[JULIA'S QUESTION #1] That’s such a hard question; I don’t know if I could choose! I’m a baker at heart, and both cookies and pies are two really great creative outlets for me. I love cookies because I can be so creative with how they look (and they taste good!). I love pies because I can be so creative with flavors, and I can use many of my cookie-decorating skills to make them look great, too!

[JULIA'S QUESTION #2] In our book, we take a fun and modern approach to the world of pie making. We created pies in fun flavors like root beer float, bubble gum, and caramel popcorn. We’ve also found inspiration in classic cocktails like the Manhattan, Old Fashioned, and Bloody Mary. In addition, we use modern techniques, like sous vide, to perfectly cook fruit fillings for pies ensuring bright fresh flavors with fruits that hold their shape and slice perfectly.

[JULIA’S QUESTION #3] Yes—we are so fortunate to be working with Clarkson Potter! They have published some of my favorite cookbook authors, including Martha Stewart and Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa. In 2017, I won the Best of Show Award at the National Pie Championships. After my win, the New York Times wrote a story about my husband and me and our pie baking adventures. After the Times story came out, we were contacted by a few publishers and literary agents. After working with our incredible agent to develop a formal book proposal over several months, we ultimately ended up with a contract with Clarkson Potter. The book proposal was a great exercise, because it really got us to think about what our book would “look” like and how it could be different from the other books on the market—important things for a publisher!

Thank you!

Writing a book is hard work, and it’s been so great that Paul and I can both work together on it. He’s a baker (and scientist!), as well, and he focuses more on the fruit and nut pies. I focus mostly on the cream pies. We “crossover” and do the other’s occasionally, but we sort of have our specialties now.

It was exhausting! We bake throughout the year, so we had a lot of pie ideas and recipes on standby, so those were the first ones that we worked on for the book.

Hmm...for a cookbook, I would say (1) know WHY you want to publish the book and what you want out of it; (2) know WHAT you want in the book and know the book market to know how your book would be different from others like it, and (3) get an agent! There is a lot to navigate as part of the publishing process, and our agent has been a HUGE help. We have a great publisher, too, and a fantastic editor who has made the process really great and fun.

I can not hear the chat. Any suggestions?

me too

A few reasons, I suppose. For one, I've always loved cookbooks, and I love the chance to contribute to such an incredible legacy of American cooking, especially with a classic American dessert like pie. I like cookbooks, too, because they are a "forever" kind of thing, and I like having a cookbook that I can feel and hold and take into the kitchen. Certainly, online tutorials would be a great supplement to the book.

I hadn't had publishing a cookbook on my radar at the time. It was something I had wanted to do, but I wasn't sure if it was the right time. When the New York Times article came out, and we started the proposal process, it ended up that we partnered with Clarkson Potter (who are fabulous, by the way!). I guess the time was right.

Yes, and it's definitely great to have an editor and a design team at a publisher who knows what works in a book and can guide authors in the right direction.

How did Chris get that perfect Gold for the Oscars cookies?

Great question, Lilly! The cookie itself was covered all in white royal icing. I then used edible paint (just food gel colors diluted with alcohol) to create the different shades of gold and brown for the color. I worked off of a picture of an Academy Award to help get the tones right.

I mostly used Gold, Egg Yellow, Lemon Yellow, Warm Brown, and Black from Americolor to create the shades.

I think my next true cookie project will be to set up for CookieCon! I want to make sure that I'm organized and ready for the course in Indianapolis.

Thank you! My bad!

I miss doing cookies as much, but focusing on pies has been really fun, too.

I'm going to focus on painting cookies, but I haven't quite narrowed down exactly what yet. Luckily, I still have some time before I have to know for certain. I have so many ideas, sometimes I get frustrated trying to pick just one!

This will be my 2nd CookieCon, and I can't wait! I had such a great time at the last one--such a great group of people!

I definitely do like painting the cookies. I think it's such a fun way to really make a showpiece unique. Someone may be able to do a similar look with 20 shades of royal icing, but I don't have the patience (or the skill!) to pull that off!

