Movember - Mustache Cookies

Once upon a time there was a wife who was not too excited to hear that her husband wanted to participate in his grad school's annual "Movember" fundraiser. Of course she supported the cause and yes she loved team spirit...she just didn't love mustaches. She was skeptical but didn't say much. Then a mere few days into the month, that woman's husband shaved. Again she didn't say anything but learned from her mom that her husband had told her he felt that he needed to "pick his battles" and had decided to nix the actual mustache. Interesting. That husband and wife went on to support the cause without fully participating. They cheered on their friends who charged forward and even made cookies to send to the chairman of the team.

The end. :)

Recipe: The 4 Cs (Chocolate Chip Coconut Coffee) Cookies

I made some cookies a couple of weeks ago to take to friends we were visiting out of town. They were created by using a basic framework of a recipe and throwing in what I found in the cabinet that sounded good. I ended up LOVING how they came out (and consumed about a half dozen.) They received several compliments from the recipients too. Drop cookies were a nice low-maintenance change from my decorated cookies and will be making their way into my oven again very soon!

The 4 Cs (Chocolate Chip Coconut Coffee) Cookies

1 cup butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)
2 cups flour
2 cups oats (grind in the food processor or blender until they resemble a flour consistency)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 packet instant coffee
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/2 chocolate candy bar (such as Hershey's) finely chopped/grated
12 ounce bag chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375. Mix ground oats, flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and coffee in a bowl and set aside. Combine butter and sugars in mixing bowl, beating on medium until well combined. Add in eggs one at a time, then vanilla. Add dry ingredients slowly and mix until combined. Finally add coconut, grated chocolate bar and chocolate chips. Mix until incorporated. Scoop dough into 2 inch rounds and place onto greased baking sheet 3 inches apart. Bake for approximately 12-15 minutes. Enjoy!

1,000 or Bust!

One Preppy Cookie made it to 731 "likes" on our Facebook page without ever asking for help - THANK YOU!

Please help us get to 1,000 by sharing this page. If we can make it happen in time, OPC will do a giveaway for 2 dozen Christmas cookies as a thank you! :)

'Tis the season!

Special Second Birthday

The weekend before Thanksgiving we set out to visit our friends and celebrate their daughter's second birthday. I had asked if I could bring a "smash cake" and behold my first attempt at incorporating my cookies into such a cake.

The birthday girl's gift from me was a set of cookies to pass out at her party. There was a bright colored cupcake theme with an Elmo undertone that afternoon so these worked out well.

Of course the best part was watching to bday girl enjoy her cake (and three cookies on a stick!) Love it.

Happy Birthday sweet C! You know I adore you...and your parents too.

Breaking Dawn Party (and Cookies!)

I have a friend who takes "Twi-hard" to a new level. She has traveled to movie premiers, knows every last nuance of each book, ordered custom Twilight shoes and even hosts an amazing annual party that would make the Cullens proud. There is no detail spared at these events and though I turn into a pumpkin long before the movies premiere, I enjoy attending the party each year with the early crowd.

From decor to themed cocktails to gift bags, this party never disappoints...

Me with the hostess with the mostess:

And of course there were cookies this year:

I most likely won't be seeing the movie for a while (books > movie EVERY time for me) but wish those of you going to see it this weekend a great time.

Plus que ma propre vie.

Thank you as always MaryJo!

This & That

I have a crazy-busy week ahead and won't be able to share much until I get through with it so I thought I'd check in and show you a few things that I have been working on.

Cookies for wedding welcome bags including monograms and wedding cakes:

Ballet birthday party cookies (some day I will share more about my long-time love of ballet but for now I just wanted to document these while I was thinking of it.)

And primary color/circle themed baby shower cookies:

Thank you Lindsey, Lisa, Char and Sarah!

This week will bring everything from Twilight to college football to legos to super heroes to 30th birthday to 2nd birthday cookies. Whew! Looking forward to sharing all of those as I go.

Have a great week everyone!

The Evolution of a Fox Cookie

I always love new ideas for cookies....I know I mention that a lot but it's true. So when a friend asked me to make "cookies of a fox wearing a Tiffany blue scarf" I thougth sure, why not?

I get asked regularly how long it takes me to make decorated cookies. The answer? A long time. First and foremost the dough needs to be made and the cookies baked. Then I make the icing and tint it individually into the colors I need.

Next up is hand drawing each cookie's design on with piping tubes.

After that each cookie must be individually filled with thinned icing. There are many toothpicks and hours involved in this step.

Finally the cookies must be packaged. Again...time.

Hence why I no longer know what is going on in Nene and Tamra's lives (Real Housewives reference.) That's probably a good thing though as I love doing what I do.

I hope to do a few specific cookie tutorials come the holiday season so please stay tuned.

Thank you for the cute cookie idea Candyce - I loved it!

Happy Election Day 2012!

Growing up my dad predicted on a regular basis that I would be the first female President of our country. While I am sure many fathers feel that way, my dad seemed to genuinely believe it. Sadly for him I am still too young to take on the challenge nor do I have the qualifications. President of the PTA someday maybe? Let's face it...even that would be too much drama for me.

So I may not ever be the President but that doesn't mean that I don't enjoy researching and debating who should be. And it certainly doesn't dampen my enthusiasm for actual Election Days. Millie (named after a certain former President's dog herself) and I were in the spirit this morning.

Obligatory voting line photo at my neighborhood polling station. Cold weather and a 70 minute line didn't stop us...

Please tell me you love the sticker party favor as much as I do.

I am taking the night off from cookies to watch the coverage. My couch has been abandoned for months and will be calling my name as the votes roll in (when I am not busy baking a cake for my husband's office pot-luck lunch tomorrow which he conveniently "forgot" to tell me about until this afternoon...! If only I could phone the White House pastry chef for assistance.)

Thankful as always to be an American and have the right to vote no matter what the outcome may be.