Halloween Party 2013

Last weekend we had our first annual "Costumes & Cocktails" Halloween Party.  For years I have said that when the day came when we had enough room to host it, I'd love to have a tradition of hosting such a party. Thankfully that time came this year and we went for it.

We kept out first year on the smaller side (though 40 is still the largest group of people we have entertained.)  We spent days decorating and planning what I would say was a successful event.

Leading up to the party a friend told me she didn't want to be Bridget Jones and show up in a bunny suit as the only person in costume.  That proved to be an unnecessary concern as the spirit was definitely there among our group of friends.

A Duck Dynasty character (I won't pretend to know the name) won Best Costume while two "Non-Essential" government employees took home the Most Creative award.

Per usual most of the projects were DIY so I hope you will enjoy the recap of them this week.

Happy (almost) Halloween!

Five on Friday

(Insert obligatory "It has been a long time since I blogged" reflection here.)

Hi everyone! I just found a moment of inspiration to participate in "Five on Friday" - enjoy!

1.) About one month ago, a goldendoodle who was in need of a new home was brought to our attention. We debated over it for a week, until Mr. Preppy Cookie took Millie to meet the pup. I didn't go as I knew I would get too emotionally attached and I trusted his judgement. Next thing I knew, I received the funniest "selfie" I have seen to date and just like that we had another doodle.

Meet Penny!

2.) I am SO NOT sick of the Geico "Hump Day" commercial. This has become a joke amongst coworkers to text back and forth on Wednesdays, and it has yet to not make me laugh out loud. (Sometimes being easily entertained is good thing.)

3.) Mr. PC is building a fence in our backyard...as in doing the ENTIRE thing himself picket by picket. Do you know anyone else who has done this? It's intense.  (I am not from a handy family...this is new to us.  We tend to call in the professionals when needed.)

4.) Speaking of home transformations, here is the latest update on our kitchen upgrade. I will write separate posts on our home updates if anyone is interested. It has come a long way in the past three months and we are thrilled.

5.) HOKIE FOOTBALL SEASON IS HERE! As a school, we have made an agreement to ignore any Alabama football games, so the season REALLY starts tomorrow. ;) I cut a bouquet of my dad's orange zinnias to celebrate. Last year was the first season in FIFTEEN years that I missed a home game in Blacksburg. Here's hoping the does not repeat itself this year.

Wishing you all a fabulous weekend!

Five on Friday

For the first time I am going to participate in a blog link-up. Since I am fresh out of things to write about and have been slacking on posting cookies, this seemed like the perfect way to go!

1.) We went on vacation to the beach with friends last week. It was the first time I went to the beach for the 4th and hopefully won't be the last. It only adds to the celebration in my opinion! After ALL OF THE RAIN we have had so far this year, a few days in the sun left me feeling very grateful.

2.) As soon as we got home from the beach, I had to travel back out of town for work. Aside from a little Facetime with Mr. PC and a very confused goldendoodle, highlights of the trip included stops at two fine establishments we don't have at home...Sheetz and HOBBY LOBBY!

3.) When I came home from the second trip of the week, I was greeted by phase one of our kitchen update. We are embracing the "tuxedo" look as I now know it to be called. More updates to come over the weekend but so far so good!

4.) I have been on the hunt for a bar cart over the past few months. This past week I came across a winner on Craigs List and have already begun its transformation.

5.) Does anyone aside from me still love to collect cookbooks? I get this from my mom and between us we probably have more cookbooks than you'd care to believe. They finally have a home out of boxes thanks to our new kitchen cabinets now being able to hold the dishes that this hutch once held. Now to make the time to sit down and crack a couple of them open...

So in case you didn't already think I was among the more boring 30-somethings you "know" then this post must have only confirmed it. :) Oh well.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend! A small sorority reunion is on the books for us and you know what that means:

Happy Friday!

Winner!

Congratulations Lindsay for winning the blog raffle of the 4th of July cookies!

Thank you all for participating and your incredibly kind words!

Celebration GIVEAWAY: 4th of July Cookies FOR YOU!

Last night I logged into my One Preppy Cookie Facebook account to find that I had crossed the 1,000 "Like" threshold. That blew my mind. I know it may not seem like much to many, but to think that over 1,000 people care enough to see my work meant a lot to me. One Preppy Cookie was started as a creative outlet and has grown into more than I could have imagined. It has introduced me to new friends and re-connected me with many people who I may have otherwise not crossed paths with regularly. It has been fun, challenging, gratifying and then some. It has taught me many lessons on running a small business and empowered me to know that anything is possible.

