I can still feel the seasonal ambiguity in the air! 
Just as the weather is vacillating between extremes here in St. Louis (one day, it's balmy and hot, and, the next, it's cool and crisp), so too are our cookie themes bouncing all over the map! This week, we've got everything from summer sunflowers and gardens to Christmas snowflakes and reindeer on our hot list*! 
I kid you not. Granted, the last set is a site art submission for December (thank you, once again, @Gingerland), but, still, you guys have me wondering whether to throw on my swimsuit or air out my mothball-packed winter coats to ready them for use!
But, hey, don't get me wrong; I'm not complaining - I always love to see your ingenuity and skills (of which you have plenty) applied to any theme! The results always amaze, and this week is no different. Please enjoy what you are about to see, and, along the way, be sure to shout out "congrats" to our honorees.
But, first, one important housekeeping note before the big reveal: This Spotlight will be the last one for about two weeks, as I'm heading into arguably the busiest teaching time of my year. Since I'll be working/traveling all of next weekend and doing the same all of the following one, Spotlights will resume on Saturday, October 5 (which, BTW, should be a doubly great day, as we have a live chat double feature that morning).
Now, back to the important cookie business of today . . . without further ado, I present to you this week's hottest ten cookies . . .
#1: The Dragon by Sofiya [EDITOR'S NOTE: Congrats, @Sofiya, not only for being ranked number one by your colleagues, but also for your cover image honor. This piece was simply too spectacular not to get topmost billing at the start of this post! ]
#2: Fantasy Garden by Teri Pringle Wood
#3: Vanilla Ice by Teri Pringle Wood
#4: For a Boy by Ewa Kiszowara MOJE PIERNIKI
#5: Snowflakes and Reindeer by Gingerland [EDITOR'S NOTE: Everyone, stay tuned! This set will be gracing our site banner and background come December!]
#6: 2019 Scarecrows by Teri Pringle Wood [EDITOR'S NOTE: Teri does it for a third time this week! Woo hoo!]
#7: Autumn Leaves by Gingerland [EDITOR'S NOTE: Another site art contribution that's going to stun in our banner and backdrop!]
#8: Parrot Cookie by Olivera Vlah
#9: A Little Steampunk by Teri Pringle Wood [EDITOR'S NOTE: Teri does it for a third time this week! I stand corrected! Teri does it for a FOURTH time this week! Way to go, @Teri Pringle Wood!]
#10: Bride to Be by Tina at Sugar Wishes
Wonderful work, honorees! And to everyone, have a great two weeks while I'm away. By this time next Saturday, I'll be thoroughly ensconced in summer (with no ambiguity whatsoever 
), as I'm cruising (and cookie-ing) to Cozumel, Jamaica, and the Cayman Islands! (Don't hate me . . . it's actually hard work!) "See" you on October 5, hopefully looking a little more sun-kissed than I do at present!
So that no one has an unfair advantage in making it onto a hot list, the algorithm is secret even to site administrators. Only our platform developers know the code, which has been exhaustively tested by those developers and Cookie Connection staff.
All photos shown here are the courtesy (and copyright) of the designers listed.
To check out our other hot lists, at any time of day, visit our Hot Spot, also found in the site's main navigation line.
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