Do you have an idea of what we can look forward to from you at CookieCon? (Subject wise)

Will you be able to go this year Julia? I seen you have multiple trips coming up.

Hi Beth! I will be focusing on painting on flooded cookies. I'm not sure exactly which cookies to painting techniques yet, though.

Chris, will you be sharing any of your cookie painting how-tos in online tutorials?

Good question, Lilly--I haven't done any painting tutorials. Really, all of my ideas on how to paint on cookies came from Liz Adams (AKA Arty McGoo). I use her techniques most of the time, and her online tutorials on McGooU are fabulous!

I do have a setup for filming myself decorating, maybe I'll set it up the next time I start painting@

I mostly use Americolor gels, and I dilute them with alcohol. I prefer Everclear because it's very high in alcohol and it evaporated without pitting the royal icing. The paint then works like watercolor paint. The more alcohol you add to it, the lighter in color it gets. That's how you can create such a range of shades using just one color!

Cray-cray is an under statement girl! Wish you luck with everything and safe travels!

Actually, I do all kinds of baking! Every year, we enter the Georgia National Fair's culinary contests, and I enter about 40 things, including cakes, cookies (drop, bar, and decorated) as well as candies and sometimes breads! I don't have a lot of experience with decorating cakes, so my cakes are usually simple buttercream cakes with a few flourishes.

I love all kinds of baking--it's just finding the time to do it all!

It's funny, I don't consider myself a naturally competitive person, but I love baking contests! What I love the most is creating the recipe---I can be creative and regardless of whether I win a prize or not, I come away with a great recipe that I'm proud of.

I think, if someone wants to enter a competition, one of the best pieces of advice I have is to READ the RULES. There are so many times where people walk away without a prize because they mistakenly didn't meet the criteria for entering or misjudged a technical aspect that put them in violation of the rules.

Definitely! Because we test our competition recipes so much, they are perfect for inclusion in the book, because we know they work and are reliable--musts for publishing a book!

I enter the decorated cookie categories at the state fair, and I often get a blue ribbon. Other than that, I've only enter in the Sugar Show at the past CookieCon. I didn't earn any prizes, but the competition is pretty stiff! I entered the Academy Award cookies and a set of painted drink cookies that included the cosmo cookie shared earlier.

Exactly! And the same thing goes for baking cakes or pies, too. Taste, appearance, consistency, crust, and crumb all go into the scores--a lot of things to think about!

Oooh, I don't know about that! I never say no to anything, but there is such an incredible amount of talent in the cookie world, I'd have to really think about what I would want to share and how it would differ from other great books on the market. And Paul doesn't decorate cookies, so it would be even harder to write on my own!

What advice does Chris have for the newbie just getting started?

I would say, don't be afraid to ask questions! The cookie community is full of so many great people! I find that most cookie artists are all to eager to answer questions about how to do something to accomplish a look. There are several great cookie communities on Facebook that are very active and the members provide a LOT of great advice--many questions asked and answered every day! Seek those out!

Also--practice, practice, practice! No one is born an expert!

Thank you Chris and Julia for this live chat, I truly enjoyed it. Wish I could go to CookieCon, but they sold out of tickets the first day! Dollar short, and a day Late. Next year for sure. Hopefully Chris you'll have a class. I attended Julia's class at Wilton; it was so fantastic!

Having never been to CookieCon, I didn't know what to expect at the Sugar Show competition. I went in doing my best, and I was so proud of my entries, even without an award for them. That might be different for someone who is more competitive than me, but I really think it's all about the process.

Thank you--this was so much fun!!

Sounds great!

I have nothing else. Just want to thank Chris for his time and Julia for putting this together. Julia I love to watch you on Youtube! I learn a lot! Thanks again to you both!

Thank you, Beth!

Gotta say its amazing the cookie decorators out there and what they can do. I'm like a sponge trying to learn as much as possible!