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No one ever warned me about real adult conversations with grown up boys. I kind of just assumed that if we speak the same language and I'm careful about my words that guys would understand me. But real life conversations with my husband turn out more like this --

I go through phases. In college, I went through a tortilla phase. For weeks on end, every meal I ate included tortillas. Sometimes they *only* included tortillas. (I did say I was in college, right?) It wasn't a conscious decision it just happened. And one day, completely without realizing it, I moved on. (To cottage cheese  and pickles if you must know.) I've gone through tomato phases and stir-fry phases and while in Korea, I went through a phase of going out to eat only to return home and eat again because I had accidentally ordered neck bone soup instead of rice and vegetables. Or hot pepper spaghetti instead of rice and vegetables. Or spicy octopus instead of rice and... you know what? I think you get the picture. I do the same thing with cookies. For weeks every cookie I make will have sanding sugar on top of it. (Maybe because I'm too lazy to put them away? And since they are there...) Or I'll paint all my cookies. Or... currently... I'll make Royal Icing T...

If you are going to use sanding sugar, there are some thing you need to know about it. 1. Sanding sugar is a fun accent. 2. It's sparkly. And I like that. 3. You can use it to add dimension.   4. It gets everywhere. Everywhere is not an exaggeration. It gets in your brain and under your microwave. It sticks to your clothes and rolls into the shadows. You've got to build yourself a trap and be ready for it before it turns on you. There's no room for tolerance and mercy here. Sanding sugar is not going to give you a second chance. Make sure that the entire cookie is dry. Pipe fresh icing wherever you want the sanding sugar to stick. Place the cookie on a cooling rack or dehydrator tray. Put two paper towels underneath the rack or tray. The paper towels should still be connected. Use a spoon to gently shake the sanding sugar over the top of the cookie, completely covering the fresh icing. Gently shake the rack or tray and the excess s...

Pumpkin season is coming. Which means... you're going to need some puffy icing to get all that gorgeous texture you've been dreaming about all year. There are 2 things you need to know if you want puffy icing. First -- and really, this is ALWAYS the first thing you should think about when making cookies -- you need the right icing consistency. For regular type puffy icing, when you draw a line through the icing with a knife, it should take at least 15 seconds to disappear . But if you want crazy-puffy type icing, it needs to be closer to 19-20 seconds before it disappears. My new test for puffy icing consistency sounds a little passive-aggressive, but I'm going to tell you anyway. I stir it all up and then while the surface of the icing is all uneven and you can still see the stir lines, I bang the bowl on the counter 5 times. If the surface has smoothed out... I call it good. I'm just a little impatient these days and have decided that 20 seconds is entirely...

I'm not quite sure what I've done to Autumn. But the fact of the matter is... that Autumn doesn't like me. Either that or Autumn REALLY likes me and is also a 10 year old boy. That explanation makes more sense because I've been super nice to Autumn. I welcome it with open arms. I decorate my house so it feels all comfortable. We get ready for the visit weeks before it actually comes. And a few weeks ago it got cold out of nowhere. And it rained. And we wore jackets and opened the windows and thought that life was beautiful and fresh and livable again. My kids were skipping to school. Actually, that might have been me again. I just love Autumn. And then... Autumn went away. And left a joy sucking hole behind in the shape of Autumn. I refused to admit that it was gone. I left my windows open in the face of the returned heat. You couldn't have ripped my jacket from my overheated body. And I felt completely justified when Autumn came back a week later. I thought maybe...

Circles remind me of middle school. The taunting, the teasing, the unachievable perfection staring me in the face. Luckily, there's no impossible locker code to remember for baking perfect circles. Just this one simple tip. Use 2 circle cutters. The end. Just kidding. Let's be clear. First, it's super important that you find a recipe you love that doesn't spread. (Try this vanilla or this chocolate one if you need a suggestion.) Then cut out a circle of dough just larger than the circle you actually want. Transfer it in all its wonky, stretching goodness to your baking sheet. Then re-cut with your smaller, perfect circle cutter. Remove the excess cookie dough and...Ta da! Instant perfect circle for baking. The end for real. NEED MORE? My favorite set of circle cutters . Arguably my favorite set of cutters ever. How to pipe a straight line . Keep your letters clean and sharp . Put those baked circles to good use with these Hallo...

I think we've established that I don't like to throw icing away .  I can't help it. My grandma taught me to use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without. So with that perfectly sound advice running through my head, (and now yours) let me show you what I do with all the bits and pieces of leftover icing from my last cookie journey of discovery each time I start a new one. If I have a lot of icing leftover, I merge it into a new color for my next set. But when I only have a little of each of them, I just toss them all in one bowl. Usually this bowl has a lid that is airtight. But it's not pretty. And I wanted to take a pretty picture. Although, given that standard, there really isn't an explanation for this picture. It's kind of what you might call "disgusting" or "not for young and impressionable eyes or really for anyone who ever plans on seeing again." Basically, I just mixed all my random colors together and got this gem....

Today you get a TWO for ONE. And I'm not talking about shampoo. Not even the super fantastic smelling kind that makes me want to eat my own shower. (PS -- Why do they make soaps smell edible? It's the worst kind of trap. You're showering and smelling all these delicious aromas and all you can think about is how much you want to eat those strawberries and limes and coconuts and honey-oatmeal cookies. And then you weigh yourself before getting dressed and decide that you do NOT want to eat all those delectable dishes after all. It's horribly mean of those shampoo and body wash people if you ask me. Which is why today's tip is NOT about shampoo. It's about cookies. Obviously. Dip your cutters in flour before cutting out the cookies. The flour on the edge of the dough will keep the cookies from spreading in the oven. And the flour on the inside of the cutter will help the dough release from the cutter. You know... like all those alphabet cutters that drive you ...

I've taught quite a few people to decorate cookies in my day. At least like.... seven people. So I consider myself to be somewhat of an expert beginning cookie decorator watcher. And I would say that perhaps the single most frustrating aspect of decorating for a beginner is getting consistency right.   And the second would be watching me pipe an outline and then trying it themselves only to discover that their perfect outline magically turned into a thin, squiggly outline instead. You can read all about icing consistency in THIS POST . And once you've got that mastered, or if you like to live in denial... we can talk about straight NON-SQUIGGLY outlines. At the risk of being incredibly annoying, I will say that first you need to have the right consistency of icing. It's got to be thick, or this just won't work. Second, don't touch the cookie ! The tip should only touch the cookie when you start, stop, and make a corner. Other than that, your goal is to lay do...