Sunny Day, Sweepin' the Clouds Away...

...on my way, to where the air is sweet...

Can you tell me how to get,

How to get to Sesame Street?

Today, we're getting to Sesame Street via cookies.  I think this guy would approve:

As soon as I saw these Sesame Street cookie cutters at Williams Sonoma, I knew I must have them.

Sesame Street premiered in 1969...the same year I was born. 
Cookie Monster was born; Bridget was born.  Coincidence?   Separated at birth?

Anyhoo...I love Sesame Street.  I hear they're making Cookie eat vegetables these days.  I really don't want to believe that.

There is an Elmo cookie cutter in this set; I didn't make him.  When kiddo was little and I tried to force him to watch Sesame Street ("You'll love it; I promise!"), he would cry whenever Elmo's friend Mr. Noodle and Mr. Noodle's brother would come on the screen.

I would have substituted the Elmo cookie cutter for Grover. Or Count. Or Bert. Or Big Bird. (I'm old.)  Speaking of Grover, please tell me you have this book for your kids.  To this day, it is one of my favorites.

Back to the cookies...the cutters are designed to make an imprint of the design, which is so helpful when making characters.  They're also made to give you the option of making sandwich cookies, just press the imprinting part all the way down and it will cut out the mouth area.  Decorating instructions are included with the set.

***Keep in mind, if you are making these for a party, you might want to stick with 1 or 2 characters.  For these 3 guys, I needed to make 10 different icing colors.***

The cookies here are a new recipe.  Are you ready?
They're CHOCOLATE HAZELNUT CUT-OUTS.  As in, Nutella Cut-Outs.
You can find the recipe here, in the book!!!

{How's that for a teaser? ;)}
Since the cookies are a deep, dark brown, there was no need to use black icing to fill in the mouths on Cookie Monster or Oscar.

And how fun are Oscar's eyebrows?  That's just piping consistency icing "fluffed" up with a toothpick.

How'd you like a set of these for your own?  It seems only appropriate for the week of Jim Henson's birthday. ♥  Kiddo is convinced that "only people with little kids" will enter.  I had to remind him that his 42-year-old mother made a special trip to the mall just to purchase these...for HERSELF. ;)

Simply use the widget below to enter.  US entries only, please.  If you'd just like to leave a comment, use the comment form as usual.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
 

Who is YOUR favorite Sesame Street character?

More Tasty than a Chocolate Frog

*Do you have the theme song in your head yet?*

Last week, part one of the movie of the last Harry Potter book was released.

We haven't seen it, yet, but I must tell you, we LOVE Harry Potter.  At first glance, it may seem a story of wizards, but at it's heart, it is a tale of the power of love, loyalty, bravery, sacrifice and friendship.

Once I thought kiddo was old enough, we started reading them together.  Actually, *I* read them...aloud, all 4,100 pages of them (to be exact).  Snuggled on the couch, under a pile of afghans, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Hagrid and Dumbledore...they became a part of our lives.  Everyday we ended our reading with kiddo begging, "more, more!"

 

 

We waited for the last book to be released and I sobbed though the entire thing.  Not only was I going to miss Harry, but I knew this had been precious time with kiddo.  Yes, there would be more books to read together,  but these were special.

Want to make some Harry Potter cookies?  Here's what you'll need:

• royal icing in Americolor copper/flesh, super black, super red, and leaf green
• disposable decorating bags
• squeeze bottles
• icing tips in #2 and #1
• round cookies

With a #2 tip, outline the face in copper/flesh.

Thin the flesh color with water until it is the consistency of thick syrup.  Let sit several minutes covered with a damp dish towel.

Stir gently, transfer to a squeeze bottle and fill in the face.  Let sit a few hours.

With a #2 tip, outline the hair in black.

 

{Forgot to take pictures of a few of the steps here, but.....}

Fill in the hair in black flood icing,
pipe the glasses with a #1 tip,
pipe the lightning bolt with a #1 tip in red.

With the #1 tip, pipe a smile.

I've said it before.....do NOT try to cheat and use a baggie instead of a piping bag.  I slipped a #1 tip in a baggie for the eyes....not wanting to waste a piping bag for a few eyes.  Yep, the bag exploded and broke Harry's glasses.  Not even a "Reparo" charm could help me.


On the brooms, I tried a trick from Kudos Kitchen.  Painting on the wood grain.  Renee is a master of this; I'm still learning.  (You can see a video of her technique here.)

{Broom cutter from Sweet!}

Don't forget sweet Hedwig, Harry's snowy owl.

Ron & Hermione sittin' in a tree....

{JK Rowling...thanks for making Hermione a hero to "bushy-haired" girls everywhere!}

A special shout-out to Diamonds for Dessert!  Her Harry Potter cookies were a MAJOR inspiration to me and the first Harry cookies I'd ever seen.  (Love that Snape!)

Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! COOKIES!

It wasn't until a few weeks ago that I even learned what a Wubbzy was (I'm old). My cousin's little girl, Violet (don't you LOVE that name?), was turning 3. Her party was Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! themed and she needed Wubbzy  cookies.

To tell you the truth, I was a little crushed that kids weren't watching Blue's Clues anymore. You see, Steve and I had a relationship. Some days, he was the only adult contact I had until my husband got home...and he and I became *thisclose*.  (Then he left and they brought Joe on board, who might have been cuter, but didn't have Steve's charm. But I digress.)

Back to Wubbzy....character cookies make me nervous. Just look at Batman. So, I took the chicken's way out and used my icing printer.

But, I think the key to these cookies is the sprinkles.

I really like edible image cookies with a decorative edge. That's probably because I never get them on exactly centered.  Here's an example of edible image cookies with a piped edge.

If you don't have an icing printer, you can usually have them printed for you at a bakery supply shop...call ahead, you'll probably need to format the image for them. I've even heard you can get them from the grocery store!

Just cut the images and peel away from the backing and place on wet royal icing.  Allow 2 days of drying time. For the sprinkles, mix equal parts meringue powder and water. Brush on the edges and sprinkle. Voila!

Happy birthday, Violet!

Now, I'm going to check hulu for my old friend Steve.

Cookies for First Communion

Two years ago I made these cookies for my son's class as they were celebrating their first communion.

It was such a special day at school. The kids got ONE day off from wearing their uniforms and they wore their first communion finery...boys in suits and ties, girls in sweet dresses and veils. ♥

The kids loved their communion cookies...seeing their faces was the best part of making them. :) The chalice was gold with edible luster dust. I was really excited to even find the cookie cutter...you can get one here.

Remember...a few hours are left to enter the Martha for Mother's Day giveaway! I've had the most fun reading your wish lists!!! I agree with each and every one of them! :)