You may still be lingering poolside, or perhaps just starting the summer wind-down and prep for back to school, but the internet is telling us it's already time for Halloween cookies! Say it isn't so?! Just take a look at...
If you were involved with Julia M. Usher’s Cookie Art Competition™ last year, then these faces will be very familiar to you. Yes, my 2021 judging team will remain intact for 2022 for the very simple reason that my judges are experts in what they do and the judging process. Plus, I trust them implicitly with doing your entries justice - I know in my heart of hearts that they will deliver the most thorough and fair evaluations imaginable! If you're not familiar with these folks, it is...
Hi, all! I'm still in Maine on vacation, tending to some stonework that's being done for me, and also working on digital design boards to help visualize renovated rooms in need of furnishings. In between all of this designing, I took a...
Still hesitating to register? Take it from Claudia Prati, the 2021 2-D Cookie winner and first-ever Kerry Vincent Best in Show Award winner: Don't...
Hello, all! I'm on vacation this week through next Sunday, so I'm going to keep this post short and sweet - and I mean that! Without further ado (I told you so), I present the cookies that topped our hot list this week. They include...
I wasn’t trying to pick favorites when I made a cookie inspired by one of my dogs. But ever since, my daughter has been campaigning for our cat to get a cookie of his own. I’m not surprised; they have always had a special bond. We’ve had our cat since my daughter was little, and they’ve been an inseparable pair. While the décor in her room...
First, thanks to everyone who watched judge Laura Saporiti and me live on Facebook on July 25! You all had some great questions about my cookie art competition. If you missed the live, don't fret! You can . . .
Hi, everyone! As you may know, I chatted with my lovely and talented judge You Can Call Me Sweetie (Sandie Beltran) in early July about my annual cookie art competition, aka Julia M. Usher’s Cookie Art Competition™. We focused on...
Still on the fence about whether to enter Julia M. Usher’s Cookie Art Competition™? Well, you shouldn’t be! In these videos, one in English and another in Spanish, we hear from last year’s winner in the 3-D Cookie category and Gold Sponsor, Beatriz Muller of Cakes by Beatriz and Gingerneers. She explains why competing is...
Hi, everyone! I am so happy and honored to be taking over the Cookie Connection challenges from Christine Dutcher (aka Sweet Prodigy) who has inspired us for the past 11 challenges in the Practice Bakes Perfect edition. Thank you, Julia M. Usher, for giving me the opportunity to host these challenges in the new Watch-Learn-Create format, which involves...
Aha! I'm back for the second Spotlight in two weeks! That must be a recent record! I wish I could say things have settled down, but as soon as my new site launched, I kicked into high gear with video production for my new stencil-cutter-video kits (coming in mid-September) and prep for the debut of Challenge #51 in our new Watch-Learn-Create series hosted by Manu. Speaking of that challenge, it...
Hi, cookie friends! Yes, the day is here for my new site reveal, and it's surely been a long time coming! Migrating 12 years of content from my dated site to a much more powerful and complex platform proved to be a daunting task all by itself. But then that content needed freshening up with the two year's worth of photos, product announcements, and other paraphernalia that I had never found time to post. And let's not forget that...
Hey, all! Thanks for your patience as you've waited for the next Close-up. I've had a rough couple of weeks with helping to pack up my mom's house to ready it for showings. She'll be moving nearer to me here in St. Louis, hopefully by year end, and the real estate agent who's listing her house was adamant that...
You asked, and we answered! Check out this post to see the video replay from Julia's July 7th live Q&A with guest and judge Sandie Beltran...
Over the last two months, the hills around our house have transitioned from a lively green to a sad brown to a lovely gold. Summer has definitely arrived. When my children were younger, this time of year we would always visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium. The aquarium never...
