait! I love having that drive to create.

So that's what I love. Now I'd like to hear what these friends love: Merry Moon Designs, My Polka Dotted World, Blossom Hill, Within the Corners of My Kitchen and the newly discovered Vintage, Pretty and Shabby.

I also love orders and etsy! I had fun making those cupcakes in the picture for a bridal shower yesterday and I thought I'd show you this cookbook I just listed on etsy. It's so cute!

Faking It

2008-08-17T11:48:00.001-05:00

Fake Cupcakes, originally uploaded by Flying Time Designs.

Cupcakes are cute. Cupcakes look adorable on vintage dishes and display pieces. Cupcakes lend a bit of color, sweetness and nostalgia to a room.

Cupcakes, are messy, mushy and perishable.

I wanted some fake cupcakes to display in my kitchen and to use as non-perishable samples of my work. So, after some research, trial and error this is what I've come up with.

See my directions here: how to fake cupcakes

or…

If you don't feel like making them yourself I'm going to sell them in my etsy store. (I'm still working on getting all the different varieties listed so please be patient with me.)

My favorite fake cupcake is the one with the vintage ballerina topper on it. I got it from The Plastic Hut along with some really cute vintage Halloween and Christmas toppers.

What I really want for that glass dome thing shown in the picture is one of these needle felted cupcakes from Merry Moon. (hint hint family…this would be a good birthday present)

As far as "real" cupcake business matters go…

The Kearney Area Artist Guild (organizers of Art in the Park) had their monthly meeting last week and I was told by a co-worker/member that my cookies and cupcakes were talked about quite a bit and that they were very impressed with them. PLUS… I have an order for some bridal shower cupcakes as a result of my booth at Art in the Park. : )

Have a great week!

NOTE: 8/17/08- I'm having trouble publishing the Fake Cupcake Directions. The text below the photos doesn't show up right (and it's just helvitica!). I'm working on it. For now… when I click on a photo it takes me to the slide show view and the text appears correctly there. Hope that works for you!

Summer Lovin', Chocolate Lovin'

2008-08-05T20:41:00.000-05:00

9 days… that's it. That's all that is left of summer break. In just 9 days our school year starts. Some school-related practices have already begun. Once school starts it seems life is just one huge flurry of nonstop activity until Christmas.

I'm not ready to let go of the slower paced, long, warm and sunny days of summer. I'm setting aside my baking projects until the first crisp days of fall and finding some no-bake SUMMER treats in my vintage cookbooks.

This week I made Royal Hot Chocolate Sauce from Hershey's Index Recipe Book, copywright 1934. It was pretty good but I think I cooked it a little too long as it got pretty hard and chewy the minute I poured it over the icecream. Oh well… next time I'll try cooking it a little less than the recipe says. I bought fat free ice cream thinking it would taste okay with a little hot fudge sauce poured on top. It was gross. So the good news… I did not devour the Hot Fudge Sundae shown in the picture. With chewy fudge sauce and the crappy ice cream, it just wasn't worth the calories.

Any way here's the recipe in case you want to try it. What I sampled from the spoon tasted pretty good. I think if you're careful not to overcook, this is probably a very good chocolate sauce. I'm definitely going to try the recipe again. (if you click on the image, then click "all sizes" in flickr, you should get a version that is large enough to be read easily)

And now… the awards!!!

My friend Heather of Merry Moon Designs has given me the Brilliant Weblog Award and Michelle of Faerie Dust Dreams gave me some awards a couple of weeks ago.

I 'd like to thank Blogger for hosting my blog,
my family for putting up with all of my baking endeavors,
my parents for instilling in me a love of baking and
allowing me to play in the kitchen as a child,
our family friend, Ron, for being a great taste tester…

Thank you! I am honestly very, very flattered. I've agreed to pass these awards along to seven other blogs. Well, you know me. I analyze my decisions very thoroughly and I've thought long and hard about who should get these awards next. There are just so many deserving blogs but many have already recieved other awards so here are the blogs I chose:

Creative Chaos
Madame Muffin
Obsessed with Cupcakes
Kitschen Pink
& 3 others to be named soon

I also wanted to let you know about a new flickr group I've started called Kids in the Kitchen. This is a place to share photos of things your kids have helped make and ideas for "kid friendly" baking projects.
Keep cool, and enjoy the rest of your summer!

