So sorry, no Saturday Spotlight AGAIN this week. I just had to finish up my recap of the recent Cookie Cruise while I could still get away with calling it "recent", and while my old memory still had a decent recollection of events....
OK, so I lied. Last week, I said the Saturday Spotlight would resume as usual this week, and I honestly thought it would at the time . . . But as I sat down to sift through the various photos on various hot lists, it dawned on me that I never did...
So back when I gave the Cookie Connection contributors' team the impossible task of selecting the winners in the 2014 Cookiers' Choice Awards , I also gave them the equally impossible exercise of choosing their two favorite cookie photos posted to...
Yep, we're still celebrating National Cookie Month, and today we're doing it with more of my fellow YouTubers' favorite cookie videos! In last week's installment of our film fest , we savored the simple life - homemade chocolate chip cookies,...
This is just such big news that it merits BOTH a forum post and a blog post! In case you missed my earlier forum post, here's what I'm talking about . . . Serious congratulations are in order for several Cookie Connection members! As...
It's been a while (May, to be exact) since this itinerant cookie decorator hit the streets. But last week I satisfied my growing cookie wanderlust by trekking to São Paulo, Brazil and back for the 1º Encontro de Designers de...
Wow, it's been another great week of cookie photos here on Cookie Connection ! Many clips have been sporting rust, teal, and peacock blue in keeping with the ongoing Practice Bakes Perfect color challenge . (BTW, if you haven't yet entered, there's...
Hey, all! This week's Saturday Spotlight is taking on a very different shape than the norm (and coming a day early) for a couple of reasons: (A) I'm on "vacation" this weekend, and my husband is likely to wring my neck if I spend any time on the...
So this week I'm doing what I usually do when I'm in a rut: I'm shaking things up! Don't worry, I'll spare you my rendition of Donna Summer's smash tune from the 80s . (That would be too scary!) I'm just taking a break from the usual...
Some daughters give chocolates to pay tribute to their moms. Others send pretty bouquets of flowers . . . And then there are those rare others, like this week's honorees, who take the time to craft something uniquely special - a cookie gift that...
Phew! It's pretty fair to say I'm on Mothers' Day overload - with my own cookies, that is. I just completed another day-long video shoot, and several weeks of the usual nose-to-the-grindstone, head-in-the-sand prep that precedes these...
I thought CookieCon -goers would be slow to rise after the non-stop program of classes (and socializing) yesterday. But - lo and behold - the Hilton Ballroom was already buzzing at 8:30 am with those getting a jumpstart on their "open...
At a loss for clever St. Paddy's Day designs? Got angst about coming up empty-handed at next weekend's big céilidh (psst . . . that's pronounced kaylee)? Worry no more - the cookies celebrated in this post could very well be your lucky charm!...
Day 18 (February 20), 10:30 am to 2:00 am. My teaching days here in Portugal (three of them) don't start until Saturday, so the next two days are designated sightseeing days! And it seems as if my host Teresa has a lot planned for us to do. Woo...
Day 7 (February 9), 8:00 am. Hmmm . . . I'm a little less spritely than yesterday when the alarm sounds off this morning. I chalk it up to the extra concentration required to teach without being conversant in the classroom's language. All of my...
Day 6 (February 8), 8:00 am. My iPhone alarm sounds off a full two hours later than usual, and I'm showing none of my typical hit-the-pause-button-and-roll-over predispositions. We were so organized at the conclusion of yesterday's class...
WARNING: What you are about to read (a daily - or thereabouts - travelogue documenting my cookie teaching trip to Spain and Portugal) may be TMI for many of you. But for those contemplating similar trips, I hope it will serve as a healthy dose of...
So sorry for the delay in posting this week's featured cookies*, but as you may or may not know, last week I was visiting Naples (Florida and Italy), where I enjoyed attractions as incongruous as alligators in the Everglades and flour mills in ancient...
Sometimes you have a cookie idea, but you do not have the right cookie cutter, or you cannot find it anywhere. Don't worry; I bet that if you look through all your cookie cutters you will be able to find a way to put your idea in action. ...
Though perhaps best known for her blockbuster blog, Glorious Treats, which delves into everything from cookies and cakes to all-out dessert parties, Glory Albin is far more than her online presence. In just over three years, she’s become...
What a week it has been! There was a Flower Moon, Cinco de Mayo, and the coronation. Not to mention birthdays, graduations, and nuptials. And absolutely let's not forget...
As you probably know, Julia M. Usher’s Cookie Art Competition™ returns to its usual in-person format at That Takes the Cake Show (TTTC) in Round Rock, Texas on March 31, 2023. I am super excited to finally see sponsors and competitors in the flesh! If you read this sponsor shout-out from me last year, what follows will feel a lot like...
