I'm back after two weeks off (phew, what a crazy couple of weeks), and, boy, do I have a fun-filled cookie roundup for you tonight! Since our latest mystery shape challenge is about to come to a close, it's no surprise that...
About five years ago, we planted a California Black Oak tree in our front yard. We affectionately named it “Twiggy” because it was little more than a vertical branch sticking out of the ground. I can’t wait for the day when...
Seeing as this is my last Spotlight before Christmas (more on the Cookie Connection holiday schedule below), I'm just going to say this now in case I miss you on the 25th: MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE! May you have a...
In this edition of Toolbox Talk, I'm zooming in on another ingredient that can mystify cookiers outside of the United States (US): corn syrup. It is sometimes listed in royal icing recipes, but it is not available all over the world...
Congrats to all who entered Julia M. Usher’s Cookie Art Competition™! The call for entries closed about a week ago on October 15 (5 pm CDT), and I'm pleased to report that we have more entries (and our entrants are more geographically diverse) than ever before! This just goes to show that...
Well no one's ordered any autumn cookies from me this year, and I do love a collection of pumpkins and gourds. I always have a few in the window where I work. I particularly love the quirkily shaped, knobbly gourds, both beautiful and funny! Though...
I just returned from my first holiday party of the year, and, boy, did it ever put me in the Christmas spirit! (And solidly remind me that I need to get cracking on my decorating!)...
Once again, we've hopped-skipped-and-jumped straight from Halloween and onto Christmas! Aside: I've never understood why Thanksgiving gets the short end of the cookie-stick each year, but I've got some new Thanksgiving...
Hi, everyone! My apologies for taking so long to interview our August site artist Zeena Mohammad! I’ve been dying to get to know her better myself, so I’m quite relieved that my schedule has calmed enough to allow me to get her interview questions drafted and posted. As you may recall...
I'm back from Japan - and from the associated jet lag (I think)! Thanks, everyone, for granting me a little reprieve from Spotlights as I tended to my cookie courses. While the classes and whole experience were magical, it is nice to once again feel home turf underfoot and to be...
What makes the difference between a cookie aficionado and a cookiepreneur? Profit! Remember we are talking business here, and the bottom line is the bottom line. I am going to dive right into this two-part series. Part I, Creating a Successful...
Hi, all! Happy fall! We're in that inexplicably odd time zone where people tend to jump from Halloween cookies right into Christmas ones, forgetting about that wonderful Thanksgiving holiday that falls in between! Fortunately for us...
Well, after a very long fall season in St. Louis (my neighbor's golden gingko tree still had all of its leaves until last week), I can officially declare it's winter! I had to don triple layers today to...
Ah, summer. When my kids were in grade school, those first few weeks of summer vacation were like paradise. Sleeping in, staying up late, slumber parties, and lazy days - summer was everything they thought they wanted. As the days passed, however, they’d always reach a point when...
Wow, just as I thought we were hurtling full-throttle toward Valentine's Day, you guys threw me for a loop! The artists behind this week's ten top-trending cookies seem a little divided about whether...
I have been so looking forward to autumn and its colors that this month you will get more colorful leaves! They are...
This month, I'm sharing a different idea for a cookie platter where the cookies are propped vertically. I've displayed the mushroom cookies close together and used segments of a paper straw to connect them through holes cut into each cookie. This way...
Hi, all! I'm back from my teaching trip and ready to kick into high gear on Saturday Spotlights again! I thank you all for your patience and understanding over the last two weeks as I worked through some big cookie commitments on this end. I think I've finally recuperated...
If you're anything like me – and countless other cookiers - you probably have at least ten or twenty (dozen) cookie cutters in your collection. And with all of those cookie cutters to keep track of, there's bound to be one or two that will have you asking...
As I mentioned with some dismay in last week's Spotlight, it seems that cookiers always hop from Halloween right over Thanksgiving and onto Christmas, without ever giving turkeys, pumpkin pies, or other Thanksgiving themes a chance...
Deck the halls with bowls of cookies, fa la la la la, la la la la! See the blazing oven before us, fa la la la la, la la la la! Oops, wrong lyrics! What can I say, all of the amazing holiday cookies posted this past week have gotten me way into the yuletide baking spirit!
Well, I wouldn't have guessed it, but after a week of being on vacation with nary a cookie in sight, I was overjoyed to return to work (aka Cookie Connection ) on Wednesday, and to be inundated with all of your fabulous creations! I couldn't...
I don’t know about you, but I have faced many challenges in my lifetime, the biggest of which knocked me down so hard I thought I would never survive. Oddly enough, it was through that challenge that I found my true calling and built a small...
The cookie season is kind of relentless, isn't it? I mean, no sooner do Christmas and New Year's pass than we're dusting off our heart cutters and cranking the ovens and mixers in prep for Valentine's Day sets...