Many of you know that OPC is not my full-time career. It is a small family-run business that I tend to nearly every night and weekend. I make the cookies, my mom is the shipping packager and my husband is the Post Office delivery man. The three of us encompass the entire "operation." That is, aside from you all.

I want to wholeheartedly thank those of you who have followed me along on this journey and supported One Preppy Cookie. As a small token of my ongoing appreciation, I am giving away a baker's dozen of assorted 4th of July cookies.*

This is certainly not a plea for more orders (I will not be taking those for the foreseeable future as it is) but rather a HUGE THANK YOU for believing in One Preppy Cookie.

GOOD LUCK!

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED.

Cookie Smash Cake Take II - Alice in Wonderland

And so it begins...MONTHS of cookie photo catch up.  Recently a friend told me about the beauty of the iPhone Blogger app.  Hopefully that new-found convenience will assist me in maintaining this journal in favor of documenting my life on Instagram.

Two blog posts since Saturday = so far so good!

In the past six months since blogging regularly, countless orders of cookies have been made.  One Preppy Cookie has been a successful endeavor and though I am extremely grateful for that, I have had to tone it down in the order department.  Between working full time and life in general, the cookies have been a bit overwhelming.  I am a big believer in, "Do what you love" but also have to be realistic.  BALANCE is the current goal moving forward. 

Okay, back to today's post and starting to sort through months worth of undocumented hard work.  A friend who I have made cookies for several times in the past asked me to do Alice in Wonderland cookies along with a "smash cake" in the same theme.  This was only my second attempt at the cookie smash cake and I have to say I think they're cute.

(The more colorful the cookies, the more I love making them.)

Thank you Lauren!

TUTORIAL: How to Make French Fry Cookies

A few weeks ago Mr. Preppy Cookie and I were invited to a BBQ. Of course I did not want to go empty handed and thought through what to bring. It was a co-worker crowd but also kid-friendly so I decided to make a batch of "hamburger cupcakes." My mom and I brainstormed about a fun cookie compliment to the burgers and fries seemed like the obvious fit.

I am not the first one to make french fry cookies but thought it would be fun to share my version.  They are EASY and equally intriguing to the party guests as the cupcakes themselves.  Add a side of red buttercream frosting "ketchup" and you could skip the burgers entirely.  Enjoy!

What you will need:

-Batch of your favorite sugar cookie dough
-Coarse sugar sprinkles
-Small amount of water
-Baking sheet
-Pizza cutter
-French fry container to display cookies in

First roll out your dough.

Take the pizza cutter and trim the ends from the dough.

Then cut the section into smaller squares. (Precision is NOT the key here...french fries are not perfectly shaped nor should these cookies be.)

Add the imperfect squares to your cookie sheet (I always line mine with parchment paper.)  Take a mister or clean finger and brush the tops of each cookie with a small glaze of water.

Coat each cookie with coarse sugar sprinkles prior to baking.

Bake the cookies according to your recipe.  (Hint: I always put my cookie sheets directly into the freezer for about 10 minutes prior to baking them.  This helps cut-out cookies hold their shape.)

Once they are out of the oven, take your pizza cutter and cut each square into small strips while the cookies are still hot.  Keep trimming them down until you have the french fry shape you are going for.

To me, packaging means a lot.  I will drive a longer distance and even pay a little more money to purchase items in shops that I know will nicely package the gifts I am buying.  Don't let that mindset leave you when it comes to fun food presentations.

I went to McDonald's and asked to purchase 6 mini fries, hold the fries.  This caused quite the stir at my Mickey D's and resulted in a long flurry of embarrassing activity until they agreed to just give them to me.  (Side note:  I used to LOVE McDonald's....and am also a vegetarian.  I have ordered a #2 with no meat for many years and this request for 6 mini fry containers caused more commotion than ordering a hamburger with no meat.  Hopefully your McD's will be more understanding of the need to display cookies in a creative manner.)

That's it...enjoy!

My friend told me that the morning after the party, her son found a stray cookie fry on the floor of their car...and ate it!  Now that's a compliment. :)