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...
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...
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...
Guess what, everyone?! The Bake Fest is back, and so am I! I am beyond excited, because I will be teaching another...
Hi, competitors! This week, I introduce you to the illustrious judges of Julia M. Usher’s Cookie Art Competition™ - three out of four of them at least! In the following video, judges Sandie Beltran, Stephanie Kappel, and Laura Saporiti tell you a bit about their competition and judging experience, as well as...
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...
In case you missed the choice tidbit that I slipped into my earlier post this week with Stacy Frank's video, here it is again! Drum roll, please...
Hi, all. I wanted to alert all competitors to two clarifications made to the 2-D Cookie Definition over the last two days. These changes have been...
As you sit poolside sipping a summer cocktail and basking in the sun, fall may not be calling you just yet. But, I assure you, with the way time flies, it will be soon! So, to get you geared up for that active autumn cookie season, I've got a charming fall-themed stencil design to help make easy work of those upcoming orders. It features...
Hi, all! It's that time again! This week, our Spotlight features a nice blend of old-timers and newcomers, as well as a few Practice Bakes Perfect Challenge #42 entries...
We're now fully immersed in fall here on Cookie Connection! From gourds and sunflowers to woodland scenes and critters, this week's hot list* has all manner of autumnal motifs. Heck, even the...
Woot woot! Another amazing set of ten top-trending cookies! Like last week, entries from our ongoing floral challenge command our hot list*. Pssst . . . that challenge closes on August 30, so...
This week, I'm changing things up again, all with the intention of casting the spotlight on a tremendously valuable, but sometimes overlooked area of the site...
Seeing as it's the Fourth of July, I thought it only appropriate to feature the ten top-trending patriotic cookies on the site this week. Naturally, there's lots of red, white, and blue depicted in our...
Happy New Year! Perhaps (wink, wink), your New Year's resolutions include improving your cookie game by entering more Practice Bakes Perfect Challenges in 2020. In fact, on the Cookie Connection calendar, I believe 2020 is the Year of the Healthy Risk!...
Thank you all for participating in the most recent questionnaire in my Sugar Dot Surveys series. In this survey, I asked you questions about how you use social media to share your cookie decorating business or hobby. I was curious about...
Christmas seems to come earlier and earlier each year, doesn't it? And I have no shame about helping it to arrive even sooner with this month's fun and festive holiday sets!...
If you're one who explores all the sidebars of this site (as I hope you do!), you're probably wondering what's up with the recent appearance of this photo...
Two weeks may have passed, but my jaw is still scraping the floor in amazement over the winning entries in my 3-D Cookie Art Competition™ that took place at the Show Me Sweets show on July 13 and 14. In a few months, you'll get a more complete recap once...
I've just got to preface this week's Spotlight with a huge "OMG"! I'm not sure if you noticed, but we had an unprecedented number (and quality) of last-minute entries into our latest "Inside the Box" Practice Bakes Perfect Challenge. Yes, hard to believe, but...
Hello! It's once again time for my monthly stencil release, and I've got two sweet sets that I've been teasing you with for a while now! Yes, I'm releasing an adaptation of the bakery-themed Dynamic Duos™ sets that I originally custom-designed for a girl's bat mitzvah back in March...
It used to be, back when I was growing up, that moms memorialized their love of their kids in painstakingly traced and cut black silhouettes. Today (sadly), the immediacy of cell phone pics seems to have replaced that wonderful ritual of portrait-posing and the art itself...
Hi, everyone! I'll cut to the chase . . . After much long and very hard deliberation, I've decided to shutter the Cookiers' Choice Awards, at least for the foreseeable future. For five amazing years, we've celebrated the incredible cookie contributions of our community through this awards program...
Woo hoo! I've got a special Spotlight for you today - a recap of the CookieCon 2018 Sugar Show, which concluded with much fanfare only a couple of days ago! As you may or may not know, CookieCon is the largest cookie-only convention in the United States...
Here's a peek at what happened on Day One of CookieCon 2018, starting with the first-ever CookieCon showpiece and...
My cookies for the Sugar Show are made and now I’ve started to pull everything together for CookieCon. In the photo above, you can see my cookie containers, my carry-on that I bought at the first CookieCon, and my backpack...
Even though summer doesn't officially start until June 21, I've "seas"ed the new season with this month's nautical-themed release! As always, I'll show you my new stencils and how they work, but I'm also going to share an extra summery flourish...
Not to be confused with Mexican Independence Day, which is two-day celebration spanning September 15 and 16, Cinco de Mayo actually commemorates the Mexican Army's win over the French Empire in the 1862 Battle of Puebla. But over time, here in the US anyway...