Baking with My Boy – Bakerella's Cupcake Bites

2008-07-30T05:54:00.000-05:00

I've been meaning to try Bakerella's recipe for Cupcake Bites for a long time and this weekend my son and I finally got some made. I had some plain leftover red velvet cupcakes and some cream cheese frosting and this was the perfect way to use them up. My son had fun helping. This is a really "kid friendly recipe." He crumbled the cupcakes, mixed in the frosting, made the balls, squirted the melted chocolate in the candy molds and placed the cake/frosting balls on top of the chocolate. He could have done the spinkles too but he had all ready gone off to do something else by the time we got to that step.

They are delicious!

Things Are Piling Up Around Here!

2008-07-23T17:17:00.001-05:00

bowls & cupcakes, originally uploaded by Flying Time Designs.

I have some bowls. I like them. I piled them up and took a picture. I made some cupcakes. They turned out ok.

–Nuff said?

Well, it's summer and it's hot, and I just can't seem to think right now (let alone write) but for the sake of all my adoring fans I'll try. : ) ( yes, I'm being sarcastic)

Business Planning…

As far as the business planning goes, I'm in "wait and see what happens" mode for right now. The kitchen space I was interested in is not yet available and as discussed in my last post the response to my things at Art in the Park was mixed. I think everyone liked both the taste and appearance of my cookies and cupcakes, but I'm not sure they're willing to pay what I have to charge. On top of that, our Starbucks is closing (yes, we only have one, unless you count the one in Target). I've always said that people would pay more for my cookies and cupcakes (verses the Walmart bakery) for the same reason they would buy coffee at Starbucks instead of McDonalds. –They're just fancier/better. And I've reasoned that if my town could support a Starbucks then it could probably support a business like mine. Well, now I'm not sure what to think! I know budgets are pretty tight these days. Anyway, I'm not giving up, just cooling my jets a bit. I'm still trying to make some connections in the community and get the word out about what I do.

Interviews…

Ages ago I asked some very nice bakers if they would be willing to let me interview them. That was so long ago that I'm sure by now they've given up on me. In an earlier post, I said that I would try to get those interviews done this month. YIKES! This month is almost over. Here's my dilema… If I just e-mail some questions to these ladies and they e-mail me back with their answers… well…there's no back and forth…it might seem kinda cheesy and boring. I want this to be more conversational. So…I've drug my feet, trying to come up with the best format for this (it's harder than I thought!). Maybe, I should try calling them on Skype, record the call, turn it into a podcast and post it somewhere. Huh…I'm not a journalist, I don't really know how to conduct an interview and I know even less about podcasting, plus I really don't have the time or money required. But… it might be fun! Having a podcast that gives me an excuse to call up bakery owners and cupcake bloggers and just chat sounds great. Plus, I haven't been able to find any podcasts like this on iTunes or anywhere so I might be able to fill my own little niche. Hmmmm… me and my big ideas. Anybody know anything about podcasting? What do you think?

Etsy…

I haven't promoted my etsy shop for a while, so I thought I would show you some of the "cool" things I have listed now. I keep adding new things and I'm working on some new cupcake toppers so stop by from time to time to see what I've got.

Structure…

I function best when things are structured and organized. (Although, I am getting better at flying by the seat of my pants!) Anyway, I think I can improve the content of this blog by adding a bit of structure and planning. By September, this is the structure I hope to follow each month (altough I may change the order):

Week 1 – I'll share a cookie or cupcake recipe, probably from one of my vintage cookbooks, along with ideas about decorating and presentation.

Week 2 – the interviews or podcasts or whatever I decide to do

Week 3 – I'd like to start a feature called "Baking with My Boy" . I'll drag my son into the kitchen and we'll bake/make something together and share it with you. You know… fun, simple stuff.

Week 4 – Kinda random. I might talk about my business planning or my etsy shop or some fun products I've found. Whatever…

I didn't think I had much to say and look how much I've rambled on! I have to say, it feels good to get all those things that have been piling up in my brain all typed out. I just hope it doesn't sound completely senseless!

bye!

Art in the Park

2008-07-15T20:19:00.000-05:00

Hi! Thanks again to everyone who participated in National Sugar Cookie Day! I've got a few new links to share!

