'Tis the Season...

...the season to get engaged!  

You know that along with it being Christmas and all, this is also known as "engagement season."

Now, let me give you (three) guys out there reading a tip.  Engagement rings do not count as a year's worth of presents all in one little black velvet box.  I knew there would be trouble years ago when a friend of mine got engaged and her fiance, who shall remain nameless (Matt), made it clear that this ring was her birthday, Christmas and Valentine gift all rolled into one.  Don't do that.

OK...on to these ring cookies.  These were made for two of kiddo's teachers who have gotten engaged over the last year.  They are the sweetest teachers you could ask for.  You know as a mom, you pray that your kid is blessed with good teachers...teachers who *enjoy* teaching...and *enjoy* KIDS?!?  Well, we lucked out.  And I think their fiances lucked out, too.  We're so, so happy for them.

{I hope they don't mind that I broke out the vintage wedding stuff and had a little photo shoot before boxing them up!}

To make these engagement ring cookies, you'll need:

• royal icing, tinted with AmeriColor Super Black (to make grey) &
• disposable icing bags
• decorating tips, #2
• squeeze bottles
• toothpicks
• silver luster dust
• vodka
• rainbow disco dust

First, as soon as the cookies comes out of the oven, lightly press a small circle cutter in the center.  This will help with piping the opening of the ring.  You'll see in a second, mine still aren't perfect circles, but it helped!

With a #2 tip, outline the ring in grey icing. (We're trying for a silvery look.)

With a #2 tip, outline the diamond in white icing.  Reserve some of this icing for later.


Thin the white and grey icings with water, a bit at a time, until it is the consistency of thick syrup.  Cover with a damp dish towel and let sit several minutes.

Stir gently with a rubber spatula and transfer icings to squeeze bottles.

Fill in the rings in grey and the diamonds in white.  Use a toothpick to spread to edges and pop large air bubbles.

Wait at least 30 minutes, then use a #2 tip to add the detail on the diamond with the unthinned white icing.

Let dry overnight.

Time to add the bling.  (Do people still say "bling?"  I'm thinking, not.)

Mix some silver luster dust with a few drop of vodka.  Brush on the ring.  Add more vodka as needed to thin the luster dust as it will thicken.

Mix 1/4 tsp. meringue powder with 1/4 tsp. water.  With a small paintbrush, apply to the detail part of the diamond.  Sprinkle on the disco dust, then shake off the excess.  You may want to use a dry paintbrush to help remove the excess.  By no means (no matter how tempted) should you blow on the cookie...you will be wearing disco dust in your eyebrows for a week.

{It's hard to capture *just* how brilliant the disco dust is...this picture is the best, I think.  In real life, when the light catches it just so, it's dazzling.}

So, happy wedding, happy engagement to all of you this "engagement season."  Sending special love and best wishes to kiddo's teachers!  We couldn't be happier for you!!! ♥

The Game of Love

I just love hearing about couples getting engaged...don't you? Just the thought of a new marriage, a new family...and well, the wedding cake, makes me turn to mush.


My cousin Meg got engaged last month...yay! Now, I have 9 younger cousins...just on one side of the family. Hearing about their engagements is always exciting, but this one was especially thrilling because I've actually gotten a chance to get to know her *now* fiance....and he is such GREAT GUY!

{ok, first...how adorable are they?!?}

Let me tell you a just little about Meg & Sean:
♥Meg is about 12 years younger than I am. She used to write to me in college...telling me about how she would get up before school to do "Mousercise" (Mickey Mouse jazzercise) and writing out songs she had composed....at age 7! (As I remember, there were a lot of "Ooo, baby's" in the lyrics!) I think she is the most stylish person I know!
♥Sean was the first person my son ever met who owned an iPhone. And he let him PLAY WITH IT...that promoted him to "cool" right there. He plays guitar and sings and...Sean is also a SCRABBLE Champion. And that's where the cookies come in.

{Seriously, now...don't you think the "blank" tile in Scrabble should be a heart ♥? I can picture it now....Scrabble, the Valentine Edition...a pink and red board with little heart tiles. *I* would buy one!}

The cookies:
My original thought (a year and a half ago when I met Sean and had a feeling this day was coming) was to make a cookie Scrabble board. Unfortunately, I just couldn't get it to look quite right, so I made Scrabble cookie tiles.


Using my bench scraper, I divided square cookies into fourths.

I jazzed up my usual cookie recipe with 3/4 tsp vanilla bean paste in place of the 1/2 tsp vanilla extract. Since they were smaller, I cut the baking time down by 2 minutes.


To decorate:

♥Outline each cookie with a #2 tip in ivory (AmeriColor Ivory).
♥Thin the royal icing with water, stirring in a teaspoon at a time until it is the consistency of a thick syrup. Cover with a damp dish towel and let sit for several minutes.
♥Stir gently with a rubber spatula to pop any air bubbles that have formed on the top and transfer to a squeeze bottle.

♥Fill in the cookies with the thinned icing. Use a toothpick to guide into the corners.
♥Let sit for at least 1 hour.

♥Using a #2 tip pipe the letters in black icing (AmeriColor Super Black).
{I tried to get as close the the Scrabble letters as possible.}

♥Switch to a #1 tip and add the point value for the letters in the corners.
♥With red icing and a #3 tip, pipe hearts on several of the cookies.

♥Let dry overnight and package.

{Wouldn't these be darling for Valentine's Day?}

Congratulations & best wishes Meg & Sean! Here's to a ♥sweet♥ life together! Cheers!

Related posts:
♥Yes, I said Yes! Engagement Cookies
♥For June Brides...
♥Valentine Cookies with va-va-va-vanilla

*updated...thank you all so much for your sweet comments, emails and tweets about my Nana, Marge. they meant so much to me!*