Admittedly, I'm a little ODed on pumpkins and ghosts around about this time each year! But considering we've got less than one week to go 'til the big day - and we've got such an abundance of great Halloween cookies on the site - I had no choice...
Halloween is quickly approaching, so it's time to get planning for it! The big question is . . . do you have the coolest, most scary costume of the night picked out? And what about your Halloween cookies? They...
Our site algorithms have spoken again! They've factored in all of our visitors' comments, views, and reactions to come up with the trending rankings that determine our weekly Saturday Spotlight roundup...
Hi, everyone! Thanks so much for the brief reprieve from the Spotlight over the last two weekends. Having a week off did me a world of good! I can finally think clearly enough to resume my cookie work! I sincerely hope you...
The first time I heard about shortening was when an American colleague couldn't find it for a recipe she planned to make for Thanksgiving dinner. When she served sweet potatoes covered with melted marshmallows, I wasn't immediately...
Congrats to this week's honorees! Most are still-high-trending Easter cookies, though a smattering of springtime and Mother's Day-themed cookies also registers among the hot list. Special kudos to...
How exciting! The cookie competition of the year is here in its brand new, shiny virtual format! Here is where you will find all of the information to help you register for and later submit your entry into the 2021 virtual edition of Julia M. Usher’s Cookie Art Competition™...
Fellow cookiepreneurs, the holidays are upon us, and I hope this month’s post finds you in high spirits and looking forward to the coming days. Before I begin, I wanted to share that I recently received feedback that some of you would be...
It's about that time, folks, and so naturally we've been inundated with sp-ookies this past week. (BTW, "sp-ookies" is short for spooky cookies, a term conjured up after imbibing too much witches' brew when writing this post. ) While...
Ta da! I’m back – with another Cookier Close-up! This time, it’s with Noriko Forster, who goes by two cookie names on the internet - mintlemonade and Cookie Crumbs!
Creating dimensional royal icing designs on my cookies is one of my favourite techniques. I especially love the more complex designs that make cookies a thrilling challenge.
There is something about painting on a cookie that I can't resist. People say it's a great stress release and outlet for self-expression and creativity. For me, painting is not only a very accessible and enjoyable...
In a mere two weeks, the kiddos will be traipsing through our neighborhoods, in full goblin and ghost garb, in quest of Halloween sweets. I realize that we...
With the frenzied prep for my next video shoot (next weekend) coming to a close, it's nice to finally be able to relax for more than a sec and to really savor what's on this week's hot list. And savor I have - this week's roundup is...
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas here on Cookie Connection! While most people ramp up for the Christmas season after Thanksgiving, we cookiers have to start planning our cookie sets well in advance of the holiday rush...
Years ago, my husband and I decided to bring in a sofa that we’d been storing in our garage. After lugging in the unwieldy piece of furniture, we plopped down on it in triumph. I turned to look at my husband, and my smile melted into horror. Perched on his neck was a...
Just mention the word "marketing" to a cookie maker, and she'll most likely want to run and hide under a blankie. We all know marketing is really important, and we know we need to do it, but we don't entirely understand what it is or...
A few months ago, I made a water lily pond cookie set inspired by a couple of real ponds that I saw during a trip. One pond had pink flowers, and the other pond had white ones. That set was my...
We're still three weeks away from trick-or-treaters descending on Webster Groves (my little Midwest suburb), and only a few of my neighbors' homes have taken on their usual spooky garb for Halloween, but you Cookie Connection cookiers are no slackers...
Ooh, I just love this time of year on the site, don't you? I mean, who needs visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads when there are so many glorious Christmas cookies dancing across our screens?! Tonight, I'm featuring this week's top ten cookies, but it should come as no surprise that...
As I am nearly on my way out the door for a week of vacation, I decided to bring you this week's Spotlight a day early! And, as turkey day is nearly upon us all (here in the US, that is), there's no more fitting subject matter for this Spotlight than Thanksgiving...
Hello! I sincerely hope everyone in the US is enjoying the long Labor Day weekend, and that others elsewhere are finding some time to chill out as well. I too am trying my darnedest to get in a little downtime before the fall sugar show season kicks in next weekend...
This project is halfway between a cookie platter and a 3-D cookie project. It is once again intended to be a treat to share with friends, with the 3-D mug offering a new and different way to arrange and serve cookies...
Hi, all! I'm back with our "usual" Spotlight after a whirlwind week of triaging the vast amount of CookieCon coverage generated by our talented team of correspondents ! Congrats again to Barb Florin, Beverly Parker, Jen Wagman, and...
High on spice yet relatively delicate in texture, this dough is perfect for 2-D cookies and small-scale 3-D construction projects, like my sandwiched baskets and Fabergé egg cookies shown in the attachments. It also spreads less than my...
Thank you all for participating in the first-ever survey of Sugar Dot Surveys! I wanted to find out what (if anything) you use to speed-dry your icing, and how you use those tools and why. You sure did come through. Those who participated range from...