Damaris from Within the Corners of My Kitchen shared her favorite sugar cookie recipe. They look delicious! And, Jennifer Conway celebrated by showing us her vintage cookie cutters and buying some cookies from a local bakery.

Caitlin of Carmel Turtle asked if I made any cookies for Sugar Cookie Day…

Yes! I did! Actually, I made about 9 dozen cookies for "Art in the Park". Here's some photos of my cookies…

"Art in the Park" was my big community debut. Honestly, I'm not yet sure what to think about how it went. First of all, without really thinking, I bought the cheapest canopy that they had at Wal-mart and (of course) it was a piece of junk. My booth looked and felt like one of those forts you rig up with blankets and stuff when you're a kid. Tall people had to duck to get in. Then, having set up much earlier than the boothes around me, I guess I got the schematics wrong because the Indian Taco stand set up in front of me at the last minute so I ended up being kind of blocked off and hidden. Also, keeping the food out of the sun and keeping the wind from blowing everything over was an issue (which I expected).

Enough whining…it wasn't all bad.

I offered a variety of cupcake flavors and frosting flavors. Customers ordered their choice of flavors and I swirled the frosting on with a pastry bag right there in my booth (I kept the bags of frosting on ice). Then I let them choose what color of sprinkles they wanted and let them pick out a sugarpaste shape for the top. I had a big chalk board with all the flavors and instructions on it but I'm not sure everyone understood what I was doing. Those who did "get it" seemed to really enjoy having a cupcake custom made for them while they watched, especially kids. I heard one super sweet little girl tell her mom she loved me! That totally made my day.

The cookies I brought did not sell well at all. Lots of people looked at them but very few bought them. I had them individually priced at $3 - $3.25 ea. and the boxes (shown above) had 5 cookies in them for $7.00 with one "fancy" cookie on top and 4 more simple cookies underneath. I overheard one person say they were too expensive. My guess is that that person has never made decorated cookies before. Given the price of ingredients and the time involved in making my really fancy cookies I've got them priced as low as I possibly can.

I guess, when it was all said and done, I covered my costs and handed out lots of business cards so we'll see what happens next.

Michelle of Faerie Dust Dreams must have somehow known I needed a little confidence boost. She gave my blog some awards!

Thank you!
In accepting this award,
I agree to:
1. Display logo and link to who gave it.
2. Nominate at least 7 blogs.
3. Add links to those 7 blogs.
4. Leave the nominees a message that they received the award.

So, I'll link to my nominees in my next post. Right now it's time to get my boy to bed.

2008-07-09T19:01:00.000-05:00

The big day is here! Happy Sugar Cookie Day!!! Thanks everyone for participating! You are all so talented!

These are some of the submissions (clockwise, starting with the top left corner):

The elegant Paisley Cookies are from distopiandreamgirl whose website is Mirabelle.

Lilley shared the yummy looking polymer clay cookie charms.

The pretty pink dress is from Obsessed with Cupcakes. I highly recommend checking out their website. They have some great content!

Since my husband is a Raiders fan, these Raider's jersey cookies from Glorious Treats caught my eye.

Janice, one of the nicest people I've met on flickr, posted the yummy looking sugar cookies with the red sugar. Her blog is called "Pug Yoga". How can you resist checking out a blog with a name like that?

Mollie of Wild Olive made the star cookies for the Fourth of July and Be Cheery shared the Scotty and heart cookies.

Those ADORABLE cupcake cookies (with the blue bottoms) are from my extremely talented friend Heather of Merry Moon Sweets and Treats. I love reading Heather's blog. She is attending culinary arts school and shares all of the things she's learning, plus she makes totally wonderful needle felted desserts (available in her etsy shop). She posted her favorite sugar cookie recipe on her blog. I can't wait to try it!

The leaf cookie is from Bree. Here's her etsy store.

Kim and I have decided we must be long lost sisters as we have so many things in common. She made the other super adorable cupcake cookies (with the pink bottom). Crumbs is the name of her delicious blog.

Mercedes shared her collection of cookie jars from her cookie jar shop in Chicago, Jazze Junque, Inc. Looks like a fun place to visit!

I want to thank Allison of "The Lark" for writing a very nice post about this "event". I'm so flattered. Her blog is very fun and her shop "Lark" is so sweet!

