Thursday, December 05, 2013

A Cookie Tale



Trust me. These are pretty cookies. You can see the original photo here, on the Food Network page. 

I've had my eye on these cookies for quite awhile. Today seemed like a good day (more about that later) to bake them, my first baking of the season. 


First attempt on the right - a deformed star. Second attempt on the left - a cookie press star. So far, Cookies 2, Lorrie 0. This is the stickiest, most unmanageable dough I've ever worked with. I started with waxed paper as recommended, moved to parchment paper, then the cookie press. The kitchen looked like a Siberian snowstorm with icing sugar everywhere. I finally gave up. These will not be star cookies.
 

Instead, I rolled them into little balls, flattened them with a wet glass and carried on. Not as pretty (especially in this photo, taken as the afternoon darkened.) But they taste pretty good. If you make them, beware. Or maybe you have. I'd love to know how you fared. 


This is why I thought it a good day to begin baking. SNOW! Flakes fell slowly for several hours, but not much stuck. There's a little white frosting on the trees and plants. The brave rosebud looks a little chilly. Most of you would laugh at my excitement over the snow. I find it beautiful. Tonight, we'll go out for a walk. I hope it snows some more. 

Love snow or hate it? Any cookie tales to tell?

20 comments:

  1. Verrry interesting star cookies. At least they tasted good.
    Loved your rosebud with the snow in it -- great photo.
    Funny how snow gets us in the mood.

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  2. Well a reformed cookie is still a good cookies. Love the snow on your rose. I have been watching your snow all day - it is supposedly headed for us - and now they are saying perhaps up to 7 inches tonight - where did THAT come from. I hope for just a dusting, we'll see. I keep checking the deck to see if it has begun yet - but the radar still has it out on Vancouver Island - really hope it stays there - tomorrow would be the first day I've been out of the house in over two weeks because of a mean old cold and flu bug.

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  3. Thanks for sharing your real-life cookie story - it's good to know that this happens to other people!
    I had a call from home letting me know about the snow. Then followed photos of the drive and more snow (always more snow up our way). I lived for too many years in cold places, snowy places, winter places to be really happy about snow. I like it on Christmas Eve, or on a Saturday morning - times when I know I have time to stay home and appreciate how pretty it looks, and don't have to get out to shovel my way to the road.

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  4. LOVE snow! We're looking to (possibly) get some here too and I am just a LITTLE excited about that.
    What a neat photo of the rosebud in snow! If the cookies were yummy, then you win:)
    Blessings,
    Aimee

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  5. Love snow! And we might have a bit more than you, based on your description. Took Miss S out twice but she does NOT love the snow. Silly girl.

    And yes, I've had my own cookie disaster this year. It was the vegan margarine incident. Must try again.

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  6. Love--mostly....but not so much when I have to drive in it. I am sorry about your cookie experience. You made the best of it...for sure! We have all been there...and sometimes are not able to salvage the recipe at all.

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  7. A rosebud! How lovely. I wonder if you will bring it in and let it open indoors?
    I'm making cookies to pop in my gift bags for a Christmas fair tomorrow. Yours look.....interesting!

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  8. You gave me my first giggle of the morning Lorrie...the flower is lovely, the cookies...oh well they won't be seen after eating them and that is the best...to enjoy!
    I had made a large casserole for dinner the other evening...was preheating the oven and it caught fire...needed a new coil on my new stove...whew~

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  9. So funny! A couple of years ago I made some star cookies.....each star was a different shape and none looked like the star cutter I'd used! But they tasted nice.
    Helen x

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  10. Not a good time of year for a cookie recipe to get the best of you, at least you adapted the method and ended up with tasty treats. Congrats on your first snow, ours is all gone now after a temperature of 53 F yesterday.

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  11. We begin baking tomorrow so we'll see how it goes. :) Sometimes you wonder about a recipe and the photo of it and how much "styling" was done... I enjoy the beauty of snow, my kids excitement about it, and then my enjoyments fades, ha!

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  12. Oh, I so want to give into the mood the snow is trying to entice. Instead, I'm just a teensy bit grumpy because I have had to go out in it, not feeling well at all. But I hope that today's visit to the dentist will give me the all-clear to a happier pathway. And I do have a bit of baking planned for this afternoon, some girlfriends coming over for wine and snacks. Enjoy the good smells that must be filling your home!

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  13. I can feel your frustration in making those cookies Lorrie. ;) The snow on the rose is just beautiful. I like snow until Dec. 30 then we have to live with it for 3 - 4 more months. Not as much fun at that point but we make the best of it. I hope you got to walk in the snowflakes in the evening. :)

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  14. Love your cookies! I never make shaped cookies!!! ha! I have a friend that does that..... I just let her be the Queen of that! Love that rose in the snow........ it's finally cold here! But no precipitation!!! Stay warm!

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  15. Plan B looks terrific to me! I have such a rough time with cookie press cookies. It's a skill I have not mastered and they taste like nothing special so I'd love to have a tasty dough. The rose looks quite fine wearing white. You keep right on enjoying the snow.

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  16. Love snow if I don't have to go anywhere. I am not fond of driving in the snow...

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  17. Ah.. the snow on the rosebud is so pretty. I get excited about snow too.
    And that star cookie is beautiful. Sorry it did not work out .... but it looks like you make the best of it.

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  18. First cookies get baked here today...sugar cookies ( cut outs ) and then a bunch of little kids over to decorate them and make a mess later :)

    Your snow on the rose photo is just gorgeous! :)

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  19. I so understand the cookie issue. I was making snickerdoodle cookies, seems like an easy task. The first batch I baked 3 minutes less than called for and they turned out like steel. I was so frustrated, I refrigerated the dough. Tackled it the next day and baked them 2 minutes less than the time before. That finally was the right combination! hooray. Might have become a bit knotted up over that. lol

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  20. I am creating cookie stories by the hour this week - I just need to take a break from baking them to write down the stories. Three out of the first five recipes I made, I botched in one way or another. But I'm having fun!

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