Sucess!!

Hooray! I have sucessfully made two test cookies that didn't crumble and fall off the sticks. The dough that was mostly eggs and flour ended up holding together really well after it was chilled. I could almost pick up the raw cookie without a spatula. And it was firm enough to actually insert the stick in it, instead of have to smoosh it into one side of the cookie (which automatically gives the cookie a "bad side"). But I purchased my secret weapon today at Lowes. One 1/4 inch dowel, split in half and taped down to the table makes and EXCELLENT guide for your rolling pin. My dough was the perfect thickness all the way around, which vastly improved cooking time.

Now, if you notice in the picture above, one cookie is 1/4 inch thick and the other is 1/2 inch thick. The 1/2 inch model was suggested by the recipe, but I don't think it does as well. As you can see in the picture below, the 1/4 inch cookie cooked up a lot more evenly, with the middle getting done at the same time as the edges. The other cookie was still raw in the middle while the edges were overdone. The raw middle made the cookie slide around on the stick during my scientific test where I waved them around to see if they fell off. So, 1/2 inch out, 1/4 inch in!


Thanks for all the ideas and advice, guys. The Pilsbury sugar cookie idea was a good one, and one that I seriously considered. If I didn't already have a whole fridge full of test batches, I would run out and buy some. But I think I have this figured out. I have all the "hardware" already purchased to make two more batches of the latest dough, and I am just going to make cut-outs for the gift bags out of the rest of the batches that didn't work out.

And thanks for the offer to use your kitchen, Andi! But I think I have a system down now that works. If I use every available flat space and I am organized, I think everything will be ok. And my Mom is coming on Friday to help me bake all day, in response to my sniveling, so I should be all good. And instead of frosting, I am just going to dip them in white chocolate! Easy!

Big Sack of Sugar

So, does everyone know how hard it is to make cut-out cookies? It's hard. It gives me a whole new level of respect for moms in general. It is messy, messy, complicated work. And my current sugar cookie experiments have been complicated by a few additional things. 1) My kitchen is small. No counter space means I am rolling cookies out on the sheets. 2) Eric keeps eating the dough 3) I have to have about...oh...6 dozen wedding-themed sugar cut-out cookies on sticks in 6 days to make into centerpieces for my sister's shower.

I think it is official. I am insane.

So, I have made three batches of cookie dough so far. The first was Grandma R's which was delicious, but too soft. It didn't want to stay on the stick. The second batch was something I found on the crisco can, I thought it would be more sturdy. Strangely enough, it tasted similar to Grandma's. In fact, after being covered with frosting, my blind taste testers couldn't tell the difference. But it too was not stick-worthy. My third recipe is a little different; it is mostly made up of flour and egg yolks. Hopefully this one will work out, or I am going to have to seriously alter my decorating plans for the shower!

The good news is that all this cookie baking has given me time to watch a lot of TV. Since we don't actually have a TV in the kitchen, I have been basically watching the laptop. And I discovered something kind of fun. AOL, while being completely useless in almost every other online function, actually has a good entertainment section. I have been spend a lot of time watching their shows on AOL Video. They have a lot of shows you have to buy to watch, but the free stuff is great. They have TONS of stuff from when I was a kid, like Marty Stouffer's Wild America and stuff from the 90's like Brisco County Jr. epsiodes. They even have some great lame cartoon Christmas specials, like the Smurfs, Cabbage Patch Kids and Christmas in Pac-land. Seriously, they really do! Anyway, I was just laughing my ass off at Pac Man's attempt to figure out why humans celebrate Christmas while I was rolling out my 100th batch of cookies, when I realized I might not be spending my free time as wisely as I could be....

Current Weather Conditions in WI

Well, it is official, we have reached "blizzard" status weather. With the snow currently falling at about 1 inch per hour, we are in for a fun storm! I can say that with the utmost sincerity, because I do not have to work today! YES! Hooray for new jobs and Fridays off!