Finally, the Mexican Day of the Dead Sugar Skulls are from my friend Teena of Kitschen Pink, a talented baker and also a very talented textile artist! Looking at her work just makes me smile. It's so "happy".

Thanks again for taking part in this. If you still want to share your sugar cookie photos or recipes, please do! I'll keep posting photos and links until the end of this month.

2008-07-07T06:16:00.001-05:00

national sugar cookie day – badge, originally uploaded by Flying Time Designs.

Updates:

1. I've decided to start posting your links and photos beginning on July 9, and continuing through the rest of the month. That will give you a little more time if you wish to be a part of this.

2. Cookies don't have to be fancy decorated sugar cookies. Any sugar cookies will do. In fact, you don't even have to post photos of sugar cookies. Share your favorite sugar cookie recipe or memory or your cookie jar collection. Whatever… just have fun and don't stress!

3. Let me know with a comment or an e-mail if you have a blog post you'd like me to link to. If you don't have a blog but just post photos to the flickr group, I might share those too.

Thanks!

You're invited!

2008-06-30T22:31:00.001-05:00

national sugar cookie day!, originally uploaded by Flying Time Designs.

National Sugar Cookie Day is July 9th and I thought it would be fun to have a little blog party/cookie exchange.

•Bake up some sugar cookies (plain or decorated)

•photograph your cookies

•blog about them

•post your photos to the National Sugar Cookie Day Flickr group

•e-mail me with your info/blog link. I'll post the links and some photos here on July 9th (late evening)!
Have fun!

P.S. I've never hosted one of these blog events before. I'm not sure what to expect. If you think I should structure this differently somehow please let me know!

Have fun!

Thanks!

While the weeds grow…

2008-06-22T19:50:00.000-05:00

Thank you so much for all the nice, encouraging comments on my last post! Sometimes I think I must be a little crazy to even think that I might be able to make a living making cupcakes and cookies. I'm still trying to figure out how to make the transition from employed graphic artist to self-employed baker. A few of you have told me you want to bake for a living too and I wish you the best of luck! I've had a couple of bakers agree to let me interview them so we can find out how they've done it. One works from home and the other rents a kitchen space. Hopefully, I'll finally get these interviews done and posted sometime in July. If you have any specific questions you'd like me to ask them let me know!

This was a really crazy week and I didn't have much time for any business planning. I did get some great new business supplies though. I went to an antique show in Walnut, Iowa and found some Sugar and Meringue uniforms(the vintage aprons shown above). Meanwhile, my mom went to the local junk store and found some great glass plates and domes for me to use as display pieces. The "Disco Dust" that I ordered came in the mail this week too. I finally got to play with it today. It's so much fun! Here's where I got it.

…and while I'm baking, planning and blogging…the weeds in my flower beds just keep growing and growing and growing… huhhhhhh

Getting Serious

2008-06-08T21:19:00.001-05:00

Bakeries with "The Look", originally uploaded by Flying Time Designs.

Oh my! What am I getting myself into?

I've been having a great time making pretty cupcakes, playing with packaging, taking pictures, looking at pictures of bakeries I like (like the ones shown above)…doing all the fun parts of starting and having a cupcake & cookie business but, I've decided it's time to get on with it and start making some real plans to try to turn my dreams into reality.

Here's some of the steps I've taken since my last post…

•I talked with a connection at work about having a booth at a community event in mid-July. I think this will be a good place to show the community what I do and this event draws the kind of people I think will be interested in my cookies and cupcakes. It might be a good way to test the market. However, this is an outdoor event and in prior years the weather has always been bad. I'm worried about how my cupcakes and cookies will hold up if it's really hot. I have no idea, how many cookies and cupcakes I should plan to bring. I don't know how I'm going to set up my booth, but I know I need to get some signs and things made for it. I'm going to be gone next weekend and the weekend after that I'm going to be really busy so I don't know when I'm going to work on getting ready for this. I need to order some of the specialty items I want to use to make some of the things I want to make. I need to firm up my prices. I should get new business cards made (the ones I have now are more "etsy oriented"). What am I thinking?

• I talked with my realtor friend this week about finding a kitchen/bakery space. This friend has great business sense, knows a lot about the community and has a great sense of style. She seemed very supportive of my idea to start this business. I really value her opinion so I was glad she didn't laugh at me and tell me I'm a nutcase/dreamer! She had a few really good ideas about places that might work for me. Ohhhhh mannnnn… talking locations makes this all seem very real and a bit overwhelming. Therefore…I started working on my business plan again and really trying to crunch the numbers. I'm not sure what my expense are going to be yet but I'm thinking I'm going to have to make and sell somewhere in the neighborhood of 200 cupcakes or 100 cookies a day for this to work. I have a few other ideas about how to bring in income including "make your own cupcake parties", but still…Can it be done? Can I get that many cupcakes/cookies made? (theoretically I can) Can I sell that many a day, especially if I decide not to have a store-front right away?
Will people around here pay $1.50-$3.00 for a cupcake? Once I start showing my stuff at local events will I get many orders? If I do will I be able to handle them while I'm still working full time? Will I know when it's safe to quite my day job and start baking full-time?

Is it worth going through all this work and stress and risk to make this happen? YES darnit! The alternative would be to spend the rest of my days in a windowless cubicle at the mercy of a boss, probably watching someone else open up this type of business. NO WAY!

Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries!

2008-05-26T10:48:00.000-05:00

You gotta love a three day weekend and this has been a great one! Friday, the UPS man brought me my new cupcake and cookie boxes (see the picture below). I love packaging things up all pretty so I couldn't wait to get them. Here's where I found them.

Friday night was also kinda stormy so it was a great night for baking. (I LOVE cozy, stormy, baking evenings at home!!!!!) I tried a new recipe for Italian Cream Cupcakes from the Cupcake Doctor. I topped them with cream cheese frosting and decorated most of them for a wedding with gumpaste flowers and royal icing accents (not a real wedding, just building my portfolio and trying new things). The rest are decorated with some candy raspberries I found at the candy shop and gumpaste flowers.

Saturday was the annual Memorial Day Flee Market in a nearby town so my mom and I went to that. I found a bunch of cute things for myself and for my etsy store. I even managed to get all the vintage stuff shown in the picture listed! (I'm better at buying the stuff than getting it sold!)

Unfortunately, after all that fun, I'll have to devote the rest of today to getting organized, laundry and putting my house put back together!

Sweet and Simple

2008-05-18T18:36:00.001-05:00

Refrigerator Cookies, originally uploaded by Flying Time Designs.

Chocolate Refrigerator Cookies have always been a favorite in my family. I got the recipe from my mom who got it from Grandma who (as I recently found out) got it from Betty Crocker! I have a 1963 copy of the Betty Crocker Cooky Book, so I pulled it out and there it was!
I love this recipe and I love this cookbook. The cookies are so cute and charming yet, for the most part, simple. No fancy schmancy ingredients that can't be found in any ordinary super market, no recipes with 8,000 steps.
Betty has several varieties of refrigerator cookies in this book. Our Chocolate Refrigerator Cookie recipe is actually a variation of her Vanilla Sugar Cookies. I made a double batch then divided the dough into fourths. I left 1/4 plain, made 1/4 chocolate, added pink to 1/4 and blue to the last 1/4. Then I had fun creating sprirals and bullseyes with the different colors and flavors. For extra fun and color I rolled each log of dough in colored sugar. My cookies aren't perfectly round. I've read that you can cut open a paper towel tube and put your dough log in it to keep it from flattening out but I didn't have a stock pile of empty paper towel tubes.

It's fun bake these cookies and package them up to give away but I also like to give away a log of the dough with a cute label that has baking instructions on the back. That way friends can enjoy them freshly baked!

A Real Business Woman

2008-05-14T13:56:00.001-05:00

Sugar and Meringue, originally uploaded by Flying Time Designs.

Hi! Just thought I'd show you some pictures from the new (old) cookbooks I just listed in my etsy shop. These images are from three different cookbooks but I love the way they look together. The colors are just so sweet!

I finally got my business cards uploaded to Vista Print and they came yesterday. I was pathetically excited to get them. I feel so "official" now. Can't wait to include them with my etsy orders and give them to my friends. It's the little things make me so happy.

Mother's Day

2008-05-04T10:55:00.001-05:00

My creation, originally uploaded by Flying Time Designs.

Here's a little bit of a glimpse into how I think and how I find inspiration for my cookie designs.

I made a new friend in the blog world, Happy Loves Rosie. Her sight is so "happy" and colorful. Very inspiring. She has a link to Cath Kidston's site on her blog. I love Cath Kidston! So, I click over to Cath Kidston's site, find this fabric and think "ooooh! I could make cookies that look like this!" The resulting Mother's day cookies are shown above. I'll give them to all the mom's in my family. I'm thinking this palette could also be the inspiration for this years flower garden if I ever get around to planting it!

The "To-Do" List

2008-04-27T19:23:00.001-05:00

New Stuff for Sugar and meringue, originally uploaded by Flying Time Designs.

•look for fun things to put in the etsy store √ (see above)

•get fun things listed in etsy store √ (I got a few of them listed)

•design business cards √

•Get business cards printed

•design a "party pack" for the shop with invitations, cupcake toppers and goodie bags √

•get parts to "party pack" printed and assembled

•try this recipe for macarons (they look so pretty and yummy!)

•learn to make poured fondant (here's the directions I plan to follow)

•determine prices and create a listing of them in iWeb that I can link to from here

•try some different cupcake and cookie designs using gumpaste accents

•work on a business plan

•research possible kitchen spaces

•decide wether or not to show cookies at fall craft show

•learn to live without sleep

May Basket Cookies

2008-04-20T13:36:00.000-05:00

A friend is going to start selling Longaberger Baskets and asked me to make these for her first party which will be on May Day. I'm still learning how to work with fondant. This time, the marshmallow fondant I made was very hard. I had to add water and really work with it to get it to hold together and roll out smoothly. Once the fondant was the right consistency it was fun to work with. I had fun making the lines on the baskets. Hopefully, with more practice, I'll figure out how to make fondant the right way so it's not so hard to work with.

May Basket Cupcakes

2008-04-13T16:57:00.001-05:00

I had some gumpaste flowers left over from the anniversary cookies I made a while back so I used them on these May Basket cupcakes. I wasn't sure about using pipe cleaners for the basket handles but I think they worked okay. I just loosened the paper cup a little where the pipe cleaner needed to go in and tucked the pipe cleaner in so that it's kind of "next to" the cupcake and not actually "in" the cupcake. The pink crepe paper that I wrapped around kind of holds everything together.

I just wrote a post at Flying Time about how I'm trying to keep this whole Sugar and Meringue Etsy business organized . It's probably something I should have posted here instead but the pictures looked better over there. :)

A Treat to Keep You Coming!

2008-04-07T17:58:00.000-05:00

I promise, this blog is not going to turn into one big advertisement for my etsy shop. That's not at all what I want this to be about. But that is what I've been working on lately so it's really all that I've got to talk about as far as "Sugar & Meringue" is concerned.

I sold a couple of things this week and decided it would be fun to include a favorite recipe with my orders. Unfortunately, I didn't have any cute recipe cards. Inspiration strikes! I decided to design some. They are at the print shop right now and should be ready tomorrow so hopefully I'll have them listed by Wednesday or Thursday. I also made some cupcake toppers and they are in the store now.

Okay, so the next post will NOT be about my etsy shop. I want to make some May Basket Cupcakes to share with you. I saw the idea in a vintage Betty Crocker cookbook. Here's the thing…it says to poke pipe cleaners into the paper cup for the handle. I can't see the paper cup holding the pipe cleaner. Seems to me the pipe cleaner would need to poke into the cake a little bit. Is that gross?

Also coming up…My friend Catherine introduced me to a pastry chef in California who is just starting her own business. As soon as her web site is up and running I'm going to interview her and post our conversation here. I can't wait!

Since you've been kind enough to read through all of my ramblings, here's the treat I promised. I had about 10 extra cupcake toppers. I'd love to send them to you if you leave a comment on this post. If I get more than one comment I'll throw the names in a hat and draw out a winner. Good Luck!
Thanks for stopping by!
Emily

2008-03-30T12:05:00.001-05:00

Mosaic 2 - the remix, originally uploaded by Flying Time Designs.

I've opened an etsy store to sell some "Sugar & Meringue" sweet, nostalgic vintage kitchen stuff. I will admit I did this mostly so that I would have an excuse to search for and buy more vintage kitchen stuff, but who knows…maybe I'll make a little start -up capital for my cookie business! :) sugarandmeringue.etsy.com

I've only got a few things listed as of today, but keep checking back, I'll be adding more things every day. Everything shown in the picture either is or will be listed.

The Old Mixer & Something on a Stick

2008-03-29T21:01:00.001-05:00

This is the mixer I used when I was learning to bake. My grandma bought it when my mom was a little girl and when my mom got married she gave it to her. Just recently Mom decided it was time to get a new mixer so I asked if I could have the old one. Even though it's roughly 50 years old it still works! However, I wanted it mostly for decorative purposes. Lots of yummy cookies have been mixed with this thing!

A friend at work (also a talented baker) keeps track of every obscure holiday. Friday was "Something on a Stick" day so we celebrated by bringing food… on a stick ! I remembered this idea for rice crispy balls …on a stick…dipped in chocolate. I saw these in a magazine once as an idea for a bake sale treat. Simple and cute! I love them!

faux bois cookies

2008-03-19T19:28:00.001-05:00

faux bois cookies, originally uploaded by Flying Time Designs.

I had a few extra scalloped square cookies in the freezer and I wanted to do something fun with them. I've kinda been into the "faux bois" trend lately (see my collage at flying time) so I decided it would be funny to make "faux bois" cookies. Here's some pictures that show how I made them.

Vintage Lily left a nice comment on a couple of my last posts so I visited her blog and absolutely loved it! She has a really great vintage style. Well… imagine my surprise when I visited her blog again and found a picture of my cookies in her flickr faves post! How fun! It was great to see them there!

A possible solution…

2008-03-09T19:18:00.001-05:00

My creation, originally uploaded by Flying Time Designs.

Last time I posted, I was fretting about the amount I would have to charge for cookies decorated with flowers like the ones shown above. In order to make a decent (equal to the pizza delivery guy's) hourly wage, I would have to charge about $40/dz. and that didn't seem like a very competitive price. Most of the places I've found online charge less than $36/dz., usually around $30. Well, I may have found a way to balance my prices so that the finished price per dozen averages less than $30. For the anniversary cookie order I was working on, I decorated 1/2 the cookies with the marshmallow fondant and the gumpaste flowers, but for the other 1/2, I just coated the cookies with white icing and sprinkled them with sanding sugar. They look gorgeous with the other cookies and only took about 45 min. (start to finish) to make. That means I could probably charge around $12/dz for those and come out okay. So…a dozen fancy cookies-$40 + a dozen "filler" cookies -$12 = $52 for two dozen cookies or $26/dozen. No, this is not my firm/final price, but probably pretty close to what I'll be charging when I get this business underway.

Living on the Edge!

2008-03-09T06:54:00.001-05:00

Taking risks and boldly trying new things, I used my new (used) Berkel 20 qt. mixer today without reading the owner's manual or receiving proper training! I'm happy to say, the kitchen and I are still in one piece and the cookie dough that I made tastes fine. Phew!

Meanwhile, I've been making more gumpaste flowers for some anniversary cookies a friend asked me to make. I couldn't wait to start working on these cookies. I love making pretty, wedding/shower /anniversary cookies, and the colors she requested really appeal to me.

I kept track of how long it took me to make the gumpaste flowers and it averaged around 1 1/2 min./ flower. Hmmm…a pizza place in town advertised a $10/hr. wage for a driver. I figure I deserve to make at least as much as that guy for my time. So with that in mind, each flower is worth about 30¢. In the previous post, I listed how long most of the other steps took. So, my time + the cost of the ingredients, packaging and a tiny bit for overhead = about $40/dozen ($3.35/cookie) to make what pizza delivery guy makes. I haven't seen many places that charge more than $30/dz. so I must be doing something wrong. I suppose with more experience working with gumpaste, I might be able to work a little faster, and I'm sure I can get my supplies a bit more cheaply when I start buying them in bulk, but still, I don't know how I'm going to speed this process up enough so that I can charge $30/dz and still make a living. I'm hoping to get in touch with other bakers to find out how they do it. I would like to start posting some interviews here soon.

Just in case my friend reads this post, I have to say, I wanted to make these cookies. They will be fun to work on, look good in my portfolio, and help with my research. She is a very talented crafter so I told her we would do some kind of a trade or something.

I'm back!

2008-03-02T16:49:00.001-06:00

spring cookies , originally uploaded by Flying Time Designs

After months of ignoring this blog I'm back and this time with a purpose. As explained in the newly edited "about me" section I've decided to use this blog to help keep myself on track, organized and motivated as I research and develop a plan to start my own gourmet/specialty cookie shop. It would be great if I could be up and running by Christmas but there's so much to do! We'll see…

One of the things on my "to do" list was to play with gumpaste and fondant. I had never worked with gumpaste before and had very little experience with fondant. (I've always decorated my cookies with royal icing. ) I've seen lots of really beautiful and fun things done with fondant and gumpaste so I wanted to know how to work with them. The picture above shows the results. Overall I'm pretty happy with the way these cookies turned out. I was pleasantly surprised by how good the cookies tasted with the fondant. The last time I worked with fondant, I think I used some store bought stuff…not very good, kinda tasteless. This time I made marshmallow fondant and I used corn syrup to stick it to the cookies. I can't say I liked the taste or texture of the fondant as much as the taste/texture of icing, but it tasted pretty good, especially considering all the fun things you can do/ the look that can be achieved with fondant. I tried to keep track of how long each step of this process took today:

It took me:
15 min. to mix the dough (I think. I didn't time this part)
45 min. to roll, cut and bake 3 1/2 dozen cookies and to clean up the mess afterward.
15 min. to make marshmallow fondant? (I didn't time this either)
1 hour to cover the 3 1/2 dz. cookies with the fondant
forever to make a bunch of gumpaste flowers (I spent a Sunday a couple of weeks ago working on these. It was the first time I'd worked with gumpaste and I spent a lot of time reading the directions in the Wilton book, but still…
45 min. to put flowers on 1 1/2 dozen of the cookies

This puts me at about 69minutes/ dozen without including the time spent making gumpaste flowers. So maybe…about 2 hrs/dz. with the flowers? Probably gonna have to work a lot faster than that to make a decent hourly wage even if I charge $30/dz. which is the price I have in mind. If there's any pros out there reading this, please tell me how long it takes you to make a dozen cookies and how you automate the process!

Speaking of automating the process, my dad found me a sweet deal on a used 2o quart mixer. Just got it this weekend so I haven't had a chance to play with it. Without a professional kitchen I really don't have room for it, but I couldn't pass it up so for now it sits in our garage. I guess I can add "scaling up my recipe" to my "to do" list and a kitchen scale to my "stuff to buy list"!

Rainy Day Cookie Production

2007-08-01T21:36:00.001-05:00

milk & cookies, originally uploaded by Flying Time Designs.

Four dozen cookies for band camp, 2 dozen cookies for the orchestra kids, cookies for the elementary potluck, cookies for work, cookies for company…the life of a busy family requires lots of cookies!

This weekend I made a double batch of chocolate chip cookie dough, a double batch of chocolate cookie dough and a single batch of sugar cookie dough. I baked four dozen cookies then I–
•scooped the rest of the dough into 1 inch balls on a cookie sheet
• placed the cookie sheet in the freezer, uncovered, just until the dough started to harden (less than 10 minutes)
•threw the dough in labeled ziploc freezer bags, and put them in the freezer.

I take them out & bake them as needed allowing them to thaw a little first.

Hopefully I'll get some of my favorite recipes posted soon. I used coarse sanding sugar on the sugar cookies shown in the picture. I think it looks a lot prettier than regular sugar and it gives the cookies a yummy, sweet crunch.

National Sugar Cookie Day!

2007-07-09T21:43:00.001-05:00

Wedding cookies, originally uploaded by Flying Time Designs.

Today was national sugar cookie day but I didn't realize it until it was too late to observe the holiday. These are the last sugar cookies I made. They were for my cousin's bridal shower back in April. Oh well! I'll mark sugar cookie day on my calendar for next year.

Hi

2007-07-07T16:10:00.000-05:00

Hi! Thanks for checking out my new blog. I found this cute little cookbook at the antique store today called Cakes Kids Love by Betty Crocker. It was published in 1969. The cakes in this book are all so cute and most seem fairly simple to make (although I haven't tried any yet).If you click on the photos you should be able to read the instructions on the larger image. My favorite is the doll house cake.